about her ordeal. alone, trap and precariously close to the edge of a creek. yet, as tracee wilkins shows us, the victim's first thought wasn't even for her own well being. >> that's amazing to me. >> reporter: there are some things de anna reed remembers about her accidents yesterday and some she doesn't. >> oh, wow. see, i don't remember any of that part of it at all. >> reporter: i showed her my story covering the devastating crash that sent her honda flying some 30 feet off the beltway and into an embankment. >> i'm getting the pulley, pulling the car up, just how rough it must have been when the car went down. that's why i'm amazed by this, because the window for me to get out had been shattered. >> reporter: de anna says she was struck by a speeding vehicle that didn't stay on the scene. witnesses reported seeing her car lose control and ride the

guardrail before going over the edge. >> and i saw the trees and i could see me hit willing them and i couldn't feel any bumps. i felt like i was gliding all the time. >> the parred me innings on the scene said they had no idea how you crawled out of that car on your own. how do you think you did it? >> jesus, like i said before. it's only explanation i would have. >> reporter: de anna survived this devastating crash with minor scratches and some swelling. >> just, these are the only cuts i ended up with. >> reporter: she says without a doubt -- >> doesn't even look like my car. >> reporter: it was more than her seat belt that saved her life. >> i want to give glory to god so people see the god in this situation and not the travesty of the car accident. >> reporter: maryland state troopers say they are continuing their investigation into the cause of this crash, but at this point, they have now officially rule it had a hit and run n college park, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. washington star quarterback

has a message for gay football players, come out. robert griffin, iii says that in an interview in the september issue of "gq" magazine. rg3 says he believe god looks at us all in the same way. told the magazine "i think there are gay players right now. fanned they are looking for a window to just come out, i mean, now is that window. my view on it is yes, i'm christian, but to each his own. you can do what you want to do." in the interview, rg3 also reveals he has never tasted alcohol and says he has never smoked or done drugs. d.c. is constantly transforming and many parts of the city have seen dramatic changes in recent years. now, two residents in southeast are working to end negative and outdated stereotypes about their neighborhood. and as news4's danella sealock reports, they are using the power of social media to deliver their message. >> yay.

>> that's great. >> reporter: david gar ver and nikki peel both live and work in southeast d.c. together, they create and online campaign aimed at fighting against negative stereotypes. >> awesome. thank you so much. >> reporter: inspired by valentine's day, southeast love was born. with sign in hand, they hit the streets and began photographing and tweeting people who call southeast home. >> basically, our concept is we are just coming around and having people hold these southeast love signs and kind of spread the love of the quadrant. look this way. one, two, three. >> reporter: as david and nikki snapped away, pictures flooded the internet with enthusiasts displaying their southeast love. >> some people made their own since. that was cool. >> a lot of people made their own signs. >> honestly, people felt somebody was saying something positive about the place these live and that they work and they enjoy. that is not something that people had really heard kind of

in a more general sense, more people kind of celebrating southeast and actually saying good things about it. >> reporter: what do you want people to do with the movement now? what are their hopes? >> go to southeast on both sides of the river around bring their friends and family and have a good time and spread the good word about southeast and about the district of columbia. >> i mean, we didn't really start this with a plan. we just wanted to do something mosstive and i think that ae's something positive and i think that's what we did. >> reporter: i'm danielle nah sealock, nbc four, washington. >> great for them. visitors at an historic site in the district may have noticed some out-of-place wildlife recently. more than 100 goats were let loose for a week to graze on the land at washington's congressional cemetery in southeast. organizers told our tony tull, the goats aren't just good for the district's budget, they are also good for the environment. >> we have a wooded area adjacent to the cemetery that is full of invasive species. we needed to clear those species

out because they were killing our trees. >> cemetery says the goats are a better alternative to just mowing the weeds away because the seeds of those unwanted plants can still spread when they're cut. the goats, on the other hand, eat the seeds and keep them from regrowing. they are hungry. it's a recipe for success. still to come, the program that's looking for more students to take advantage of a world-class cooking experience. plus, they could be the rst humans to ever set foot on another planet. and they are from our area. and they are from our area. how the newest members of

february, 2013. a landmark transportation bill is up for consideration. even though it's backed by republican governor mcdonnell... ken cuccinelli joins tea party republicans to block the plan. but terry mcauliffe believes it's time to break through the gridlock in richmond. mcauliffe presses democrats to support the bill. and the bill passes. terry mcauliffe. putting virginia first. "i'm terry mcauliffe, candidate for governor, and i sponsored this ad." some high school students in our area are getting the opportunity of a lifetime, learning how to cook from some of d.c.'s best chefs. news4's jackie vincent tells us more about the program that is making a big difference, one dish at a time. >> did you change out your cutting board like i told you to? >> no, sir. >> reporter: while many of his

friends were home playing video games, ramon haggans, just 17 years old, spent the summer learning to stand the heat in the kitchen of chef fabio. he is a past best chef awardee by the prestigious james beard foundation. without the benefit of family connections or impressive resume i the buoy high school student, seen here under the direction of chef de cuisine frank is showing the standards that make the penn quarter a destination for food lovers. what was the thing that amazed you the most? >> the food, the type of food they have here. it's like unique, never seen it before. >> reporter: for 15 years, yvette williams and her husband, troy, a professional chef have been the face of the non-profit careers through culinary arts program, known as ccap at schools in prince georges county and the district. the program helps deserving students with paid internships and culinary school tuition. >> what we teach first is discipline. the kitchen is all about discipline.

if you get the discipline, you go a long way. >> reporter: but interest in the program declined in recent years. local chefs got busy as d.c. became a foodie destination. that changed dramatically this summer when attorney-turned-restauranteur, mark culler, who helped put d.c.'s restaurant scene on the national radar around got involved. >> almost every chefr i wrote to, every restauranteur responded that they would be happy to sponsor an intern. so, we immediately had an opportunity to place about 25 interns. i don't even think we ended up with that many interns to place. >> reporter: ccap awarded ramon hagens a full three-year scholarship to culinary school. he goes armed with faith in himself and beet leave that with lots of skill, discipline and luck, he might be the next fabio or the next mark culler. >> long-term goal is hopefully own my own restaurant. >> reporter: organizers tell us there used to be a lot more participation in this program by d.c. public schools but it's fallen off over the years.

they would like to re-establish that contact. jackie bensen, news4. >> now, some of the graduates of this program are going on to accomplish some amazing things. earlier this year, carlton mccoy, who participated in the program at anacostia high school back in 2002 earned the title of master sew mall yeah. only 200 wine ex-setters in the world received that distinction. virginia winemakers are celebrating another year of record breaking sales. governor bob mcdonnell announced that the state's wineries sold more than 500,000 cases of wine in the last fiscal year. that's up 5% from the previous. mcdonnell credits more aggressive marketing both here in the u.s. and abroad for that jump in sales. virginia ranks fifth in the nation, with more than 230 wineries. she's recovered from the injury, but not the medical bill. coming up, more on the bite that cost one patient tens of thousands of dollars. and it's long been

considered a heart-healthy activity, but we will show you when running can become too much of a g

my asthma's under control. i get out a lot... except when it's too cold. like the last three weekends. asthma doesn't affect my job... you missed the meeting again last week! it doesn't affect my family. your coughing woke me up again. i wish you'd take me to the park. i don't use my rescue inhaler a lot... depends on what you mean by a lot. coping with asthma isn't controlling it. test your level of control at asthma.com, then talk to your doctor. there may be more you could do for your asthma.

in news for your health, surprising new evidence is finding that too much running could be deadly. but just how much is too much? doreen gentzler has more on what runners need to know to stay safe. >> i usually ran, on average about four to five days a week, between five and six miles a day. >> reporter: 28-year-old channing muller says she believed running was the best way to stay in shape. >> nothing made my heart feel quite the way it did when i ran. it was like my blood is pumping, everything is moving the way it should be, my muscles are really working and, you know, circulation all over. >> reporter: but all that exercise wasn't enough to protect her heart. two years ago, in the middle of training for a half-marathon, muller says she woke up one morning with a racial heart. she was soaked in perspiration

and she felt tingly through her upper body. she was rushed to the hospital where doctors told her something she never would have expected. >> six hours later, it was determined that i had had a heart attack at the age of 26. >> reporter: doctors don't know what caused muller's heart attack. she had no risk factors. but some new research is finding that too much running could actually cause blockages in the heart. dr. san deep simlope says it is most evidence in ultramarathon runners, people who run any distance greater than a marathon, 26.2 miles. >> physiologically changes may be occurring where it leads to some inflammatory changes. >> reporter: the doctor says blood tests of ultramarathoners have found higher levels of a protein that causes inflammation, which can lead to blood clots in the heart causing a heart attack. >> once the proteins go up in their bloodstream after their exercise, there is not enough

time for it come back to a normal level and accumulate every effect and causes the problem. >> reporter: studies like this one are too limited, others say. todd miller is an exercise science professor at gw's public school of health and health services. >> i think again, for the vast majority of the population, somebody somebody who is is a recreational runner i wouldn't worry about endurance running cause anything type of long-term health problem. >> reporter: miller says the benefits of running far outweigh any risk of health problems. that's why channing muller is once again lacing up her sneakers, after six months of cardiac rehab. she was ready to hit the streets again. >> straight out from the beginning, i was like, i want to run again. i want to be able to run. my body may have let me down before, but we will come back from t. >> reporter: doreen gentzler, news4. >> this study no excuse to become a couch potato. being sedentary is a huge risk factor for heart disease. the cdc recommends we all get at least 150 minutes of moderate

intensity exercise every week. but if you're planning on training for an ultramarathon, talk to your doctor around get plenty of rest between runs. a maryland woman who was bitten by a snake now has another issue to worry become the bill. jewels weiss was taking a picture along the george washington parkway in virginia when she felt a sting. she thought she had been stung by a bee but discovered she was actually bitten by a copper head. she went to the er at suburban hospital where she got three doses of anti-venom over 18 hours. then the real shock happened. she got the bill in the mail. >> well, my bill was $54,800, i don't know, and change. and that was one of two bills. the other wasn't that much, $650 and i believe that's the bill for just actually going to the er and seeing the doctor. >> weiss says her health insurance just lapsed and the thought of trying to pay the bill makes her numb.

suburban hospital tells us it can cost them $40,000 or more to get enough anti-venom to treat snakebites. if you're in the district, there's a brand new app to help sex assault victims. it's called ask d.c., it connects with 37 life-saving agencies, including police and medical help. the app offers educational service and 24-hour hotline there are also special resources for the military, deaf, and lgbt communities it can be downloaded in several languages it is free and any use is confidential. their voyage into space starts here. coming up, more on the journey that got three local men into nasa's newest astronaut class. ♪

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to crimp the edges of your favorite chicken pot pie. but marie callender's does. and when she's done, all you need to do is find time to grab someone special, sit down, and savor. marie callender's. it's time to savor. it's an opportunity that is literally out of this world. three men chosen from thousands of applicants are part of nasa's newest class of astronauts. i had a chance to meet them at

the smithsonian's udvarhasse museum in chantilly, virginia, and learn what it takes to become one of nasa's elite. the odds were astronomical, a pool of 6100 applicants vying to become a team of eight astronauts. >> and i was pinching myself going, okay, this is real. this is real. >> reporter: meet our three local astronauts ready to take off for the johnson space center in houston and a new life. >> he is actually the leader of the pack. >> reporter: they will never forget that moment so many kids dream of when they each got the phone call from nasa that would change their lives. >> you know, my heart's pounding through my chest. it choked me up immediately. >> reporter: they represent the army, air force and navy. andrew morgue morgan a he is an er doctor around flight surgeon for the army. he is getting ready to trade in scrubs for a space suit and years of intense training, just like this astronaut class before him. >> water survival, flight

training, robot innings, extra activity, space walking and lots of russian. >> reporter: air force lieutenant colonel nick hague can't rear time when he didn't want to be an astronaut. >> all started as kind of a childhood dream. growing up in rural kansas, staring up at the big night sky with all the stars and that got me interested in space. >> reporter: at 37, each represents the new generation of man space exploration, even though the shuttle fleet just retired, nasa is still recruiting astronauts. the next frontier is ambitious. >> intercept an asteroid and potentially a human mission all the way to mars. >> you know, no human being has walked on another planet and they are gonna let us figure out how to do that. >> reporter: it's a little early to start the countdown clock. their training will take them from houston to japan to russia. it will be at least five years before they launch into space. and they don't know what that spacecraft will look like. >> i would like to see something

with wings on it though. >> reporter: the three are bonding now, their families all on board, their kids will grow up together, looking up to follow their dads' careers. you have four little girls. four women are going to be a part of your class. >> yes. >> how cool is that? >> extremely cool. and they are going to get to see them and meet them up close, not just hear me say they can be anything they want to but actually be able to see people who are chasing their dreams and catching them. >> again, this year's class, as i mentioned, half are female. that is the highest percentage of women ever selected for an astronaut class. and that does it for news4 this week. i'm jim handly. thanks for having us in. have a great day, everybody.

new this morning, trouble on the tracks. the overnight accident that now has some metro workers in the hospital. shutdown day six, how some visitors to the national mall aren't letting the on going political debate stop their plans. i'm richard jordan. >> and i'm angie goff. we start with the weather, enjoying these summer-like temps while they're lasting. i can't believe it's october and we're talking like this. >> things about to change. let's check in with meteorologist chuck bell. >> this is it, everybody, our last day of the real taste of summertime we've been enduring across the area. we made 89 degrees for a high temperature sbatd today we'll be within one or two degrees of that once again. partly cloudy skies havell