I am not that familiar with races, so I can't give a personal reccomendation but the DC Road RUnner's Club does a lot in the area. I think they have two races coming up just this weekend in fact. And their races are cheap. I am signed up to do the Cherry Blossom, but I think the George Washington Parkway 10 mile Classic is right after that -- and I am thinking of doing both. But I am unsure of accessibility for those w/o cars. There used to be an area race called the Georgetown Classic, but I don't think it's been run in a few years.

I was also intimidated by running clubs, but I went with a friend to the DC Road Runner's track workout a few months ago and have been going ever since. They meet in Ballston on Wednesdays for speed work (I am not that speedy though...about 9:30-10:00mm...which translates to about 8:30--9:00mm on the track for speed stuff). It's metro accessible if you are living downtown (orange line), but I guess not all that condusive to MD. I hear good things about the Mongomery County runners club, but I am not familiar with them or other groups that actually meet in DC.

I just moved back to the DC area recently, the Annapolis 10 miler is another good one, as well as the Hartwood Ten Miler(near Fredericksburg), in late August. They have the Blue and Gray Half in the middle of September.

Montgomery County Road Runners has a
"group for every pace". We have over 4000 runners
in Mont County and are pretty low key if you want.
The website is www.mcrrc.org[/URL" target="_blank"> and it lists club races
(that are free for members, $5 for non-mem) and
gives you a flavor for the club. I think there 's a
club run every day except Friday. I run Tues/Thur
and there are usually from 10-20 people there.