The Potomac River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States that flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is 405 miles (652 km) long, with a drainage area of 14,700 square miles (38,000 km2), and is the fourth-largest river along the East Coast of the United States and the 21st-largest in the United States. More than 5 million people live within its watershed.
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The highway largely parallels the Atlantic coast and US 1, except for the portion between Savannah, Georgia, and Washington, D.C., and the portion between Portland and Houlton in Maine, both of which follow a more direct inland route.
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, serving several large cities on the West Coast, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland, and Seattle. It is the only continuous Interstate highway to touch both the Mexican and Canadian borders. Upon crossing the Mexican border at its southern terminus, the highway continues to Tijuana, Baja California, as Mexican Federal Highway 1 (Fed. 1). Upon crossing the Canadian border at its northern terminus, it continues to Vancouver as British Columbia Highway 99 (BC 99).
Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 census, it is the most populous county in Virginia, the most populous jurisdiction in the Washington metropolitan area, and the most populous location in the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. The county seat is Fairfax; however, because it is an independent city under Virginia law, the city of Fairfax is not part of the county.
Mount Vernon is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 12,914 at the 2020 census. Primarily due to its historical significance and natural recreation and beauty, the Mount Vernon area receives over one million tourists each year.
Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmark, the estate lies on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, approximately 15 miles south of Washington, D.C..
The East Coast Greenway is a 3,000-mile (4,800 km) pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991 with the goal to use the entire route with off-road, shared-use paths; as of 2021, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) of the route (35%) meets these criteria. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits.
An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometres. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of 31 miles (50 km) and up to 3100 miles. World Championships are held by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) for 50 km, 100 km, 24 hours, and ultra trail running. The Global Organization of Multi-Day Ultramarathoners (GOMU) holds World Championships for 48 hours and 6 days. World Records are ratified and recognized by World Athletics, the IAU, and by GOMU.
The Yellow Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system that runs between Huntington in Virginia and Mount Vernon Square in Washington, D.C. It consists of 13 stations in Fairfax County, the city of Alexandria, and Arlington County in Virginia, and Washington, D.C. It is the shortest line in the system, and since its truncation to Mount Vernon Square, it is the only line that does not enter Maryland.
Rosslyn is a heavily urbanized unincorporated area in Northern Virginia located in the northeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, north of Arlington National Cemetery and directly across the Potomac River from Georgetown and Foggy Bottom in Washington, D.C.
K Street is a major thoroughfare in the United States capital of Washington, D.C., known as a center for lobbying and the location of numerous advocacy groups, law firms, trade associations, and think tanks. In political discourse, "K Street" has become a metonym for lobbying in the United States, the same way Wall Street in New York City became a metonym for the financial markets of the United States, since many lobbying firms are or at least traditionally were located on the section in Northwest Washington which passes from Georgetown through a portion of Downtown Washington, D.C.
The Potomac Heritage Trail, also known as the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail or the PHT, is a designated National Scenic Trail corridor spanning parts of the mid-Atlantic region of the United States that will connect various trails and historic sites in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. The trail network includes 710 miles (1,140 km) of existing and planned sections, tracing the natural, historical, and cultural features of the Potomac River corridor, the upper Ohio River watershed in Pennsylvania and western Maryland, and a portion of the Rappahannock River watershed in Virginia. The trail is managed by the National Park Service and is one of three National Trails that are official NPS units.
The George Washington Memorial Parkway, colloquially the G.W. Parkway, is a 25-mile-long (40 km) limited-access parkway that runs along the south bank of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon, Virginia, northwest to McLean, Virginia, and is maintained by the National Park Service (NPS). It is located almost entirely in Northern Virginia, except for a short portion of the parkway northwest of the Arlington Memorial Bridge that passes over Columbia Island in Washington, D.C.
The Mount Vernon Trail (MVT) is an 18-mile (29 km) long shared use path that travels along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Northern Virginia between Rosslyn and George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. The trail connects the easternmost portions of Arlington County, the City of Alexandria, and Fairfax County, and travels mostly on dedicated trail with a small portion on city streets. As part of U.S. Bike Route 1, the Potomac Heritage Trail and the East Coast Greenway, the MVT opened in April 1972 as a gravel path and was subsequently expanded and paved.
The Northern Virginia trolleys were the network of electric streetcars that moved people around the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., from 1892 to 1941. They consisted of six lines operated by as many as three separate companies connecting Rosslyn, Great Falls, Bluemont, Mount Vernon, Fairfax, Camp Humphries, and Nauck across the Potomac River to Washington, D.C.
Hood To Coast is a long distance relay race that starts at Mount Hood and continues nearly 200 miles to the Oregon Coast. Known as "the mother of all relays", it is the largest running and walking relay in the world, with 12,600 runners in the Hood To Coast relay and 19,000 total participants, including events like the Portland To Coast Walk. Founded in 1982, Hood To Coast is extremely popular and has filled its team limit for the past 36 years, most of the time on opening day of the entrance lottery.
U.S. Route 1 (US 1) is a major north–south U.S. Route that serves the East Coast of the United States. In the U.S. state of Virginia, US 1 runs north–south through South Hill, Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Alexandria on its way from North Carolina to the 14th Street bridges into the District of Columbia. It is completely paralleled by Interstate Highways in Virginia—Interstate 85 (I-85) south of Petersburg, I-95 north to Alexandria, and I-395 into the District of Columbia—and now serves mainly local traffic. At its north end, on the approach to the 14th Street bridges, US 1 is concurrent with I-395; the rest of US 1 is on surface roads.
Washington Boulevard is a major arterial road in Arlington County, Virginia and Washington, DC. The western portion is designated State Route 237, the eastern portion is State Route 27 and the center is an arterial road with no designation. A short portion of the road enters the District of Columbia on Columbia Island, providing a connection between SR 27 and the Arlington Memorial Bridge.
U.S. Route 25 (US 25) runs for 176.882 miles (284.664 km) across the state of Kentucky from the split between US 25E and US 25W in North Corbin to US 42/US 127 at the Ohio state line in Covington.
The 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from April 27 to July 19, leading up to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The route covered 26,875 kilometers (16,699 mi) across the United States and featured a wide variety in the methods of transport used, including bicycles, boats, and trains. The National Pony Express Association participated in the journey, with riders carrying the torch for over 56 continuous hours. The torch was taken on board a replica of a 19th-century packet boat and pulled for 3.2 kilometers (2.0 mi) along the Erie Canal by mule. The torch was also carried into space for the first time, with astronauts taking an unlit torch with them aboard Space Shuttle Columbia as part of STS-78. The relay involved over 12,000 torchbearers, including Muhammad Ali, who was chosen to ignite the Olympic cauldron.
