Race Celebrates Healthy Dating Practices

As Valentine’s Day approaches, there’s much attention on relationships. Next month, a 6-mile race will weave through Arlington to promote healthy relationships and to bring attention to domestic violence.

The “No Fear in Love Race” is designed to celebrate healthy relationships and to teach teens and young adults how to avoid unhealthy ones. The idea behind the name is that experiencing fear in a relationship is an early indication that it may be unhealthy.

The third annual event begins at Marymount’s Ballston Center (1000 N. Glebe Road), and the race will take place on the Custis and W&OD Trails. There will be refreshments, group and individual race prizes, raffles, and discussions about the promotion of healthy dating relationships.

Advance registration is available online for $25, and same day registration will be $30. Race organizer Karen Bontrager hopes to raise $3,000 to offer a dating abuse survivor a one year scholarship to George Mason University.

“I have been on both sides,” Bontrager said. “If we can bring one person from darkness to light, it will be a life saved.”

Race time on Saturday, February 23, is at sunrise (6:45 a.m.), signifying movement from darkness to light. Participants are encouraged to wear purple because it is the color of royalty, and Bontrager says that is how everyone deserves to be treated in a relationship. Participants will also be able to honor a survivor of domestic violence.