Dulles Airport layover run - Dulles, Virginia
You never know what you’ll find when you get out for a run from your hotel, and this run was no exception. Little did I know that I’d be running in the footsteps of the Declaration of Independence and US constitution on an airport layover run.
On a recent trip, my flight was canceled during a connection at the Dulles International Airport near Washington D.C in Virginia. The next flight wasn’t until late afternoon the next day, so I found a nearby hotel to stay for the night. Doing a run wasn’t top of mind when I picked the hotel, so it turned out to be a pleasant surprise when I saw a park on the map when I planned out my run.
The most obvious area to run from the Courtyard Marriott Dulles Town Center is a loop around a mega-mall, the Dulles Town Center. However, if you keep running along Nokes Boulevard to the south, you’ll come to Claude Moore Park. The park features several wooded trails within its boundaries that are in sharp contrast to the concrete and asphalt surroundings in the area. The park is also home to one of the last remaining portions of the Vestal’s Gap Road. This road was one of the key transportation routes in the 1700s, but now very little of it remains. This road was once used to transport the Declaration of Independence and Constitution to safety when the British were approaching Washington in 1814. On the day I rant it, the park trails were very muddy, so I gave up trying to run an entire loop of the park. However, if you are here in the summer, this would be a nice shady run on a very runnable trail system.
Another highlight of the run is the large data centers that you will pass on Nokes Road. This area overall is known as Dulles Technology Corridor, and also Data Center Alley. Data centers from CyrusOne and EdgeCore are along the route. To top off the asphalt experience, I also did some minor hill repeats in the mall parking lot since it was early in the morning and there was very little traffic.
If you are in the Dulles area for work or just a long layover, try out the Claude Moore Park for a quick getaway.
Tracks
Start and End: Courtyard Marriott Dulles Town Center
Distance: 6 miles (10km)
