Join our Alexandria Run Club to run with a fun group CrossFitters passionate about running, hiking, and trail running. Run Club classes feature a mixture of trail running, hiking, and road running. Plus awesome post run events. We also join local races. Run better and improve your running mechanics
Our Run Club features trail runs ranging from 3-13 miles. All of our runs feature beginner friendly distance options so that new runners can join us. As part of the class, we teach new runners what kind of sneakers to buy, what gear to wear, how much water they need, and which supplements are best on and after the trail.
Follow Paul: on Komoot and Alltrails for easy access to our custom trails.
Leave your house by about 7:00AM … the trail is 45 minutes from the gym. Be ready to run at 8AM. Meetup at the parking lot.
Carpool? Message us on discord to setup. Happy to drive together.
Overview
Schaeffer promises a diverse trail with some steeper sections. One of the nicer trails in our area. Well maintained and challenging. After the run, join us for beers and burgers at Dog Haus Biergarten about 5 minutes from the trail head.
Trail Loop is 2.4 miles. You are welcome to run two or three laps if you like.
Leave your house by about 7:20AM for an 8:00AM start time.
Overview
The Fountainhead White Loop has a little bit of everything. It’s a great loop to try out new gear and combinations. Easy parking and fun terrain make this an excellent practice trail.
Target Time: 6 Hours – 3.0 Hours In and 3.0 Hours Back
Leave your house by about 6:30AM … the trail is 1 Hr to 1.5 hrs away.
Overview
This is a hike and a challenging one with lots of hills. It’s out and back, so if you get tired, just turn around earlier. Navigation is easy … we just have one trail map.
Mason District is a mixed surface so bring your road shoes. A faster trail with minimal elevation, please scale your run to finish under an hour. Use this an opportunity work on your pose running technique and dial in your efficiency.
Donaldson Run Park is a mixed surface trail. There is about 3/4 mile of asphalt, dirt trails, paved trails, and some elevation. A slower trail with some challenging sections. Navigation should relatively easy. Lots of post run cafes and bars nearby. Lets plan something fun.
Mason District is a mixed surface so bring your road shoes. A faster trail with minimal elevation, please scale your run to finish under an hour. Use this an opportunity work on your pose running technique and dial in your efficiency.
The Fountainhead Horse Trail is a rugged wilderness of a trail. Be prepared for downed trees, slanty surfaces, overlapping trails, and steep grade. Saturday’s run will feature high temperature, high UV index, super high humidity, and a high mosquito index. Bring extra water… you might get turned around, sunblock, and bug spray. On the plus side, this trail features an emergency access trail that you can use to go back the start at anytime. Just keep in mind, it’s 2.5 miles long.
In contrast to Great Falls, Bulls Run features a fast and smooth trail with moderate shade and some exciting river crossings. Fun to run with easier navigation than most trails, Bulls Run is an excellent trail if you are new to running. This week we are increasing the distance, so fuel up on electrolytes before departing for the trail on Saturday.
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Post Run Meetup
Atlantis Waterpark is on the trail… bring your bathing suit? Bring the discussion to Discord.
Beginner 5.41 Miles / 3.7 Miles (350ft vertical) Easiest terrain
Intermediate 6.44 Miles / 4.7 Miles (475ft vertical) Moderate terrain
Rx 6.56 Miles (500Ft Vertical) Most Technical terrain
Target Time
Under 1.5hrs
Comments
Meetup time for the run is 8AM at the parking lot. Great Falls is a national park and they charge $20 to park. I plan to get a yearly parking pass (mine expired), so anyone that wants to ride with me, please message me on Discord or the Sand and Steel App by Wednesday 8PM.
Special Programming for Intermediate and Beginners
If you look closely at the trail, you’ll see that it loops back on itself about 75% the way through. You’ll go past the starting position and then do an extra 1.5 miles. If you arrive back to the start location before the Rx group and you’d like to do a little more, just keep following the course. If you have had enough you can just stop at that point (that’s the second distance you see on the trail.)
Meetup Location & Location: Please meet at the parking lot at 7AM.
Run Parameters: Please target to complete the run within 75 minutes. Time Cap is 90 minutes. If you aren’t back to the parking lot by 90 minutes, please message the Run Club.
Note, there are a lot of turns on both trails… if you miss a turn (highly likely), just keeping going. There will unmarked trails that make navigation more difficult. Just be sure you are back to the cars within 90 minutes.
After the Run Meetup: 11:00AM Peet’s Coffee Shop. If you are not planning to attend, please let us know on Discord or at the run. Everyone needs to check-out with Paul for safety reasons.
Raven Run and Beer Chase Brewery - May 27, 2024
Run Club Alexandria
Gym Meetup Time: 7:30AM
Meetup Location: For all future runs / hikes, the meetup location will be at the main parking lot. The parking lot is located at 39°06’55.3″N 77°50’51.0″W. The walk from the main parking lot to the trailhead isn’t very far. There are about 7 spots in the aux parking lot. However, if memory serves there is very little cell signal there, so please don’t park there if you don’t have signal. Please message the discord server if you park at the aux parking so we know not to wait for you.
Meetup Time: 9:00AM at the Main Parking Lot. 7:30AM at the gym. Raven Rocks is about 60 minutes from the gym.
Run / Hike: Some of the trail is runnable, but most of it is hiking only. It’s very rocky, so choose appropriate footwear.
The Trails: Download pics and gpx files or View on Komoot. Raven Rock Trail is very easy to navigate. The trail itself goes on for hundreds of miles. For this run, it’s out 1.5hrs and back 1.5hrs. More experienced athletes will simply go further in that time.
North Valley Trail in Prince Williams Park. Start time is 9:00AM-9:30AM depending on your run distance. The goal is to have everyone finish at 10:30AM for coffee and brunch.
Start Time: 9:00AM-9:30AM, Saturday at the Trailhead. Carpool leaves at 8AM.
At the Trailhead: Meet at the trailhead 9AM (Rx), 9:15AM (Int), 9:30AM (Beg). Finish the run by 10:30AM. Beginners/Intermediates that want to start at 9AM can do so. Either you can extend your run distance a little bit or you’ll just finish a little early. The Rx run should take 80-90 minutes to complete.
Carpool Time: Leaves the gym at 8:00AM. Message Paul if you want a ride.
Custom Maps: Be sure to download the trail maps as they are custom routes.
There are many different food options in shopping center. I selected Starbucks as a central location so we look around with coffee and pick a bar or restaurant.
Hemlock Trail Run and Paradise Springs Winery March 30 2024
90 Minute Run Planned… faster runners will run further, slower runners will run a shorter distance. Run, Run/Walk, or Hiking is OK. We’ll head to Paradise Springs Winery after the run.
Leave from the gym at 10AM, with 10:45AM planned start time. Download the Trail Map here
Scaling for Various Level Runners
Like all of our classes, we provide scaling for our runs. So even if the class says were are running seven miles, we can provide you a shorter run. We are here to help in terms of running gear, hydration, nutrition, running technique, etc.
A Run Club for CrossFitters
We are not professional runners… some of us are faster, some of us are slower, but we are all friends. We run to improve our cardiovascular health and improve our conditioning for CrossFit. Our run club programming is specifically keyed with our CrossFit programming so you don’t get overtrained.
Spartan Races, Ex2 Races, Hyrox and More
We also compete as a team at various local races such as Spartan Races, EX2, Hyrox and more.
Follow Coach Paul on AllTrails
Our Alexandria Based Run Club uses Komoot and Alltrails. Follow Paul on Komoot and Alltrails for easy access to our custom trails.
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