It’s Cherry Blossom Time in D.C.
Washington, D.C. is famous for cherry blossom time, when the entire city erupts into a pink bloom. Blossoming trees make Spring my favorite season for running. So it’s no wonder that The Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run has grown into D.C.’s largest race. With more than 27,000 applicants for the race’s 15,000 spots, it seems that plenty of other people feel the same way.
Registration for Sunday’s race has already closed—runners were chosen through a lottery in December—but that doesn’t mean you can’t go out and enjoy the festivities, not to mention the trees. The race starts at 7:30 a.m. on the Washington Monument Grounds and will continue along the Potomac River.
Joan Benoit Samuelson, the grande dame of American marathons, is running the race for the first time. She was the very first Olympic women’s marathon gold medalist in 1984. A former marathon world record holder, she has continued to dominate the women’s master’s circuit; she owns the U.S. 50+ marathon record with a time of 2:49:08.
Bill Rodgers, one of the most decorated marathoners ever, will be returning to the event—he won from 1978 to 1981. Now 62, Rodgers still has the most World Marathon Majors wins of any runner in history, with four victories in New York and Boston each between 1975 and 1980. The former marathon world record holder is a legend in his own time.
The race will be televised on WJLA ABC Channel 7 at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 17 and on News8 at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 18. Streaming video of the race will be available on www.cherryblossom.org, starting around 7:00 a.m. on race morning.
