Planned as a memorial race in honor of the 184 people who lost their lives in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Pentagon as well as the thousands more who perished in New York and Pennsylvania, this race celebrates the memory of Ethiopan runner Abebe Bikila, who became the first black African to win an Olympic medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
The race added the 26.2-mile full marathon distance for the first time in 2013 — in past years, the race was run as a half marathon only, and open to up to 250 entrants. This year, the maximum number of entrants is 350.
Bikila — who won not just any medal but the gold medal in the marathon at the Games in Rome that year, on September 10, 1960 — would repeat his achievement four years later, winning the gold again at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
This race celebrates both his achievement and mourns the lives that were lost 20 years ago, and a memorial bell will be rung in their honor 184 times before the start of the race.
As for the race itself, the half marathon will take runners along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Trail (better known as the C&O Canal Trail) that winds alongside the waters of the Potomac between Fletcher’s Cove, where the race starts, and the Glen Echo neighborhood just to the northwest along the river.
There, runners will make the turnaround and head back along the route they’ve just run in the opposite direction, back to Georgetown for the race finish.
The terrain for the race is all unpaved gravel surfaces along the trail, which is flat and fast for the entire race, save for the occasional hill as runners are reaching the turnaround point.
