![]() ![]() Abebe Bikila Day
International Peace Marathon & Half
C&O Canal Towpath at
|
ANNA MWALAGHO
11:00 AM to 12:00 noon
ACTUAL RACES! (WITH APPROPRIATE DISEASE-PREVENTION PROTOCOLS)
• At the start / finish line for timing at Fletcher's Cove, 4940 Canal Road NW, Washington DC
• At Lock 5 for bottled water
• At Lock 7 for bottled water
• At Lock 10 for bottled water
- 2019 Photos by Charlie Milsop | www.chessiephoto.com/abebe2019
- 2018 Photos by Charlie Milsop | www.chessiephoto.com/abmarathon2018
-
2017 Photos by Charlie Milsop
| www.chessiephoto.com/bikila
- Video! Eden Glenn's video of the 9:00 AM group | Eden is the girl with black NIKe hat

- September 7, 2024
- September 6, 2025
Rome, Italy, September 10, 1960
Wearing shoes, he again won the 1964 Olympic Marathon
Tokyo, Japan, October 21, 1964 (photo below)
Read everything about Abebe Bikila's victory

Those were the feet
that accomplished the feat
of conquering the street
that ran through Rome
who robbed his home
where they sacked
the obelisk -- but he won back
© 2018 by Karla McDuffie and SHF


on embilta Radio

- Perfect for experienced runners, charity trainees, and first-timers
- Open to anyone who can finish within 6 hours
- Limited to the first 350 entrants
- Crystal City Marriott at Reagan National Airport (703-413-5500) for $169 USD per night
- $159.00 per night from Thursday, September 5, 2023, to Monday, September 11, 2023
- Last day to book: Friday, August 4, 2023
-
Use event code "SHF Marathon Room Block"
- 2023 Boston Marathon Qualifier! | 8:00 AM start
- Depending on conditions, September 9, 2022, may be the final Saturday to qualify for 2024 Boston Marathon
- We submit marathon finisher times to Boston Athletic Association by 9:59 AM on Monday, September 12, 2022
- Supported by these charities:
ACE Health Foundation - supporting wellness on both sides of the Atlantic
- Buy A Brick Foundation TeamAfrica.com
- Read about Buy A Brick's Stomp Out Malaria Campaign
- Read Buy A Brick Foundation's June 2016 report
- Read Buy A Brick Foundation's letter of thanks for our support
- View Buy A Brick Foundation's photo album
- DC Capital Striders
- Ethio-American Athletics Association
- Marathon Charity Cooperation
- GMAP
- Start and finish at Fletcher's Cove | 4940 Canal Road NW, Washington DC
- USATF-certified FULL and HALF marathon Boston Marathon-qualifying course DC21001RT | Certificate and Map
- T-shirt & Medal Design:
- 2021 Front | 2021 Back
- 2020 Front | PSD
- 2019 Front | PSD | Back | PSD
- 2018 Front | Back
- 2017 Front | PSD | Back | PSD
- 2016 Front | Back
- 2015 Front PDF | Back
- 2014 Front PDF | Back
- 2013 Front | PDF | Back | PDF | Medal
- 2008 Front | Back
- 2007 Front | Back
- Start Times:
- 8:00 AM - Competitive marathon start -- All marathon award winners must take the 8:00 AM marathon start
- 9:00 AM - Competitive half-marathon start -- All half-marathon award winners must take the 9:00 AM start
- 8:00 AM - Non-competitive half-marathon start -- A few awards
- All finishers receive medals and post-race picnic
- Full marathon is a qualifying race for Boston Marathon
- Half and full marathon are both qualifying races for Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and Olympic Trials Marathons
- Change your start time to 9:00 AM or 8:00 AM or distance to full or half or vice versa
- Course:
- Totally flat gravel trail, alongside scenic C&O Canal Towpath
- The half marathon is out 6.5546875 miles to Towpath mile 9.65 (172 yards east of Billy Goat Trail) and back
- The full marathon is out'n'back twice
- How to place the mile marks
- Aid stations with music, water, and Gatorade at 4 junctions with Canal Road & Clara Barton Parkway:
• Fletcher's Cove, miles 0, 13.1, and 26.2 - Lock 5, miles 1.8, 11.3, 14.9, and 24.4
- Lock 7, miles 3.8, 9.3, 16.9, and 22.4
- Lock 10, miles 5.8, 7.3, 18.9, and 20.4
- Spectator Access:
- At the 4 points above, plus:
- Under Chain Bridge
- Lock 6
- Lock 8
- Lock 9
- Lock 11
- Sponsors:
- ACE Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Institute
- Seven convenient locations -- if it hurts, call ACe first at 703-205-1233
- Healthier Wellness
Healthier is a wellness company located in the DMV, primarily offering IV nutrition therapy services, vitamin injections, advanced blood analysis, and a physician-led weight loss program. We are a female founded and female led company with a mission to help everyone live a little healthier. Our number one goal is to give our clients the vitality to be able to enjoy their lives fully, through optimizing how the body works under stress through IV hydration. IV therapy is a part of a more holistic and natural approach to maintaining health and promoting wellbeing. Behind the company you will meet Doctor Aleksandra Gajer and nurse Sabrina Matias. They are dedicated to helping you live a healthier life and feel great.
- Red Top Cab
- For convenient pick-up at National Airport or anywhere into / outside Arlington, call Red Top Cab at 703-522-3333
- Carb Boom! energy Gels
- Read all about Carb BOOM! energy Gels
Pacers Running Store, 3100 Clarendon Boulevard, Arlington VA 22201 (703-248-6883), and five other locations
- Simone Super Energy™
- www.simonesuperenergy.com
- Technical documentation by Dr. Charles Simone:
- "A Safe Healthy Patented Nutritional Alternative to Those 'Popular' Drinks"
- "Comparisons of chemical characteristics"
- "Comparisons of nutritional characteristics"
- "For extreme Performance, Drink Before, During, and After exercise"
Atref Advertisements LLC, PO Box 11797, Alexandria VA 22312 (703-786-6100)
Publisher: Beitania Balcha | email: 7866100@gmail.com
View our full-page ad in this week's edition of ATREF
Free at all local ethiopian shops
Dama Pastry
1505 Columbia Pike, Arlington VA 22204 (703-920-5620)
Dama Market and Restaurant
1503 Columbia Pike, Arlington VA (703-920-3559)Sponsor Us:
- Please join us a sponsor
- Please write us if you want to be an exhibitor or vendor.
- We announce our exhibitors and vendors two weeks before the race and list them on our t-shirt and web site
Packet Pick-Up:
- Thursday, September 7, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM -- Please help with packet assembly and pick up your packet early
- ACe Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Institute, 2841 Hartland Road #401, Falls Church VA
- Friday, September 8, 12:00 noon to 5:45 PM | Pacers Running Store, 3100 Clarendon Boulevard, Arlington VA | MAP
- Saturday, September 9, 7:15 AM to 8:45 AM | on site at Fletcher's Cove, 4940 Canal Road NW, Washington DC
Race-Day Announcer:
- "Showtime Mike" Mebreahtu
- Watch Showtime Mike do his thing on YouTube
History:
- www.britannica.com/biography/Abebe-Bikila
Read about Abebe Bikila's Olympic Marathon victory on September 10, 1960, in Rome, Italy, in 2:15:16.2.
• In addition to becoming a national hero for winning the gold medal, Bikila became famous for running it barefoot.
• He was the first black African to win an Olympic medal, and in 1964 in Tokyo, Japan, he became the first man ever to win two Olympic marathons.- exclusive photos of Abebe Bikila's gravesite
September 11 Memorial:
- In memory of the 184 victims killed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001,
and the thousands more killed that day in New York and Pennsylvania,
before the races, we ring a memorial bell 184 times at 7:45 AM and at 8:45 AMCommemorations:
- To commemorate the anniversary of Abebe Bikila's Olympic Marathon victory in Rome, Italy, on September 10, 1960, and ethiopian New Year's Day on September 11 each year, we host an international cultural exhibition at the start / finish hosted by Buy A Brick Foundation, building schools and hospital in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)
Seifu Mekonnen Volunteer:
- Do you want to help at an aid station or as a volunteer?
- Volunteer Instructions
- Write the race director
Post-race:
- Specially-cast finisher medals, prizes, raffles, and on-course support to keep you pumped up, sponsored food and beverages and much more!
- You get a whole VIP experience with your victory celebration!
- We have everything to make this a great event.
- It is more than a race; it is global event embracing many communities, children and runners at once!
Awards:
- $1,000 in cash awards -- $250 for first overall M/F, $150 for 2nd M/F, $100 for 3rd M/F in the 9:00 AM full marathon
- Gift certificates from sponsors, and SHF warm wooly hats and insulated lunch bags
for 1st, 2nd, 3rd M/F overall and in 10-year age groups 19 & under, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70 & over- We are proud to support Mt. Kilimanjaro Marathon - the world's most challenging marathon
Parking:
- We have 150 spaces at Fletcher's Cove's riverside parking area, and we want to leave some spaces for other park users
- Once we fill all the parking at Fletcher's Cove (maybe 8:15 AM), we direct cars to turn right on Reservoir Road towards free on-street parking, 0.3 to 0.7 miles away
- Please take our Red Top Cab from Sonesta Select Arlington Rosslyn or car-pool to minimize parking delays
Off-Site Parking Options:
- We want as many participants as possible to park off-site, so that we leave some parking spaces available at Fletcher's Cove for the general public
- Palisades Library, 4901 V St NW, Washington, DC 20007
- Our Lady of Victory School, 4755 Whitehaven Pkwy NW, Washington, DC 20007
- CVS/pharmacy, 4859 MacArthur Boulevard NW, Washington, DC 20007
- Park on Clara Barton Parkway northwest of Chain Bridge. Walk down ramp to C&O Canal Towpath, and walk about one mile southeast to Fletcher's Cove
- Park across Chain Bridge on Arlington side. Walk across Chain Bridge, walk down ramp to C&O Towpath, and walk about one mile southeast to Fletcher's Cove
Off-Site Transportation Options:
- We offer Red Top Cab from our host hotel to Fletcher's Cove departing at 7:00 AM on Saturday, September 12, for only $10 round-trip
- From westbound Clara Barton Parkway, Red Top Cab drops you off at Canal Road and Reservoir Road
• The taxis do not enter the small parking area at Fletcher's Cove next to Canal Road.
• If you booked a one-way Red Top Cab, after you finish your race, please ask the announcer to page the crowd for a ride back. Almost everyone who drives to the race goes back via Georgetown and Key Bridge.
• If you booked a round-trip Red Top Cab, after you finish, please form a group of four and ask the dispatcher (look for the sign near the picnic tabl0e) to call a Red Top Cab for you.An SHF 2023 Grand Prix race:
- If you complete this event (half or full marathon), you are entered in SHF's 2023 Grand Prix Series.
- $100 cash award to anyone who completes all three SHF half or full marathons in 2023 - May 1, September 10, and October 1