Army Ten-Miler

. In 2000, this race was the largest 10 mile road race in the world.

The annual race weekend events also include a youth run, a youth activity fair, and a pre-race pasta dinner. The race uses transponder timing, and draws a large number of civilian and military running teams.

Race Course

The race course is USA Track and Field certified and is mostly flat, fast and picturesque.

* The race starts along Route 27 adjacent to the Pentagon and proceeds north and across the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

* From there the course circles the Lincoln Memorial and goes off to the left to Constitution Avenue turning north on 19th Street and then northwest on Virginia Avenue.

* A the end of Virginia Avenue, the course turns south on Rock Creek Parkway and passes underneath the Kennedy Center.

* The parkway is followed to Independence Avenue near the John Ericsson Memorial. The route continues past the National World War II Memorial and the Washington Monument on the left, and the Jefferson Memorial on the right. The course continues along Independence Avenue going past the Air and Space Museum to 3rd Street where it turns north, crossing the National Mall to Pennsylvania Avenue.

* The course goes east on Pennsylvania Ave. to 1st Street where the U.S. Capitol is on the left.

* The course turns west at Independence Avenue and then turns south on 14th Street where it takes the HOV lanes of I-395 for the last two miles of the course to the South Pentagon Parking Lot.

History

The race started in 1985 by fitness officials connected with the Army Headquarters staff in the Pentagon. In the early years, it was lead by staff assigned to the Pentagon with the logistic support of the Military District of Washington. Subsequently, the program was reassigned to the Military District, where it is headed by a year-round, full-time professional staff.

2001 Race

Shortly after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on the Pentagon, the October 2001 race was cancelled. Subsequent races have had extensive anti-terrorist security measures.

2005 Race

DC Metropolitan Police identified a suspicious package under the HOV lanes of the 14th Street Bridge. Race officials decided to re-route runners at Mile Marker 7 (Independence and 14th Street area) to cross the Memorial Bridge instead. The DC Metro Police Explosive Ordinance Unit investigated the package and, at 8:55AM, determined that it was harmless. Because the course was modified, the official race was declared a recreational run and was not scored. The transponder timing mats were not relocated from the planned finish line to the end of the substitute route, which was estimated to be 11.2 miles long.

2007 Race

The race was held on Sunday, October 7, 2007 with 26,000 runners entered, and a record 17,000 finishing the 10 mile route. At the 8 a.m. start time, the temperature was 70 degrees F, and relative humidity of 94%, making conditions oppressive for running. Because of the heat, runners consumed more liquids than expected, and the aide stations ran out of water. Michael Banner, a 25-year old runner from Fairfax, Virginia collapsed near the finish line, and subsequently died. The autopsy results revealed that he had coronary artery disease and ruled that his death was from natural causes. [J. Hage, "Fairfax County Man Collapses Near Army Finish Line, Dies" Washington Post, 2007-10-08, p. E3] [cite news | first=Jonathan| last=Mummolo | coauthors= | title=Runner Had Played on Office Teams | date=2007-10-09 | publisher= | url =http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100801447.html | work =Washington Post | pages =B3 | accessdate = 2007-10-09 | language = ] [cite news | first=Jonathan| last=Mummolo | coauthors= | title=Coronary Artery Disease Found in Autopsy of Runner | date=2007-11-29 | publisher= | url =http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/28/AR2007112802245.html | work =Washington Post | pages =B02 | accessdate = 2007-12-21| language = ]

2008 Race

The 2008 race was held on Sunday, October 5, 2008. Local women fared well, as Veena Reddy, from Centreville came from behind to win the Open Female Competition. In addition, Alisa Harvey, from Manassas won the Female Masters. For the men, Reginaldo Campos Jr. of Brazil took first place in the Open Competition. He was one of four Brazilian Army finishers in the top ten. There were a total of 18,789 finishers in the mild October weather. [cite news | first=Jim| last=Hage| coauthors= | title=Motivated Campos Wins Army 10-Miler | date=2008-10-06 | publisher= | url =http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/05/AR2008100501824.html | work =Washington Post | pages =E3 | accessdate = 2008-10-06 | language = ] [cite news | first=Steve| last=Nearman| coauthors= | title=Campos, Reddy Top Fields at Army Ten-Miler | date=2008-10-07 | publisher= | url =http://www.runningusa.org/media/wire2008/Wire2008-80.html | work =Running USA Wire | pages = | accessdate = 2008-10-07 | language = ]

Champions

External links

* [http://www.armytenmiler.com/ Army Ten-Miler]

References