Just Around the Block

Just Around the Block takes place in Havre de Grace, Maryland, on October 25, 2026. There is a single distance, 4 miles, and it starts at 8:00 a.m. in the town at the head of the Chesapeake Bay where the Susquehanna River meets it.

Four miles is an underrated race distance. It is long enough that going out too hard will cost you, short enough that you can run it close to 10K effort and recover within a couple of days. Treat it as a hard tempo effort rather than an all-out 5K: settle into a pace you could hold for about half an hour, then press over the final mile. Six weeks of consistent running with one weekly threshold session is ample preparation.