Our 2022 December Runner Spotlight is on George Doumar. George is an attorney during the day (9 years at “Big Law,” 8 years at medium-sized law firms, 18 years with my own small law firm, now affiliated with another small firm).
He started running in 8th grade and began running cross country through high school and his first year of college. He started distance running again in 2006 when his doctor told him to “get better habits or die young.” George recalls “another soccer dad saw me jogging around a soccer field and suggested I join his Saturday long run group. I did and in September 2006, I ran my first half marathon and since then I’ve run 9 marathons and around 90 half marathons.”
George runs anywhere between 20 and 80 events a year. “Some years I’ve traveled around to run 10-15 half-marathons, other years I’ve done lots of 5K’s and 10K’s, other years I’ve been nursing a sore knee or other injury between runs.”
What is your most embarrassing running experience? or biggest accomplishment? “In high school I was winning a race and then took a wrong turn and finished back in the pack. I did the same thing a week later and became “Wrong Way” Doumar. Another embarrassment was when I worked my way up to varsity cross country freshman year of college, and in my first multi-team race, I finished dead last by a lot (Alberto Salazar of Oregon was first that day); I soon quit cross country to focus on academics. Biggest running accomplishment is every time I finish a marathon, most recently Berlin in September 2022. I also always wanted to run the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach from the time I was in high school, and I finally did it in 2019 at age 57.”
What’s a random fact about you? “My great uncle Ibrahim (Abe) Doumar invented the waffle cone at the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904, and I grew up working in the family ice cream business and diner in Norfolk Va. I really like wearing dinosaur t-shirts. Especially ones with T-rexes and “Littlefoot” from the Land Before Time cartoon.”
What keeps you coming back for more of our events? “Bishops Events is welcoming, inclusive and the Bishops runners are my brothers and sisters. Runners of all abilities, ages, genders and races, from all walks of life, everybody supports each other. It’s like a big family always happy to have new members. Even a sometimes cranky guy in his early 60’s with a gimpy knee feels welcome. The races are well-organized, easy to register for, and I’ve enjoyed the different locales in the DMV area, many of which I had never visited before.”
What is one of your favorite races or courses? “Among Bishops races, the Colonial Beach 10K along the shore or the Columbia Island Marina 10K along the Potomac; among non-Bishops races, the Bermuda Half Marathon, it was waterfront all the way and one big loop.”
Come meet George at one of our upcoming runs!