As the Cruisers are approaching our W&OD Trail 45-Mile Ultramarathon Training Run on Sunday, I thought that today would be an excellent day to do a race recap for my one, and only, JFK 50-Mile Run. You’ll be able to tell by the running attire that this race was many years ago. Why, oh why, did our pants come up to our waists? So let’s find an ugly fashion trend and accentuate it by tucking our shirts in…
Before I even had a chance to run my first marathon, Miles was brainwashing trying to convince me to run in the JFK 50-Miler with him and his friends; and in a weak moment I committed, and I’m really glad I did. This was probably the early formation of the MilesRun Group. Running a 50-miler certainly gives you some bragging rights just for the running it… as long as you finish in under the twelve-hour cut off. I planned to run it again, but it just never happened. Miles has run it ten times… Yes, TEN times!
Miles’ race strategy was for us to walk up all hills, and to start out running for 12 minutes and walking for three minute (although I thought we only walked one minute early on). As the race progressed, we would eventually run about nine minutes and walk for three minutes. Little did I know how much I would look forward to those walk breaks!
My in-laws came over to watch the boys since I had to leave before Bill got home from work. I wonder what they thought when five guys came to pick me up for an overnight trip to Maryland? 🙂 We drove to Boonsboro, Maryland and spent the night. We had a long table of runners gathered for dinner, with only four girls. I will never forget that one of the girls ordered cheesecake for dessert, and we all gasped!
We got up early the next morning and started the race in the dark, just before sunrise. It had rained the night before so there were mud puddles here and there, and the leaves on the Appalachian Trail were very slippery. I spent my entire time on the AT looking at the feet of the runner in front of me so I would know exactly where my next step was going. Here I am coming off of the AT after several steep switchbacks at about the 17 mile point. Woot woo! Only 33 miles to go!
Coming off the Appalachian Trail
I’m blissfully ignorant in this photo because I didn’t yet realize how much I had aggravated my IT band on those switchbacks coming off of the Appalachian Trail. I was aware of my right IT band on the decent, but nothing more. After a quick change of clothes, I was ready to hit the C&O Canal for 26 miles.
Todd, Deb, Miles, and three people from our support crew
The two guys in red jackets, Kevin and Robert, were part of our crew. For the most part Kevin and Robert stayed with us and carried our extra necessities on their bikes. There was also a car with other members of our crew that met us at certain points along the course.
Kevin, Miles, Deb, Robert, Jenny, and Todd
Miles and I are in auto-pilot in this photo. Just cruising along for 26.3 miles on the nice and flat C&O Canal, admiring the beauty of the Potomac River on our left…
Miles and Deb
Looks like Miles is trying to get the fans involved and to cheer for us. Oh wait, what fans?
Jenny, Miles, and Deb
In the following picture we are standing to the right of one of the many amazing fuel stations. I can’t believe that I didn’t get a picture of any of them. Of course this was 1997, long before digital cameras, Facebook, and blogging; so why would I take a picture of something like that? Back to the food… Different schools and clubs competed to see who could have the best spread. Ultras aren’t just any race, so you have to have more than water and Gatorade at the stops. Most stops had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, stew or chili, crackers, cookies, M&M’s, gummy bears, water, Gatorade, and soda. Problem was, I didn’t have much of an appetite…
Farther down the canal it started getting cool and you can see that I’ve changed back into my long pants. Robert and Kevin, if you read this, thank you again for carrying my stuff!
Jenny, Deb, Robert, Miles, and Kevin
Long before we met Paul Mr. Incredible, we had Ron as our music man. Bet you can’t guess what he’s got playing in this photo! You got it, YMCA! BTW, does this circa-1980’s fanny pack make my butt look big?
Ron, Miles (in the distance), Deb
It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A……. It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A…….
Deb and Ron (on bike)
The farther down the C&O Canal I went, the more my IT band hurt. Transitioning from running to walking and vice-versa became extremely painful. I remember selling my soul to the devil around mile 34. “Just let me finish this race and I’ll……..” By the time we got off of the C&O Canal and were given the stylish orange reflective vests to wear it was almost dark and we had only 8.4 miles to go on the country roads leading to the finish line. I was doing okay as long as I kept my pace at a slog (slow jog). I passed a fuel table and just sort of shoved my hand in the M&M bowl as I ran by because it was too painful to stop and start again. Little did I know at the time, but the entire ball of my left foot was covered in a blood blister. Again, no picture, but this time you’re probably happy!
Kevin rode with me for much of the way while also riding ahead to check on his wife Jenny and Miles. Thank you again, Kevin, for constantly checking on me during that last hour and for your encouragement. We finished the race in front of the Williamsport High School in the dark. Miles and Jenny pulled ahead of me in those last eight miles and I was the last one from our group to finish. I haven’t talked about Ed and some of the other runners because they were way ahead of us. Ed qualified for the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run that day!
Todd, Jenny, Deb, Miles, and Kevin
My goal was to finish the race in ten and a half hours, but that was not taking an injury into consideration. Even with a terribly inflamed IT band and huge blood blister, I somehow managed to finish in 10:50:30. The race was on November 22, and I wasn’t able to run again until early January. Once my IT band healed, it has never bothered me since!
10:50:30
434th place of 795 starters
(women – 60th)
On our way home we stopped at a Holiday Inn for dinner. There was a wedding reception going on in an adjacent banquet hall. When I stopped in the restroom, the bride and her bridesmaids were in there touching up their make-up, etc. I walked in looking like “50 miles of bad road,” without a shower, salt all over my face, limping like crazy, and I’m surprised that I didn’t clear the place out. One of my most embarrassing moments EVER followed, but you’ll have to go on a long run with me so I can tell you. And remember, what’s discussed on the trail, stays on the trail…
- Questions:
- Have you ever eaten cheesecake the day before a long run?
- Do you know any of the words to YMCA, other than YMCA?
- What’s your most embarrassing moment?
Ha- love the bathroom encounter. If I were the bride I would’ve prob much rather have been looking like you! Is that sad?
This is why I don’t want to do anything over a half- because I want to be able to recover quickly! Can’t believe you ran that far in one day though!!
You make a very good point about the recovery time, Emma! 🙂
I did the JFK50 in 2001. What an amazing experience. I did it with my Dad. Back in those days, he ran all my marathons with me which was a fun father/daughter experience to have him there. Where did you get the JFK plaque? I only have a medal. I’m wondering if I missed some way to order the plaque? I’d love to have something more than the medal to hang up. 🙂
How wonderful to run marathons (and an ultra) with your dad! I ordered the plaque after the race. For an ultra, I wanted more than a medal, too! Perhaps if you check their web site you can order one; or they might be able to tell you what company they use so you can have one custom made. Good luck, and let me know if you have any luck.
How wonderful to run marathons (and an ultra) with your dad! I ordered the plaque after the race. For an ultra, I wanted more than a medal, too! Perhaps if you check their web site you can order one; or they might be able to tell you what company they use so you can have one custom made. Good luck, and let me know if you are able to get one!
I googled “JFK 50 miler plaque” and the first link was to an MSDoc order form off the JFK 50’s website (digging through their website I couldn’t find it though). You can still order plaques from past years. Woohoo! I just forwarded it to my husband as a birthday idea. 🙂
I loved running with my dad. I’m the oldest of four daughters so we were always fighting for time with my dad. I would have 20+ miles of dedicated time to catch up with him when he used to run with me. 🙂 Now he’s busy with 9 grandkids and counting so we let the grandkids have their turn with him. He doesn’t run marathons anymore, but he still has a ton of energy to goof off with our kids! 🙂
Yay! I hope your hubby gets the obvious hint and orders it for you. Maybe that’s also an idea for a gift you can give to your dad! 🙂
How fun are these pics and the story of this race – wow!
Thanks! It was fun remembering what a great day we had. 🙂
Wow! What memories! Last summer I got to see Miles and he and I chuckled at ourselves because we both basically hallucinated on that last 8 mile stretch and could not remember what black and white cows were called. We decided they were called “milking cows”. Dairy cows never entered our minds and we were both very confident that milking cows was correct. You were a trooper that day! I could not wear regular shoes for weeks from the blisters and I remember walking up and down stairs backwards for a while. 🙂 Thanks for the memories! Jenny
HaHa! I remember you two asked me if I had seen the ‘milk cow farm’ when I ran past! I also remember that you gave this newbie good advice on my IT band, and gave me the confidence to finish the race without risking any long term damage to my knee.
I still cannot believe you endured that and made it through! Such a painful injury, but no long term issues. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this story with us! I would love to try a trail ultra some day, minus the IT band injury and nasty blisters! And I would love to go on a long run with you someday so I could hear the rest of the story!
If you’re in Blacksburg for any Hokie games this fall, Meagan (Turkey Runner) and I plan to meet up for some long runs on the Huckleberry Trail. You could join us! 🙂
I would love to get to B’burg for a fall game & a run on the Huckleberry! I’ll let you know. We won’t be at the Hokie Half. My daughter’s fourth birthday is on the 14th, and we’re running a local 15-mile trail race too. Maybe next year! Thanks for the link to Turkey Runner. Off to meet another Hokie blogger!
You will love Meagan! We had a blogger meet-up and met for the first time in April when we ran the VT 3.2-Mile Run in Remembrance together. We’re doing the Hokie Half together in the fall. Her hubby is a runner, too. 🙂
I really enjoyed reading your article on the JFK50 and looking at the photos. I remember the YMCA episode and that had to be after mile 29 or 30 so we still had enough energy to left to lift up our arms. Probably from all that upper body workout preparing for this race. I know besides training for the run by running a marathon a few weeks before, we trained by walking many miles too since your walking muscles are not the same as your jogging muscles. We probably walked close to 8-10 miles that day. I have lots of JFK stories to tell, but I’ll share 2 here. During the last 8 miles, probably around 44-45, I’m running not realizing that I have a huge blister on the bottom of my foot. I just happened to land wrong and came down squarely on it. Well, if you remember what happens to cars when they traveled on “Tubed” tires, they would go all over the road after the tire blew. That was me, and two steps later I came down on my other foot where there was another quarter sized blister that I didn’t know was there. Luckily, I have learned (the hard way) that you need to just keep going and ignore the pain. If you stop and readjust your sock or shoe you will never get going again. In a few minutes the endorphins took effect, I didn’t feel much down there and I didn’t have to deal with the blisters until the end of the race. (2) One year Josh ran us (he’s done 7 or 8 already) and had to go to the bathroom. Luckily on the JFK50 there are woods for most of the first 42 miles (The Appalachian Trail and woods next to the the C&O towpath). He takes a detour and finds a dead tree that you could sit on. While sitting, the part of the tree he was sitting on broke, the rest of the tree fell on him and he lost a few minutes dealing with that scenario. He did finish the race and we had a good laugh afterwards.
Miles, you could write a book on your experiences over the many years of running in the JFK 50-Miler! Seriously, how many people do you think you have convinced to run that race? I know that I would never have done it without your encouragement. You are the unofficial ambassador of the JFK 50-Mile Run! 🙂
Probably 40-50, but if you figure how many JFK’ers they spawned…I’d guess over a 100. If I was still doing it, I’d be talking it up. But you know I did this selfishly because I wanted company when I ran it. I knew it would make the 10-12 hours more fun and we would help each other get to the finish line.
Wow! What an amazing race. I cannot believe you didn’t even feel that huge blood blister. Good for you, sister! You’re such an inspiration 🙂
“Young Man (or is it men?)”
“You can hang out with all the booooys!”
That’s all I know 😉
Nice! That’s far more than I know, but I belt out, “Y.M.C.A.” with the best of them!
Great blog Debbie. Love the pictures. We all have JFK 50 Stories, even us non-runners. One that comes to mind from 2003 is when I was providing my music for a man that had fallen on the AT and hit his head on a rock. I caught up with him around mile 44 after the Canal. The head bleeds easily if you don’t stop running and apply pressure, and he didn’t look very good. I told him that he didn’t have to finish but he was determined. I told him I’d stay with him for a few miles. He did finish and someone took a picture of him at the Williamsport High School right after the race. That photo made it into the newspaper. Turns out it was Senator Max Baucus of Montana. Check out his picture here :
http://www.runwashington.com/archive0209/news/nov03JFK50M.html
When my son was living in Montana and met Senator Baucus, Joel asked him if he would ever run the JFK 50 again. He said that he would not and asked Joel if he was going to do it. Joel told him no, but he asked the Senator if he remembers a guy on a bike playing tunes. Joel said that his face lit up and said, “I sure do”. And he told Joel a few of the songs that I played while riding along side of him. It’s funny how music affects us when we exercise. I can’t believe he remembered some guy on a bike, much less what I was actually playing at the time.
Paul, I love that story! I don’t think you guys on your bikes realize how much support you are for us runners. Even though Kevin didn’t have music, I remember much I appreciated him riding beside me those last few miles.
Thanks for sharing a recap of this race! I enjoy reading your recaps from races that happened B.B. (that’s before blog 😉 You gotta love those pictures from the 90’s! I think it’s so cool that they have an individual plaque for every finisher. 50 miles is a long distance and it’s awesome to have something special like that to commemorate it.
Does the Hokie Half count as a long run? I want to hear that story!!
I’m so glad you decided to write about this!!!! It’s so great to hear about your experience as I get ready to start training for my first 50!
I’ve heard so much about the JFK 50 Miler…but I think I would go crazy on the flat C&O Canal for that many miles. How did you do it?! At least on trails you have the uphills and downhills to spice it up a little.
Did your son decide to do the 50 miler in November?
We got through the 26 miles on the C&O Canal by singing Y.M.C.A. over and over again! HaHaHa! 🙂 Actually, Miles tells stories and keeps us entertained for hours. He’s amazing to run with!