Thank you so much for your support of and participation in Friends of the W&OD Trail 10K and College of the Environment last Saturday.

Despite intermittent rain showers throughout the day and one big deluge just prior to the start of the race, we had 227 finishers, of more than 330 signed up. We had many College of the Environment exhibitors on hand to engage and inform the public. U.S. Senator Mark Warner was able to peruse the exhibits and chat with the exhibitors, then present a U.S. flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol to Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority W&OD Trail manager Karl Mohle and Friends of the W&OD Trail president Roger Neighborgall.

In all, 30 organizations supported the event in some way.

Many thanks to our returning exhibitors Athleta at Tysons Corner Center, ING Financial Partners, Juice Plus+, and Potomac Appalachian Trail Club,

We welcomed new exhibitors including The Hope Center for Advanced Veterinary Medicine, FastSigns, Shelter Box, Historic Vienna Inc. -- Freeman Store, Truly-Life, The Women's Center of Vienna, and David Guillaudeau, author of “Washington & Old Dominion Railroad,” a history in photographs and short essays.

Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority took their usual spot at center stage, and roving naturalist David Garcia brought a lively little box turtle to the delight of the youngsters. The Optimist Club opened the red caboose for us; they "left the station at 4:00 PM and returned at 8:00 PM," they told me with a wink.

We thank our other sponsors: Virginia Hospital Center, Anytime Fitness, Ayr Hill Garden Club, Bechtel and their many volunteers, BOWA (Transforming Houses into Homes), Great Harvest Bread Company, Jack Taylor Alexandria Toyota, JK Enterprise Landscape Supply, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, RedStar WorldWear, Road Runner Sports, Transurban, Whole Foods Market of Vienna.

Special appreciation goes to Kenneth Trinh and his three volunteers who organized the very successful recycling initiatives. For the first time ever, Kenneth brought e-waste collection to the event, we separated all wastes into foodstuffs for compost and paper/plastic for recycling, and we collected used shoes on behalf of the More Foundation Group (formerly Perpetual Prosperity Pumps Foundation for Africa.)

Thanks also to Monica McDuffie whose presence for the past 4 years at the

College of the Environment has been indispensable.

We look forward to seeing you again next year!

Jay Wind, Director, Safety and Health Foundation; secretary, Friends of the W&OD

Karla McDuffie, Dean, College of the Environment