Thank you for entering 13th annual Potomac River Run Marathon!

First event of our weekend is Thursday, April 28, from 7 PM to 9 PM -- Goodie bag assembly and early packet pick-up at Whole Foods Market, 2700 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington VA, upstairs in conference room. Please help us assemble 400 goodie bags and pick up your number and bag early! (Also SportScience(r) t-shirts if they get delivered by then,)

Next event is Saturday, April 30, from 3:00 PM to 5:45 PM -- pre-race packet pick-up at Pacers Running Store, 3100 Clarendon Boulevard, Arlington VA. Pick up your bib number, goodie bag, and t-shirt.

Both Whole Foods Market and Pacers Running Store are near Clarendon Metro.

Then Saturday, April 30, from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM -- dinner with Gib Leonard, Buy A Brick Foundation, Cosi Restaurant, 1801 North Lynn Street, Arlington VA, near Rosslyn Metro, including photo show of their progress building Leonah Clinic and Hospital and fighting malaria in Zimbabwe.

See this week's Time Magazine for a biography of Tu Youyou, the Chinese biologist who discovered Artemisia Annua, the anti-malarial crop that Buy A Brick Foundation is planting in Zimbabwe.

On Sunday morning, May 1, Red Top Cabs leave Key Bridge Marriott, 1401 Lee Highway, at 6:00 AM for our 7:00 AM starters and at 6:30 AM for our 8:00 AM starters. For finishers who took Red Top Cab or other transportation from Rosslyn, we offer free rides back courtesy of our drivers at Fletcher's Cove.

If you want to register for the dinner at Cosi Restaurant or the Red Top Cab ride, please use our web page at

https://safetyandhealthfoundation.org/marathon/20160501.php

Races start at 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM at Fletcher's Cove., 4940 Canal Road, Washington DC, about 2 miles west of Key Bridge.

Canal Road is the westbound extension of M Street, about 2.5 miles from Rosslyn and Key Bridge Marriott. Fletcher's Cove is where Reservoir Road intersects Canal Road.

Packet pick-up opens on-site on race day, Sunday, May 1, at Fletcher's Cove, from 6:15 AM to 7:45 AM. You may leave your personal belongings at the registration desk. We provide white plastic bags. Please write your name and bib number on your white bag if you check personal items. Please, no backpacks or duffel bags.

Enjoy our laughing warm-up, led by Diane Cohen, Arlington Laughter Yoga, at 6:30 AM and 7:30 AM. We play the National Anthem at 6:45 AM and 7:45 AM, followed by stand-up comedy from Showtime Mike Mebreahtu and final instructions from the race director. Showtime Mike also announces the finish.

Enjoy authentic African music, singing and dancing, from Anna Mwalagho from 11:00 AM to 12:00 noon at the post-race picnic area. See www.annamwalagho.com

We present awards as promptly as possible after you finish. Give us a few minutes to keep up with the data. We use old-fashioned hand-timing, recorded on an electronic time recorder called Time Machine (see www.timemachine.org) that feeds into our proprietary scoring system. Please wear your bib number visibly on the front of your shirt, not obscured in any way, so we can record you at the moment you finish. Please do not remove the name tag at the bottom of your bib number. It is NOT a baggage tag. We pull the tag off the bottom of your number after you finish to establish the order of finish.

Your time is as shown on the clock. If you plan to run a fast time or to try to qualify for 2017 Boston Marathon or Chicago, Houston, or New York City Marathons who also have qualifying times, please step to the front of the crowd under the START banner after we sing the National Anthem. Thus you won't lose 15 to 30 seconds starting back of the crowd. The race is small enough that you can do that.

We look forward to treating you to Whole Foods Market bananas and clementines, Dunkin' Donuts bagels, Mario's Pizza House pizza (two types -- cheese and vegan), Carb Boom energy gel, and King Zachary's Royal Barbeque.

If you want to change your start time or distance, please use the form at

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18mLarqnWRRFUyb5UL20Y6W2TB26OKHE8z_RCfbOUwuc/viewform

You can also inform the registrar when you check in on Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday. If you run the first half marathon, and that's it, please cross the finish line, accept your medal, and then inform the scorekeepers at the finish line that you switched from the full marathon to the half.

If you are running the full marathon, when you get back to Fletcher's Cove, you've gone half-way. We'll have cones set up and a refreshment station with water, Gatorade, and Carb Boom at the half-way table. Get some refreshments, go around the cones, and run the second half of the course. Please also tell the finish-line staff if you were registered for the half marathon but decided to run the full. Believe it or now, it happens!

We thank our aid station volunteers at Lock 5 (Buy A Brick Foundation), Lock 7 (Ethio-American Athletics Association), and Lock 10 (DC Capital Striders)

Thank you,

Jay Jacob Wind, director, Safety And Health Foundation

(703-927-4833)