Here is more information about the Maryland Start for Potomac River Run Marathon, Sunday, May 5.

1. IF YOU ARE ON THIS LIST, please meet the Red Top Cab in front of Key Bridge Marriott, 1401 Lee Highway, Arlington VA, at 6:00 AM on Sunday, May 5.

  • Laura Raeder Sioux Falls SD
  • Paul Richard Sommer Montclair NJ
  • Alice B. Schneider Wyoming OH
  • Joanne Juzwiak Hillsborough NJ
  • Ali A. Ibrahim Hillsborough NJ
  • Gail W. McKane Hillsborough NJ
  • Michael Keefer Washington DC
  • Katie Miller Washington DC

    We will have two four-passenger cabs from Key Bridge Marriott to Lock 5 with signs "TO MARYLAND START." The two cabs will depart by 6:10 AM. Don't be late.

    Please do not take any of the cabs that say "TO FLETCHER'S COVE START"

    To get to Lock 5 safely, the cab will pass Lock 5 westbound to Lock 7, make a legal U-turn, then double back to Lock 5 so the driver can let you out safely. We timed the cab ride with the U-turn at 15 minutes.

    2. IF YOU ARE ON THIS LIST, you are not signed up for the cab ride, but you are signed up for the MD Start.

  • Darwin Weimer Emerald Park, Saskatchewan CANADA
  • Terry Weimer Emerald Park, Saskatchewan CANADA
  • Stephen M. Siegel Bethesda MD
  • Daniel L Hausser Jackson NJ
  • Frank Bartocci Rochester MN
  • Katherine Leigh Page Waltham MA
  • Eimar Barr Pound Ridge NY
  • Robert Gordon Jenkins New York NY
  • Margaret M. Seymour Virginia Beach VA
  • Janet Burgess Renton WA
  • Jim G. Simpson Huntington Beach CA
  • Sandra J. Colangelo Bethesda MD
  • Benjamin Jason Emley Port Washington NY
  • Deneen Waddell New Berlin WI
  • Bettie Wailes Winter Park FL
  • Patrick Adam Wagstrom Arlington VA
  • Carol Goslin Kansas City MO

    To get to Lock 5,

    o From Georgetown, drive westbound on M Street NW -- becomes Canal Road at Foxhall Road -- becomes Clara Barton Parkway at Chain Bridge. After the sign "Maryland State Line," watch for the sign "Little Falls Branch." From that sign, Lock 5 is 0.3 miles farther west. You see the white footbridge over Clara Barton Parkway and the permanent toilets to the left. The median strip begins about 50 feet EAST of the gravel area where you can park at Lock 5. You may take the risk and bear left, wait for any oncoming traffic to pass, and carefully turn onto the gravel area in front of the permanent toilets.

    Alternatively, you can proceed west, pass Lock 6, and make a legal U-turn at the first parking area west of Lock 6 (no sign exists there) onto eastbound Clara Barton Parkway.

    From eastbound Clara Barton Parkway, watch for Little Falls Pumping Station, then the sign for Lock 6. From that sign, Lock 5 is 0.4 miles east. No sign exists for Lock 5. You see the white footbridge over Clara Barton Parkway. Carefully turn onto the gravel area in front of the permanent toilets.

    3. Please do not bring any personal belongings to the MD Start. We will not have facilities at Lock 5 to store personal belongings.

    If you drive to Lock 5, please leave your personal belongings in your vehicle. The only thing you may need to carry during the race is your car key.

    If you take the cab to Lock 5, please ask one of the runners who drove to Lock 5 to store any of your personal belonging in the car.

    4. We advise everyone in the MD Start to pick up their bib number, t-shirt, and goodie bag at packet pick-up on Thursday, May 2, 6-8 PM at Road Runner Sports, 1120 West Broad Street, Falls Church VA; or Saturday, May 4, 3-6 PM at Georgetown Running Company, 3401 M Street NW, Washington DC.

    We assign bib numbers 2-29 to MD Starters, alphabetically, so we can easily separate them from the rest of the pack. Please remember that when you pick up your bib number. Please say, "I'm a Maryland Starter" when you pick up your bib number on Thursday or Saturday. We assign all other bib numbers alphabetically.

    For those who do not pick up their packets early, when you get to Lock 5, associate race director Liza Recto will have your bib numbers; but we will have your t-shirt and goodie bags waiting for you after you finish at Fletcher's Cove.

    Liza and I will synchronize via cell phone to assure that the two starts at Milestone 5 and Fletcher's Cove at 7:00 AM are simultaneous. Expect a countdown 5-4-3-2-1 and a whistle.

    5. Lock 5 is about 1.8 miles west of the start at Fletcher's Cove. The certified marathon course starting from Lock 5 heads EAST from Milestone 5 about 0.9 miles on the C&O Canal Towpath to a turnaround point about 50 meters east of Chain Bridge, about 0.1 miles west of Milestone 4 and the concrete spillway on the C&O Canal Towpath. We will mark the MD Starter turnaround with 3 cones with signs: "Approaching MD Starter Turnaround," "MD turnaround next cone," and "MD turnaround here." As you approach the cones, please stay RIGHT. When you get to the third cone, please turn around LEFT to join the larger group of runners who started at 7:00 AM at Fletcher's Cove. From there on, your distance and time is exactly the same as all the other starters.

    6. Gib Leonard of BuyABrickFoundation TeamAfrica.com will ride his electric bicycle along with the leaders of the MD Start to the turnaround. Then he will monitor the turnaround until the last MD Starter makes the turn. Then he will pick up the 3 cones and speed westbound, dodging outbound runners hither and yon, until he gets to the half / full marathon turnaround point about 0.2 miles west of the I-495 underpass on the C&O Canal Towpath, about 0.2 east of Milestone 10. At that turnaround cone, everyone makes the turn and heads east back to Fletcher's Cove. When you get back to Fletcher's Cove, you have complete a half marathoners; turn around at the midpoint at Fletcher's Cove and cover the course again to make a full marathon. Gib Leonard will have a clipboard to record the bib numbers of all who make the two turnarounds, to verify that everyone who qualifies for an award made the turnaround twice.

    7. To get back from the finish at Fletcher's Cove to your vehicle at Lock 5, please ask us to announce via the PA system "We need a ride to Lock 5 for [name]" We will also have signs "I need a ride back to Lock 5" and "I can provide a ride back to Lock 5."

    -- Thank you

    -- Jay Jacob Wind, director

    --Safety And Health Foundation