Our mission is “To enhance our members' enjoyment of the sport of running” The Northern Virginia Running Club is a member of the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) and is governed by elected officers and a Board of Directors, who are experienced runners. The club is dedicated to promoting running and racing. Members’ ages range from the teens through the 70s, with a variety of abilities and running backgrounds. Most members live in Alexandria and Arlington, but many live in other communities throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland, and the District. People join NOVA because they have one thing in common: running. Some NOVA members are serious athletes and have been training and competing in races for decades, some have been working out with the club for a few years, while others are just starting out because they are interested in getting back into shape. Some members regularly participate in biathlons or triathlons, of which running is just one event. Others are hoping to complete and do well in at least one marathon, and then we have members who would not even consider doing any race longer than a 10k. NOVA has all sorts of runners! Given the huge variance in our member’s levels of experience, fitness, their personal goals, etc., we find ourselves facing the challenge as to how we can create and maintain an environment that best allows members to participate as individuals all the while maintaining that comfortable feeling that comes from doing things as a group. To meet this challenge we organize the club activities in specific running and social activities. These activities include the Tuesday track workouts, pizza after the track work, Thursday tempo runs, weekend long runs, bagels and breakfast after the long runs, social events, fun races, and team-racing participation in local events. NOVA also has specific planned activities to keep people involved in volunteering in the community, not only running-wise but also taking care of the physical environment of trails and parks. The NOVA officers and Directors have assigned roles in seeing that these particular activities are executed. To the degree that each of these activities become successful depends very much upon the level of participation, we get from members.