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With CCW's support, we are marathoning on Oct. 26-- WOOT WOOT!  No donation is too small!  All build upon what we're doing. THANK YOU, every single one of you! 

Routes we use on the National Mall  (select one of these 4 or invent your own):

• "The Libe Slope Climb" is so named because the Library of Congress is at the peak. This run is especially for cross country runner wannabe tweens. Jog East up Independence Ave past the Botanical Gardens up-up-up Capitol Hill (counter-clockwise around the Capitol Building) to wave at the Supreme Court and salute Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Cornellian), then around the North side of the Capitol building.  Find your way tightly against the fountains to your left to Madison Avenue, NW.  Tip: keep tight to the grassy Mall or you can easily get off course. Use the gravel pathway of the mall if you can, passing the huge Art Gallery buildings to your right and eventually the National Museum of Natural History (big dome.) That's where you have to tap your toe on the bottom of the central steps.  Meet back up at our morning gathering spot at 7th street and Independence, SW.   Estimated distance: 2.5 miles / 4K with a hill at the beginning.
  
  

• Bebe Babies! (Great choice fo baby strollers and other walkers): This route is inspired by the views we enjoyed of  Bebe Lake. Stick with me... Long route: use the sidewalks to head west toward the Washington Monument but basically along the Mall to that point. Then, begin to make your way to the south, passing over Independence Ave to the west of the Holocaust museum. Walk to circle the tidal pool of the Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, and Martin Luther King Memorial. Cross back over the 4-lanes of thoroughfare to take in the WWII Memorial. There's plenty along the way to fuel chat with new friends.  (Option: if that's all a little much, stick to the mall, strolling west up to the flags to circle the Washington Monument, take in the gorgeous Smithsonian National African Amercan Museum History and Culture which evokes a 'crown' for your achievement. Your sidewalks are fairly wide the whole way so that you can maximize the chat time with other strollers or power walkers.)  Estimated distance of the long route: 2.5 miles / 4K with some good shade part of the way.
  
  

• The Whole Darn Mall (around 5 miles): Start by heading west toward the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial well beyond that. Keeping on the white gravel or wide walkways, pass the Jefferson, WWII and eventually the Korean Memorials, cross at the base of the Lincoln Memorial with the reflecting pool on your right. Bonus: run up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, count them, and pump the air "Rocky Style" at the top. Yes, you may pause for a fantastic selfie of triumph, and try to report back the number of steps you climbed --or descended.) Proceed past the Vietnam Memorial and east across the mall's northern side. Pass the White House  (yell,  "Free Melania" depending on your politics) and proceed around the Eastern end of the Capitol to wave honors at RBG at the Supreme Court, nod thankfully toward the Jefferson building of the Library of Congress, then swing back down hill past the Botanical Gardens, Native American Museum, Air and Space Museum, stopping just across from the Hirshhorn.  This is where to convene back where we started our day to see if anyone's still around: the silvery spinney structure at west end of Air and Space Museum. Treat your fabulous self to an ice cream is nearby in food trucks.
  
  

• Run the Dog - "race" or just walk any of the trails above with your pup, depending on the length of its legs and power in its paws. Enjoy the chance to engage with another dog lover.  "What would your dog have loved doing or visiting in Ithaca? Was your dog the one with a red bandana on the Arts Quad?"

Read Our Running Journal: 

Link to read the stories and personalities that have shaped the development of our running group.