NoMa Run Club Newsletter: January Edition

Welcome to the January 2025 Edition of the NoMa Run Club (NRC) newsletter! The editorial team has been on vacation, but we’re back to give you the latest. We hope you had a chance to relax and spend quality time with family and friends over the holidays. The new year can be a great time to reset and set new (running) goals, and we’d love to hear what your big goal for 2025 is—Carl B., we’re looking at you! Huge congratulations to Carl for running at least one mile every day in 2024!

Runners competed in so many events in the last few months, from the Richmond Half Marathon, to the Philly (half) Marathon, to the JFK 50 Miler! In December, we celebrated our third anniversary, enjoyed the longest night of the year, and visited several Christmas trees during our annual Christmas Tree Run 🎄

Further, in DC, Congress actually agreed on something and passed the RFK stadium bill—next up: figuring out what to do with the site. If you’ve taken the Red Line recently, you may have noticed some changes with the return of the automatic train operations. And, an important note about changes to our Monday night routes in the near future:

Be sure to join our Discord community, as well as check our Instagram, to stay aware of any future day-of announcements and updates from the team!

NoMA MoMA: Monthly Member Awareness

Dylan V. has been a consistent run club member since I started running with Noma Run Club in 2022! Although he can run pretty fast when he wants to, he is the type of person who will also run slowly with you on those hot summer days so you have someone to commiserate with. If that doesn’t make for a good running buddy, I don’t know what does. - Molly H.

Why did you join NoMa run club?
I moved to the area in 2022 and needed a place to meet people and make friends (and use up some energy).

Favorite running route?
I don’t have a route that's really my favorite, but when I run on my own, I like to stay around Capitol Hill. Usually, I end up on the mall to avoid traffic lights and traffic, but I’ll also use the MBT.

What do you do when not running?
Usually cooking or baking if I have a chunk of free time. Also, watching a lot of reality TV if I'm just at home to chill. Most Sunday mornings, I watch the F1 race or MotoGP race and follow Grand Prix racing pretty closely.

November and December Events Recap

Hot Cider Hustle 10K - November 2
Congrats to Alexx D. for running what sounds like the perfect fall race. Hot apple cider, caramel apples, and a finisher mug at the finish line? Sign us up for next year!

Friends of the National Arboretum 5K - November 10
Another congrats to Alexx D. for supporting and racing in one of the best public spaces in DC!

Richmond (half) Marathon - November 16
A big group of runners traveled to Richmond for the weekend to participate in the Richmond half marathon. The group met up for a pasta dinner the evening before to carbo load. Post race was filled with beers, pizza, margaritas, nachos, and ice cream. What a great recovery. Congratulations to those who completed their first ever half marathon and to those who set new PRs! Thanks to Michael L. for supporting us throughout the race and being the weekend photographer.

Philadelphia (half) Marathon - November 23
Congrats to Paola B., Surya M., Erik S. for running his first ever sub 3 marathon, and Andrew M. for setting a PR in the half just weeks after setting a PR in the Marine Corps Marathon.

JFK 50 Mile - November 23
When a marathon isn’t long enough, a 50 mile trail race is always an option. Congrats to Michael L. for completing the JFK 50 Mile trail ultramarathon!

Anniversary Party - December 7
Thank you all for coming out to celebrate our club’s anniversary! Huge thank you to Diego T. for organizing, and thank you to Lost Generation, Sweetgreen, Qualia Coffee, and DC Bouldering Project for your raffle donations! We’ll see you all next year!

California International Marathon - December 8
Congratulations to Brendan H. for representing the East Coast on the West Coast in one of the top-10 largest marathons in the US!

Jingle 15K - December 15
Anthony S. and Diane M. jingle-bell-ROCKED the Jingle 15K, with Anthony placing 20th overall! Congratulations!

Christmas Tree Run - December 18
One of our favorites each year is the annual Christmas Tree Run. Led by Carl B., we visited the Christmas trees at the Canadian Embassy, the White House, the Capitol, and Union Station. Despite the rainy weather, we still had an amazing time!

Help wanted! Get involved with NoMa Run Club!

You’re reading this newsletter, so you’re already a BIG fan of NoMa Run Club. But are you looking for more?? Are you interested in:

A. Volunteering in your community
B. Helping to organize weekly runs
C. Event planning
D. Getting a great exercise
E. All of the above?

Then we invite you to become part of the Leadership Team for NoMa Run Club! To learn more about the team and have any questions answered, please email us at [email protected].

Message from Friends of the MBT: Support the Metropolitan Branch Trail

The Metropolitan Branch Trail has a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting trail operations and improvements, the Friends of MBT. We encourage you all to consider joining their new membership donation program at the affordable price of $4/month or $40/year.

FoMBT manages the pop-up drinking water stations on the trail at Carlos Rosario School/V St NE and the Bryant Street Dog Park, plus two more on the trail section between the Brookland/CUA metro and Fort Totten. They advocate for amenities like water to fill hydration packs, trash/recycling for running snacks, and bathrooms for runners when nature inevitably calls. Dance Place fixed their drinking fountain last year in partnership with FoMBT and Throne’s bathroom at Tanner Park was placed with FoMBT’s support. 

Please also consider sending this runner-focused template email to the D.C. government asking for more of these improvements. Runners have not been meaningfully involved in local transportation safety and road/sidewalk design decisions. With all the running groups in the DMV, that's a huge missing perspective. Your voices will join a coalition of bike riders and disability/accessibility advocates who are tired of tiny or missing sidewalks, paint-only bike lanes, and motorists almost running us over in the crosswalks.

Run Club Merchandise

Our merchandise site is live! We have shirts, tanks, race singlets, hats, and even sweatshirts and beanies to keep you warm as the weather cools down. Pick your favorites, and your order will be shipped straight to you. Also, 10% of the proceeds will go to the club, which we’ll use to help fund our fun runs, socials, and events throughout the year. Looking forward to seeing our runners in NoMa Run Club gear. Thank you for supporting us!

Newsletter Contributions

Do you have a running related story you would like to share with us? Did you participate in a race and want to send in a race report? Do you want to nominate someone as the member of the month?

Weekly NRC Runs Calendar

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to stretch 🙂