With the school year coming to a close and Summer Break knocking on the door, being active is a fantastic way to spend some time on this long break. There are many great trails in the Northern Virginia area, especially in Arlington, and close to Wakefield!
Running is a hard activity to start if you haven’t done it before, but when you run in great places and have great trails to run on, it becomes extremely enjoyable. My three favorite places to run in Arlington are the Mount Vernon, W&OD, and Four Mile Run trails.
The Mount Vernon trail is mostly flat but with some small rolling hills here and there. It spans from Theodore Roosevelt Island in DC, down the coast of the Potomac River in eastern Arlington and into Alexandria and then finishes at Mount Vernon. A slight drawback is that it can be busy on the weekends because there are many cyclists and runners wanting to take advantage of the lovely spring weather. Sophomore Track athlete Devin Carlson said, “The scenery along the water, seeing the monuments along the water is magical.” My favorite part about the Mount Vernon trail is getting to Gravelly Point and seeing the planes takeoff and land right above me!
Four Mile Run is the next trail that is a great place to run on this summer. It is another mostly flat trail which is great for beginners but also beneficial to more experienced runners trying to get a fast workout in. It spans from the Bluemont Junction Park east to Ronald Reagan National Airport where it merges into the Mount Vernon Trail. Freshman Cross Country and Track Athlete Jack Guy even said, “I really like the nature and the way you can just go to a whole new place, it’s really peaceful.” It can get crowded in the summertime with lots of people taking advantage of a flat trail to get a workout in, but it’s not that big of a deal. My favorite part about the Four Mile Run Trail is running through Shirlington and seeing all of the restaurants and the colors of the trees in the Fall.
The W&OD trail is a very long but very flat trail that is great for long runs and fast pace workouts! It starts in Shirlington but ends in Loudoun County while going through Arlington and Fairfax. Junior Track and Cross Country Runner Quincy Daigle said, “looking at all the animals on the trail makes for a really peaceful run plus the trail goes downhill on the run back to school.” There is ongoing construction taking place on the trail so a part of it is blocked off and there is a detour to the Four Mile Run Trail. My favorite part of the trail is how beautiful it is and how flat it is. It is very separated from busy roads and cities, so there are no stop lights or interruptions in the trail which makes it the best trail out of these to do a Tempo Run.
I hope that after reading this you will have inspiration to take up running this summer. Maybe I’ll see you out there sometime!