Running. Running miles around Wards 7 & 8. Running miles along the neighborhoods of the eastern side of the Anacostia River. Along the East Bank. Running miles on roads ignored by city agencies. Through housing projects hurriedly constructed and then forgotten by their developers. Through areas of poverty concentrated through government policy. Up and down hills that offer impressive vistas of the city rare and valued in other Wards. Past underfunded and underperforming schools. Past gas stations and convenience stores but few restaurants and fewer grocery stores. Past inspiring but abused contemporary libraries. Past the hardest workers in DC. Past kids who are hardly given a chance in life. Across the third and fourth largest Wards in the city. Across land once full of a balanced relationship between wildlife and human settlement. Across land abused by agriculture and shaped by segregation.
