Health

Meet the Coworkers Who’ve Run More Than a Thousand Miles Together

Plus four great runs you can do on your lunch break.

Photograph by April Greer.

For more than five years, half of the staff at the Georgetown architecture firm Studio 3877 has run together twice a week at 4 pm—clocking some 1,368 miles in all. While many runners have the (very admirable) goal to break eight-minute miles, partner David Shove-Brown says the running happy hour is just a great way to get to know coworkers, sometimes followed by an actual happy hour: “You spend half the time talking about what you’re going to eat after.” Here are four great runs to do on your lunch break, or organize your own office running happy hour.

Rosslyn: Theodore Roosevelt Island

Distance: three miles.
This serene strip of land off the Mount Vernon Trail holds 88 wooded acres surrounding a memorial to the 26th President.

Illustration by Phong Nguyen.
Illustration by Phong Nguyen.

Tysons: W&OD Trail

Distance: six-plus miles.
Enter the leafy rail trail at Gallows Road and you can escape exurban sprawl plus rack up some distance—the W&OD snakes into Virginia heartland.

Illustration by Phong Nguyen.
Illustration by Phong Nguyen.

Bethesda: Bethesda Trolley Trail

Distance: four-plus miles.
A standby for NIH workers, this tree-lined path connecting Bethesda to White Flint follows Rockville’s old trolley line.

Illustration by Phong Nguyen.
Illustration by Phong Nguyen.

Silver Spring: Sligo Creek Trail

Okay, it’s a mile or so to get there from downtown Silver Spring (via Sligo Avenue), so you won’t avoid sidewalks entirely, but the peace and shade alongside Sligo Creek are worth it. Distance: three-plus miles.

Illustration by Phong Nguyen.
Illustration by Phong Nguyen.

This article appeared in the June 2018 issue of Washingtonian.

Kim Olsen

Kim Olsen ([email protected]) is a freelance writer in Alexandria.