Death By Do Loop
Since it can be easy for the uninitiated to get lost, “Death by Do Loop” is a chance to become familiar with this section of the Bull Run Run 50 mile course, while seeing how many laps you can do.
- Date
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- Sat Feb 10, 2024
- Start location
- Start time
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- 8:00 am
- Distance
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- 7 miles
- Total ascent/descent
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- 900 feet
A DC Capital Striders (and now also Virginia Happy Trails Running Club) tradition that predates the Bull Run Run training run series is the infamous Death By Do Loop! For 2024, this will be the second of the three planned BRR prep runs on the 50 miler course.
For the uninitiated, the “Do Loop” is a particularly infamous chunk of the Bull Run Run course. It is the southernmost section, and is accessed from Fountainhead Regional Park. From the large, Bull Run-Occoquan trailhead parking lot, it is a ~7 mile out-and-back lollipop, with lots of rolling hills, some steep but all short. Since it can be easy for the uninitiated to get lost, “Death by Do Loop” is a chance to become familiar with this section of the course while seeing how many laps you can do. The course will be minimally marked; hopefully you will run enough Loops to master this section, and to remove the mystery of the Do Loop prior to the BRR race day in early April! And if you really want to master the Do Loop, the current record is 8 loops for ~56 miles by Ellen Hart.
If you’d like to share, bring some snacks or drinks for common aid; this will stock the pot-luck aid station in the Fountainhead parking lot to allow for refueling between loops. This aid station then converts to a social zone for recovery with friends, in what is traditionally a festive post-Death gathering. So come for the loops and stay for the “wake”!
Death by Do Loop co-founder George Scott will once again be hosting this macabre event. Feel free to contact George if you have questions about this run!
Last updated November 2, 2023
Club Event Participant Medical Policy
This is an event with very real risks to your well being. The VHTRC does not provide medical care for runners at this event. Runners are responsible for their own health, safety, and well being at this event. No doctors, nurses, or emergency medical technicians, or anyone with any medical training are available along the course, at any aid station, or at the finish. The club does not supply any medical goods or services, including bandages, splints, antiseptic, or Ibuprofen or any other drugs to maintain the health of runners. Physical, medical, and emergency care is the runners' responsibility. In case of an emergency, we will endeavor to get local emergency personnel to an injured runner as soon as possible. Since most of our events are in remote areas, medical care may be far away in distance or time. Each year, runners finish — or are forced to drop out — with scrapes, deep cuts, hematomas, dislocations, and sprains. Runners have experienced cuts, bruises, bee stings, and asthma attacks. This is an event with very real risks.