Event Description

🧤 Snowball Series. Race #1

🏃‍♂️ Run. Share. Celebrate.
Join us for the Bread Run 10K & Gingerbread 2-Miler — a festive winter tradition where runners race for fun and exchange homemade bread. Whether you're chasing a PR or just enjoying the season, this community event blends fitness, flavor, and holiday spirit in one unforgettable morning.

📅 Race Day Schedule

• 09:00 AM -- Check-In
• 10:00 AM -- Gingerbread 2 Miler (Fun run for all ages)
• 10:30 AM -- Bread Run 10K (USATF-certified course)

Registration and Fees:  Online advance registration through 8 PM the day before the race:

• Free for DC Road Runners Club members
• Free with a home-baked loaf of bread 
• $10 for non-members without bread

On-site(day-of-race) Registration:    If you wish to register on race day, YOU MUST enter with a loaf of bread.  There are no exceptions!

Course: USATF-certified 10K loop course on MacArthur Boulevard and the C&O Canal Towpath. Click here for the course map

Race Director(s): Bob Thurston and Delabian Rice-Thurston

🥖 The Bread Tradition/Awards
The Bread Run is named for its most unique feature — every runner brings a home-baked loaf of bread as their entry fee, and after the race, loaves are exchanged among participants.

But here’s the twist: bread is awarded based on race finish placement! The faster you run, the earlier you get to choose from the delicious selection of homemade loaves. From sourdough to banana bread, it’s a tasty incentive to push your pace — and a fun way to celebrate the season.

📝 Please label your bread with ingredients for those with allergies. — We love the homemade touch!

Bread Contribution: Entry fee is a loaf of home-baked (not store-bought!) bread. Contact race directors Bob Thurston and Delabian Rice-Thurston, if you need clarification as to what qualifies as "home-baked." 

If you signed up for the race and can no longer run please email races@dcroadrunners.org to inform us of your cancelation.  There will be no refund for canceling but you will open up a spot for a fellow runner.

If you would like information about our club membership and the many benefits, go to DCRRC membership page.

🗓️ History:

A note from Race Director Delabian Rice-Thurston:

What is the “Bread” contribution of “The Bread Run 10K”? We’ve had a couple of questions from people new to the race. Here’s a bit of history.  When my husband Bob came up with this idea 45 years ago, our now-43-year-old was on my back in a yurt at Glen Echo for the first race, and Bob had gotten into baking bread. He wanted to do a 10K with hot drinks, fresh breads and conversation after the race for the club. He got Glen Echo as the venue, baked some 48 loaves and put on the race. Breads were given as prizes and eaten by all. It was a cold run and the first time we had a 10K “short” winter race with hot refreshments that I can remember. People thought it was a great idea and wanted to contribute their own breads to the next race.  Thus, the Bread Run became a winter holiday institution! 

If you’d like to get what you brought as a prize, then it’s fine to bring it.  That’s it in a nutshell.