ICYMI

Here you can find past emails sent to runners. Please note that the most recent email takes prescendence over the older ones.

11-24-25: Taco Bell DC 50k Monday Top Things, Top Items, and Top FAQs email

This email is to really focus on the key things that you need to know for race day. The Top Things to Remember, the Top Items to Bring, and the Top FAQS from other runners that we have received.

Top things to remember about the race (please make sure read #3 and #7 most importantly):

1. The race is this Saturday, November 29, 2025. Location: Taco Bell Cantina, 417 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314

2. Please try to arrive by 6:30am, so you can claim your bib. We plan to have a registration and finishers table set up outside of Taco Bell. There is a huge courtyard are behind the Taco Bell with benches and is probably the best place for our group to gather and get ready for the race.

3. The race will start at 8:00am, on the command, "On your marks, get set, EAT", you then start your watches, start eating, and do not start running to location #2 until you have fully finished your first item. Don't forget to save the wrapper/receipt!

4. Please plan to order all your food items in the app. This will make your life easier and also the staff working at Taco Bell.

5. Be safe, you hear it all the time, all road crossings can be dangerous, so look both ways and only cross the street when things are perfectly clear. These are open roads, they will be busy with a ton of holiday weekend traffic.

6. Please be polite and kind to the Taco Bell staff, they likely have never seen anything like what they are about to see on Saturday.

7. When you have finished the run, you will have a nice sprint down Pitt St. and turn left onto King and the Taco Bell finish will await you. You will be happy and tired. Do not stop your watch yet. You need to go inside, get your last item, and finish it, then stop your watch and your race will be over. Come over to the finishers table and record your name, bib #, and time and claim your finishers item from us.

8. We will strike the finishers and time recording table at 7:00pm. If you are not finished at 7:00pm, you can still finish the course, but we will likely be gone. The person who finishes last, before the time cutoff of 7:00pm will receive the coveted DFL award. We also have prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Awards and bibs provided by Signs by Tomorrow. Thank you!

Top items to bring with you:

1. Phone with Taco Bell app and your navigation plan.

2. Taco Bell app, with your favorite food items (including the required ones) and all route locations saved within the app. This will make your life so much easier on Saturday.

3. Battery backup to charge phone and cable, odds are good your phone battery will die.

4. Zip lock bags, at least 3. A large on for your wrappers and receipts. And smaller ones for your phone, battery charger.

5. Safety pins for your bib, please bring 4, like you have for a normal race.

6. Reflective vest.

7. Headlamp, if you plan to finish after 5:00pm.

Top FAQs from you, the runners

1. QUESTION: Can I buy all my food items in advance or at different locations and carry them with me to avoid the possible delays? ANSWER: Yes, in theory, you can buy all of your food on Friday and carry it with you on Saturday (tupperware is recommended) but you must start eating, and fully consume one item, per location, in it's entirety, before running to the next location, for all 9 stops.

2. QUESTION: Can I customize the menu items to meet my dietary preferences? ANSWER: Yes, the Taco Bell menu can be easily customized for almost any dietary preference.

3. QUESTION: Can I start and finish eating my item outside of the Taco Bell location? ANSWER: Yes, but you cannnot advance to the next stop until you have fully consumed one item at each location.

4. QUESTION: Is there a Strava or GPX of the route? ANSWER: Yes, it is posted on the website https://tacobelldc50k.com/. Please note that these routes are provided as guides, many runners will use them, but not atll. You can are responsible to navigate the course, using any directions you want, but must visit all stores in order.

5. QUESTION: I didn't get a confirmation email am I still entered in the run? ANSWER: Yes, if you are reading this email, your entry is there, and we expect to see you on Saturday, no backing is allowed :)

6. QUESTION: What does by the 4th stop and by the 8th stop mean for required items. ANSWER: By the 4th stop (this means, at stop 1, 2, 3 or 4), all entrants must have consumed at least one (1) Chalupa Supreme or one Crunchwrap Supreme (dietary restrictions will be allowed within reason).

7. By the 8th stop (this means, at stop 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8) all entrants must have consumed at least one (1) Burrito Supreme or one Nachos Bell Grande (dietary restrictions will be allowed within reason).

Literally everything you need to know is on the website, please read through it: https://tacobelldc50k.com/

Let us know if you have any questions. If you don't hear from us again, happy Thanksgiving!

That's it for tonight, hasta manana,

Phil and Mike

11-23-25: Taco Bell DC 50k - I ran the course yesterday, what did I learn? 1 week to go!

Hola amigos,

I decided to run the course yesterday, so I could see what fun we have in store for you next Saturday. I wanted to talk to the mangers on duty and let them know they need to be ready for up to 1,000 runners next weekend coming in hungry for their Taco Bell, so hopefully they'll be ready. But if they're not, please be kind and patient with them regardless!

You guys are in for a treat. The course is amazing and you will get to see so much of what the DMV has to offer! I used Google maps links to navigate. I had the https://www.tacobelldc50k.com website up the whole day and would just click on the link to the next restaurant as I went.

Stop 1:
I started yesterday morning a little after 7:00am. I woke up, geared up, and using the Taco Bell app, ordered the first required item, the crunchwrap supreme, and headed over to the parking garage. I used the Spot Hero app to book parking at the Alexandrian hotel, right across the street from Taco Bell, it was perfect. There are only 2 bathrooms here, and you will need a code.

At 7:14am I started my watch and started eating. It took me about 7 minutes to get down the cruncwrap supreme, and then we were off and running. It was cool and a little rainy, but felt good.

Stop 2:
The run to the first store is gradually uphill, but pretty straightforward and easy. There are a couple of tricky road crossings, especially as you arrive at store 2. The bathrooms here required a code. When I arrived here, I ate my second required ITEM and was off and running.

Stop 3: This was one of the longer segments, as you run mostly uphill to Arlington, you might run dirt trail and road shoes are fine. My navigation had lots of turns, but was easy to follow. Crossing Lee Hwy is a busy road, be careful. I ate, mixed up tailwind, and was off the next stop.For the fastest runners, please note that this store does not open until 9:00, so hopefully they will be ready for you.

Stop 4: Is a short run to the Wilson Blvd. location. A nice cantina. I tried to eat quickly and was happy to be off to DC!

Stop 5: This was about 5 miles away and involved running down M. St. There was a ton of pedestrians on the sidewalk you will have to dodge. And since it's the first Saturday after Thanksigiving, I'm sure it will be busy people later on when the stores start to open. Please be nice to them too :) There's lot of street crossings in DC, so please be careful with all of them. Arrived at store 5, by far the smallest store, there's only 2 tables. You probably just want to grab your food, eat your item, and get on to stop 6. Special note about all the DC stops. Once you arrive in DC, all the locations are pretty close to each other, so you may want to think of the best plan to order your food for these locations. Overall, I think navigation is pretty easy and straightforward in DC, but you still need to pay attention and there's lot of street crossings.

Stop 6: Is very close, so make sure your order is in. This is a much bigger and nicer cantina location as well. One of my favorite stops.

Stop 7: Was near Capital One arena and China Town. A fun and good location. I was in and out and excited to get to Union Station for the final DC stop.

Stop 8: Is inside Union Station and can be tricky to find. When you enter the main atrium of Union Station, you need to walk back until you see the stairs leading down. Taco Bell is downstairs, yes you will have to walk down stairs at this point :). There's a good public restroom across from Taco Bell. There is a huge food court area, when you can sit and eat. There is not a drink station here. Once you are done eating here, you are ready for the 9 mile run back to Alexandria. Its a great run past the Capitol and Jefferson. I found out there's a public restroom, INSIDE, under the Jefferson memorial. I had no idea that was there! So if you need a final stop, that's a good one to use and can refill some water there if needed. Then it's over the bridge and over to Mt. Vernon trail for an easy cruise back to Alexandria.

Stop 9: You have finished, do not stop your watch yet, you still need to go inside, get your last item, eat it, then stop your watch. Once you consume your 9th item, your race is over. I celebrated my finish with a Mexican pizza! It's a cantina. On race day, we will have a finishers table to record your time, share your stories, and collect your finisher's item.

It was hard for me to report how long each stop took since some were longer than others and I was talking to the managers there. But I think most stops were 5 to 12 minutes. That's a big range, but think most of you can get in and out in 5 minutes or so, if you just eat and run. According to Garmin, there was almost an hour of stopping time, even at 5 minutes per stop, that's 45 minutes of eating time that will be added on to most of your times.

Here is my Garmin data if interested: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/21064062585

Key points to remember:

• Download the Taco Bell app. Save all route locations. Save as favorites, everything you plan to eat, including the 2 required items. Remember you can customize the item and then rename it. If you don't do this, you going to slow yourself down!

• Order your first item or bring your first item to the start line. REMEMBER, at 8:00am, the race starts, start your watches, eat your item, then start running. You must eat before running to next store.

• When you finish, do not stop your watch, you need to go inside, eat your final item, then stop your watch when done.

• You can fill up on water at the self-serve drink stations at all locations.

• Remember, you can order multiple food items,

• While eating, set up your next location in the Taco Bell app and start your navigation to the next store, if needed.

• Remember, you can navigate however you want to the next store, but must go in order. You are not required to follow GPX or Strava routes, those are provided only as a guide.

• Bring a battery charger and cable for your phone. You will be using it for pictures, navigation, and ordering your Taco Bell, along with the colder weather, the battery will drain fast. Mine was dead by stop 5 (and normally lasts all day). If your battery dies, you will probably have problems. I think the stores also have public plugs you can use, but your won't be there long, so probably want to have a portable one you can carry and charge while running.

• Bring zip lock bags: I used 3: a large one for receipts/wrappers, one for my cell phone, one for my batter charger and cable.

• Remember to save all your wrappers in a large ziplock bag.

• It's probably good to buddy up with someone, work together, and in case phone dies.

• Please take lots of photos and videos and share them with us and tag us #tacobelldc50k & @tacobelldc50K and @mikewardian

I think that's about everything I can think of at this time. Hope this helps get you thinking about your run strategy.

It was a super fun day and you guys are going to have the best time, doing something different and unique.

The Taco Bell DC 50k is going to be awesome, it's going to be epic, and we are stoked that you are going to be a part of it!

Let me know if you have any questions and see you Saturday!

Phil and Mike