Running Journal/Blog

Here's the story of our group!

(Most recent entries are listed first.)

Sept 4, 2025 In the exciting build-up to our marathon together, the Stop Soldier Suicide team coordinator is drawing the team's strangers together with excellent hype! I will share some of it here in case it inspires others who hype up charity runs. He has organized t-shirts to deliver this month. He is organizing Zoom meet-ups on a schedule with these thematic discussions:

September 9: Fundraising Q&A – tips, tricks, and how to maximize your impact
September 23: Previous MCM Finishers – stories, lessons, and encouragement
October 7: High Point / Low Point of Training – let’s be real about the journey
October 21: Event Week / Last-Minute Updates – logistics, what to expect, and team coordination

I just love the running community! "We do it together!"

Secondly, I want to report the MAJOR uplift I got from a different organization with which I had my first meet-up for running this week at 6 am in the Capital Heights neighborhood. I've wanted to do this for FIVE YEARS and finally achieved a start with them! Twenty of us gathered with Back on My Feet and through it I had lovely early morning exercise and the positive feeling of meeting new friends, folks who have met and are connecting and overcoming challenges --in part by embracing healthy routines and skills for life.

Sept. 3, 2025- Kassandra is planning her LONG RUN for Saturday. Send her good vibes by using the WhatsApp thread for our running group at https://tinyurl.com/ccw-whatsapp

QR code at the bottom of this page.

I'm eager to get more sign-ups for the Darrell General (Marine Corps Marathon 2 time winner) event, so spread the link widely and bring a friend to his talk followed by exercise together! Find that Saturday, Oct. 11 event listed at the Cornell Club of Washington Calendar! While you are registering, notice and sign up to help our CCW with a Community Service opportunity on Oct. 12, too!

August 27, 2025- My generous sorority sisters and CCW folks put me (Maggie) past the halfway point of fundraising for for Stop Soldier Suicide . Here's where you can make a donation. And that makes me so happy!

Thanks to all who turned out! CCW turned a planned CCW run into a celebration with a successful "half-marathon" training run/walk of close to 14 miles yesterday from the Library of Congress out to my home in Falls Church. Although 2 short-cuts turned into long-cuts, the run/walk was completed in about 3.5 hours, finishing after dark. For marathoners, it's good to hit this mark with over 2 months to go till the Marathon!

August 26, 2025- Big Miles this week! The generosity of Don and Ellen and other Cornellians have propelled Maggie forward to her halfway point for charity fundracing! She's lacing sneakers for a 13 mile training run/walk tonight. Thank you for supporting her charity! Donor links for her and for Kassandra are at the top of this page! See our photo here and at CCW's Instagram. If you are going to the outdoor movie at the Wharf on Thursday, high five CCW's runners that you see!

August 25, 2025- Hike and Winery: This 10 am event out in Leesburg, VA counted as marathon training and carbo loading and connected us to Caroline and John 's family of pre-schoolers, Casron and Sam who are brand new grads at Capital One in Tysons, and also Don and Nick whose time at Cornell in the late 1960s was loaded with interesting historical insights of a wild time on campus when ROTC members experienced the drug culture of the time as well as anti-war efforts that Don has applied his writing ability and history teaching skills (with Johns Hopkins) to document and share. If you were a fly on the copious cheese and crackers brought, you'd know why we all want more conversation with Julie, someone I'll be bugging to co-host events ahead. All the details involved in planning such an event were managed by by the very capable Yiming/Josef who was a 5-miler winner at our Charity Run! He stepped forward to Maggie via e-mail to Librarian MS @ Gmail . com [no spaces] and our WhatsApp thread: https://tinyurl.com/ccw-whatsapp

August 14, 2025 I'm so pleased to have added Kassandra's donor link to the Aug. 9 posting directly below! Both she and I are training hard and looking for folks who would wish to join us on a training run. See our calendar above and join us as we choose parts of the MCM trail to run short and long distances. Or... super wild SOCIAL idea: WHO would want to be on the Marine Corps Marathon route screaming support at us on October 26? Our charities are giving us posters to hand out, so let us know if a cheerleader leader is you and where the runners would see you on the route. (Map and Gauntlets provided here.) It can be several locations of convenience to the cheerleaders. WHY? If you've never been to the MCM, it is a huge, positive event with infectious feel good energy and tremendous funds are raised for worthwhile charities. I was a spectator for a couple years before realizing "resistance is futile" and had to get a bib.

Give yourself this fun on the last Sunday in October, and if we can make a Cornell Running Group event of it under your leadership, e-mail me your interest and I'll get the word out for meeting point(s) for cheering on the route. Remember, Kassandra and I are doing it for charity this year-- her first marathon, my second. See our donor links directly below.

August 9, 2025 We've achieved donor link pages in order to make our participation in the Marine Corps Marathon go a further distance for these charities:

Maggie: fund-racing for Stop Soldier Suicide. "I would love it if motivated folks would make even the smallest donation to our cause by visiting my donor page: https://StopSoldierSuicide.donordrive.com/participants/MC4Dan . I hope you feel the uplift of being part of an important program! "
Kassandra, with a pal she has recruited, is fund-racing for Alzheimer's Association and you can donate using her donor link.

Thank you for showing the care that Cornellians have for others! "WE ARE DOING IT TOGETHER!" No donation is too small! Every PENNY is ENCOURAGING!

July 30, 2025 Kassandra reports that the Marine Corps Marathon has SOLD OUT its regular bibs. But have no fear! Runners can sign up with the charity called Stop Soldier Suicide here . That charity was chosen by our CCW running group for our focused community service effort. By individually agreeing to fundraising at least $1500, an individual gets a bib to run the marathon plus this support: All runners will receive one-on-one fundraising support, personalized fundraising page, access to exclusive Team SSS rewards, supplies for your cheer squad, in-person opportunities to connect with Team SSS teammates, including team lunch the day before the marathon, and special recognition for top fundraisers.

A second option? You can use Maggie's contact information to join the Alzheimer's Association's team. For AA, your goal is around $1000. (Since we already fundraised for them this year, you might be okay if you fall slightly short and I can help you connect with their leader, Carrie, who has 50 bibs to hand out while her supplies last. She is organizing a team called "Team Oorah! to End ALZ." Ask Maggie for the email to get those details.)

Whichever means you use to get your MCM bib, let Maggie know so that she can post on these pages your donation page and help you fundraise for your good cause!

July 29, 2025 So proud that runners in our group have become CCW event organizers who are registering people to dine out on their Big Red Food Tour (Thank you Monica, Laura and Michael) and do a Hike and Winery Visit. Thank you Josef / Yiming! Who can co-host one of the summer outdoor movies that Sandra put on my radar? It's easy!

July 28, 2025 It's up! The link to register for CCW's Oct. 11 Meeting with Marine Corps Marathon Winner Darrell General!

Scholarship

CCW's Running Group members provided the tuition for a young runner to participate with Coach General's summer camp for XC runners. We're excited that the runner will benefit from role modeling of Coach General and connection to the running community.

Exploring Trails

We aim to explore more trails in the DMV. Will you lead a run?

July 26, 2025 It was an Early Bird Special! Way to beat the heat when Kassandra met the 7 am crew for a 5 K around the National Mall. Kudos to the early risers who got there to join our super star: Jordan (who is a founding member of our running group) and new joiners Hailey and Thalia. Welcome aboard!

July 18, 2025 So happy to reach this goal: I've been learning about how to be involved in a Back on My Feet team. See the inspiring video.) They have a mostly running group that meets near Foggy Bottom, and a mostly walking group that circles up in the Capitol Heights neighborhood. Exercise lasts and hour. This amazing national organization is very well organized. Orientation and paperwork is online and takes about 2-3 hours to accomplish and get your first gatherings scheduled through their portal. Gatherings are 2 or 3 days a week at 5:30 and 6 am, M, W, Friday, so explore the web site and if you join a team, please let our group know. (I'm starting in August, so I hope I might see Cornellians there!)

Misha and Brian made it into a Father/Daughter run!

And Jessica made it part of her training for the Marine Corps Marathon!

July 13, 2025 Thanks for coming out! We were still smiling at the top of the Libe Slope Climb-- lots of great conversation among an entirely new set of runners who managed a 5-K impressively and most still had energy to add mileage, walking across "Jessica's Bridge" (14th street bridge and part of the marathon J will run one day) to take the secret special route to the Columbia Island Marina where we met up with co-host Andres and had a breezy lunch and beverages with all the views of the boat launches, river and Pentagon. It was a gorgeous and HOT day. Palak, Fletcher, Dan, Brian, Jessica, Misha,

THANK YOU for the miles of inspiration and conversation! Sandra and Deb (marathoner who knows all the public rest rooms a Marine Corps Marathoner finds while training) joined us with a cocker spaniel! Jessica was there at the end to pick up late arrivals for a stroll in the marina area. Thank you ALL for motivating one another an me to make mileage in prep for future races, and to combine ideas for expanding Cornell Club of Washington events. Your ideas (bowling, axe-throwing, outdoor movies on picnic blankets, restaurant tastings, a Wines 101 Redux) have made the brainstorming pages where people can sign-up with Maggie and one another to co-host.

July 4, 2025 I'm so pumped! Scoring on contacts, I've negotiated terms with Coach Darrell General to offer in-person advice and photo ops to anyone interested in a unique October offering in the final "need to taper now" weeks of Marine Corps Marathon preparation. We have tentatively set the event for Oct. 11 or 12. I told him about Jessica! I told him what our little group is doing for charities! And he's on board for an 8-9 am hour before our exercise that morning at the Mall, even if I barely charge anything for participation (that we will offer other Ivy League Alumni Runners as well, so make a date and spread the word.) Just think about how neat it will be for your to have your photo with the actual WINNER of the MCM when the MCM turns "50" this year! There are only 49 of those folks alive, and his triumph led to a career of helping others and drawing people like you and me into the energizing, community building and serving world of running! The timing will be perfect for Jessica and me to attend and feel the excitement of count-down to her first marathon! Watch for a registration link soon and don't miss this special event for our running group. Bring me down to earth! I'm so happy! (I have to go out for a run!)

June 30, 2025 Josef and Maggie met up at Tatte in Chrystal City to brainstorm our next running events. We discussed finishing a run at Island Time Bar and Grill at Columbia Island Marina. It closes at 7 pm and opens at 11 am, so it's hard to plan around to keep runners out of the summer heat. But the running trails near there show off part of the Marine Corps Marathon Route (both the bridge and the route around the Pentagon) so it's a great place to show Jessica and other marathoners.

June 29, 2025 Justin and Maggie had fantastic runs! We stretched together under the big tree out in Falls Church with the picnic table by the Idylwood Park's parking lot, and shared updates to this web page's announcements. We beat the heat by starting at 7:15 am. Maggie ran-walked 8 miles and earned her bagel!

June 25, 2025 Maggie attended our CW Happy Hour event in Ballston to offer a Marine Corps Marathon Organizational Meeting. The purpose was to recruit runners for a charity team run at the Marine Corps Marathon in late October (and CCW event organizers for other purposes-- thanks, Josef, for stepping forward for such!) Here's what was offered, but there were no new folks interested in joining the Marathoning Team:

Cornell Runners interested in joining our effort to build a charity fundraising team and run the MCM Marathon in late October will have a first time opportunity to meet one another and make some plans at 7 pm at a table during the CCW Happy Hour event in Ballston. <--Register for that event here. If that timing is not good for you to meet, there will be other opportunities to get aboard our team; try to come June 29. You do NOT have to be a marathoner to take this run/walk event on as a first-time marathoner. Contact Maggie at Librarian MS @ gmail . com (no spaces) to let her know when you can meet or phone call for details and watch for us to post a FAQ and training support on these pages. Yes, YOU CAN BE A MARATHONER! And do GOOD at the same time!

Important! By June 30, 2025 Kassandra and Maggie will have formed a team that supports one of these causes . Note that the fundraising teams offer the MCM bib to people who commit to raising a set amount of funds (such as $700 - $1500 donations per runner.) We are presently leaning towards Girls on the Run, or Hire Heroes, USA (Vet support) or Stop Soldier Suicide, or or HEAL Palestine (details coming), Inc. VOLO Kids Foundation (which is inexpensive at only $700 fundraising goal per runner) American Foundation for Suicide Prevention ($1000 or $250 for Virtual 10K.) Our Committed Teammates will make the final choice of which charity... and we are open to what's a meaningful to OUR CCW runners! Lobby away!

Budget FAQ: How much does it usually cost to get a bib for the MCM if not on a charity run? $240. Compare that to your "minimum requirement" for a fundraiser bib to assess if you can pay the difference if you do not reach your fundraising goal by encouraging sponsorships among your friends and our CCW running community events. Expect costs like buying sneakers across the training season to support healthy running. And expect to pay $$$ for the MCM swag you'll want to buy when you go to collect your race packet.

June 22, 2025 - Yesterday was a triumph! We conducted our first charity run! Thanks to the enthusiasm and generous support of Cornellians and their families, we raised over $1090 for Alzheimers Research doing a "Longest Day" event for AA as our semi-annual "Cornell Cares" event. It was joyous, tongue-in-cheek-as-elaborate-while-small-scale "big run" on the National Mall that we kept under the radar of anyone who might have asked us for a permit....

See our FAQ which says a lot and don't miss #17 there! Can't thank our committee enough for their help: Kassandra and Andres were absolute ROCK STARS to help pull the complex event off! Doug and Yiming/Josef are emerging as leaders for our running group-- they make us run hard and keep smiling!!! K's family was VITAL support and we make them honorary Cornellians!

Let's set up a 5K in the fall because we are ready to pour coffee and eat bananas in Falls Church as we work towards involvement in the Marine Corps Marathon. (What charity will our group be formed to support?)

Missing from pic above and NEW IN OUR HEARTS-- Monica and Laura who added so much joy to the fun!

Congratulations to Andres for his Sat. March 31 Walk for Hope. In honor of a colleague lost to tragedy, his effort raised at least $150 for Suicide Prevention programming.

3 trails serve runners, walkers and long distance runners

Starting it all off:

Sat. March 22 at 9:00 am- Cornellians Run at the National Mall.

We had a terrific turn-out, including two dogs, Harbor and Romeo! We followed these instructions: rise early, meet us at 9 am at the corner of 7th Street SW and Independence Ave, SW beneath the huge spinny silvery art installation. Closest metro is L'Enfant Station. Try to wear red for the group photo; leader will be in a red MCM 10K top. We'll stretch, make quick introductions mentioning goals for this season's running, then head out to run or run/walk/talk the perimeter of the National Mall. Go at a pace that works for your fitness; "packing up" is optional; some people like to put on earbuds and run solo, our gathering just keeping you motivated to get on your running shoes that morning. Note that if folks want to socialize after, they can meet up at the Food Trucks near L'Enfant Metro Station or head inside to L'Enfant Food Court. Parking information for L'Enfant Plaza.

"Routes on National Mall" on our map set our morning's goal, based on ability. We had all 3 kinds of groups!

Sat. May 17 at 9:00 am. We were a combo of new recruits and returning participants on met at the corner of 7th Street SW and Independence Ave, SW beneath the huge spinney silvery art installation. We built steam among both runners and walkers for our June 21 events, found out Doug's daughter and Kassandra work for the same company! Doug shared about Park Runs (he's done over 50 and is too modest about it. But the pace he set for the younger runners around the tidal basin showed the training helps him kick a---. Among the walkers who did the "Libe Slope" route, A shared about strength training as a super compliment to running/walking. Maggie and Marie found out they live a mile apart and will bump into one another on the W&OD Trail! After our exercise, three of us peeled off to have a committee meeting to prep for May 31 and June 21 events. Andres shared with some of us his good plans to participate in a fundraising walk for suicide prevention to honor the life of a co-worker. INSPIRATIONAL! THANKS FOR COMING! I hope folks will sign up for our team called "Go Big Red" for our June 21 endeavor. Join our TEAM here .

March 8, 11 am It was great! Thanks for coming or e-mailing in when you joined us! "We ended whatever morning run done around Mile 12 of the W&OD Trail to meet up at Caboose Tavern, Vienna for a coffee and ORGANIZING. This was our inaugural event to pull in anyone interested in goal-setting, information sharing, or just social connection over the topic of running. We were sweaty and "endorphin-fueled-optimistic" at Caboose.

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