D.C.-area seniors are turning to gig work to stay active and make ends meet as living costs jump.

The big picture: Swaths of older folks retired during Covid, but some have picked up part-time work thanks to the flexibility and prevalence of apps like Uber or Lyft.

• Making extra money was the most common driving factor when older people turned to gig or independent work, according to a 2023 AARP survey of U.S. workers over age 40. The second most common was flexibility, and staying active was the third.
• Many older people are struggling financially amid inflation and rising care costs.

📣 Dwight Longus, 72, a retired delivery driver, began driving for DoorDash a year ago because he was struggling to make ends meet with his Social Security and D.C.'s high costs.

• "Eventually I'd like to lay back and just work around the house or whatever, but right now I have to push on," he says.

Zoom out: This comes as people live longer and our population ages, but also as older people are more likely to put off retirement and stay in the workforce.

• 32% of people aged 65 to 69 have a job, up from less than a quarter in 2020, says a Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis report.
• The number of U.S. workers aged 75 and up is expected to jump 96.5% by 2030, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And D.C. at large has an outsized app-based workforce: 9% are drivers or couriers.

What they're saying: The notion of "retirement" has changed as people live longer, says Carly Roszkowski, AARP's vice president of financial resilience programming. As people outlive their funds or simply crave routine, the ease of app-based gig work has given them another option beyond full-on retirement.

• "[It's] a whole new non-traditional stream of work for the older audience."

🏁 By the numbers: Over 1,110 people aged 65+ DoorDash-ed in D.C. last year — up 22% from 2020, DoorDash tells Axios.

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D.C.'s annual Cherry Blossom races are this weekend — which means thousands of runners and road closures in parts of downtown and the surrounding areas.

Why it matters: You'll want to plan, whether you're going to the races — 5K on Saturday, the big 10 mile on Sunday — or avoiding traffic.

The big picture: Metro is opening two hours early at 5am on Sunday so people can get to the kickoff at 7:30am at the Washington Monument grounds.

• Here's a handy guide for getting to the races, with perks like pre-reserved parking through SpotOn and a bike valet.

Zoom in: Sunday road closures start at approximately 6am and run until noon. Some busy thoroughfares like Memorial Bridge, Hains Point, and parts of Rock Creek Parkway and Ohio Drive are off-limits.

• There are more limited road closures from 2am Friday up to 4:30pm on Saturday along and around Pennsylvania Avenue for the 5K race.

Between the lines: The races are post-peak this year — thanks, climate change — so racegoers won't contend with heavy cherry blossom crowds.

• You will be able to catch plenty of Stumpy action. D.C.'s "Short King" is the official mascot of the races this year.

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⚠️ Two new traffic safety devices will target distracted driving in D.C. The mobile devices are attached to an electric screen that will flash a warning to drivers holding a cellphone. (WTOP)

🏎️ F1 is coming to Pennsylvania Avenue — at least four blocks of the street, for a brief period on April 20, when the Red Bull Showrun will have viewing stands and concessions for the public. (WBJ)

🎨 The National Gallery of Art picked its first associate curator of Latinx art, naming Natalia Ángeles Vieyra to contribute to the museum's 20th and 21st century collections. (Art News)

The solar eclipse day forecast for Monday looks mostly sunny, according to the National Weather Service.

The big picture: The D.C. area is a ways from the path of totality, but Washingtonians will see a partial eclipse from 2:04pm to 4:32pm. The greatest coverage: 3:20pm, per a tracking tool from NASA.

• Almost 88% of the sun will be covered by the moon's shadow.
• It's nothing compared to totality, Axios' Andrew Freedman tells us, but we'll see darker skies.

🔭 Stay tuned for lots more eclipse know-how in our Sunday edition.

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📅 Upcoming events around the city.

Whiskey and Barrel Nite at Dock 5 @ Union Market on April 18: Enjoy live entertainment and a great dinner and make the evening while you sample over 180 of the finest scotches, bourbons, and whiskies from around the world all under one roof. $99-$149.

Hosting an event? Email [email protected].

A trivia cheating scandal at Red Bear Brewing has very online Washingtonians in a tizzy.

Why it matters: In a town filled with people trying to relive their Model UN glory days, trivia isn't just some silly bar game — it's the D.C. equivalent of flexing shirtless on Muscle Beach.

🔎 Catch up quick: A team was caught cheating — likely at last week's Wednesday night trivia event — and has subsequently been barred from brewery trivia, co-owner Simon Bee tells Axios. He declined to give the team's name, but said "they had basically been the reigning champs for a couple of weeks."

• Bee believes the duo was using an Apple Watch to Shazam the songs during the music trivia portion.

This is the first time in five years of trivia that anyone's been caught cheating, says Bee.

• He was a little caught off guard, he says — after all, winners only get gift cards or merch. But apparently, he underestimated one very important thing: What a bunch of hyper-competitive little nerds we all are.

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