JFK 50 Mile

As my two year old grandson, Hunter, would say when he accomplishes something, "I did it!" I finished the JFK 50 Mile yesterday.  It was a pretty cool experience, but a tough one for me.

I went there with three other people, Mark and Meghan, who were running it also, and Meghan's Mom, who would be support.  Mark and I left from Joliet about 3:30 a.m. on Friday morning.  About three hours later, we arrived at Meghan's place.  From there, Mom drove the rest of the way to Hagerstown, Maryland (seven hours), getting there at about 4:30 p.m.  After checking in at the motel, we checked the route to the start, picked up our packets, and had dinner.  Back at the motel, Mark and I fretted about what  we would need for the race the next day.  Once we figured it all out, it was time for bed.

Mark was doing the 5:00 a.m. early start, so was up by 3:00.  Once he left, I laid back down for about an hour, slightly dozing a bit.  Then it was my turn to get ready.  Meghan and I would be starting at the 7:00 a.m. regular start.  Mom drove us to the start arriving about 6:10 for the pre-race meeting.  At 6:35, it was time to head to the start, which was about three quarters of a mile away on the main drag of Boonsboro.  Right at seven, the gun went off and away we went.  

We are on roads for the first couple miles with a real steep hill leading up to the Appalachian Trail.  This was probably about a 400 foot climb over about a mile.  We peeled off onto the trail at the top.  The trail was everything I was worried about.  Extremely rocky and technical, at least for me.  I actually thought I was moving pretty well, but It seemed I was being passed left and right.  After about a mile and a half we popped out onto pavement once again.  Two miles of this ended with another steep climb of about 600 feet and back on the trail up along the ridge line.  I continued being passed a lot until we hit the 9.3 mile aid station coming back down a bit to a nice clearing.  Then right back up to the ridge line for another six miles.  I don't know if I actually was doing better or the faster runners had all passed me by now, but I was no longer getting passed much.  I even passed some people in this stretch.  But I could tell all of this was starting to take a toll on the legs.  And I was staying on my feet all this time.  At least until the last three miles.  Then it all caught up to me.  I ended up falling five times in that last three miles, banging my right thigh and head real good.  It turned out the head bump actually drew blood, but I didn't realize this until the race was over and I reached  to my head and found crusted blood on my eyebrow.  Getting off the trail, we had to descend a set of steep switchbacks which was rather scary.  And, yes, one of my falls was here.  Once down, we had a great reception from lots of spectators at what I thought was the aid station.  But it was a false assumption.  It turned out we had another half mile on trail to go and again, I went down in this section.  Finally, I reached the aid station at 15.5 miles where we head onto the C & O Towpath.  I could relax and worry about footing.

This section is 26.5 miles long, mostly flat, crushed limestone and dirt.  Most of it is along the Potomac River and is quite beautiful.  This section was fairly uneventful, except  that my legs were very dead from the get go here.  I did manage to do my 10/2 strategy up until the 27.1 aid station, then made the decision to switch to a 5/2.  It turned out to be one of my smarter decisions.  It kept me moving forward at ten to eleven minute miles without really taking it all out of me.  So, although I was struggling a bit, I was still making decent time.  At the 41.8 aid station, the towpath section ended.  This aid station is significant in that if you don't reach it by 3:00 p.m., you are required to don a safety vest, which is nicknamed, "The Vest of Shame".  I missed it by thirteen minutes and I had to take one.  I had hoped to be faster and not need one, but it wasn't meant to be.

The last 8.5 miles is on rolling roads.  This is where my earlier decision to go to the 5/2 paid off.  Once I got up the initial steep hill, I was able to run a lot of this section.  I even put in some sub-10 minute miles.  I passed a lot of people from here to the end.  From hoping for a sub-10 and a half hour finish, I was now heading for a sub-10.  And I continued to drop my finishing time over those last miles, finally crossing the finish line at 9:44:43.  This placed me 269th overall and 4th in my age group (60-69).  Meghan ended up running 8:38 finishing 113th overall and 13th female.  And Mark broke twelve hours with an 11:53.

It was a successful race for me even with the beating my legs took on the Appalachian Trail.  And I now can say, I've run the most iconic race in the Eastern United States.

Feeling Better About The JFK 50

Well, I am starting to feel a bit more confidant about the JFK 50 Mile this Saturday.  After talking with Mark Clarke (who has finished it twice), he feels I could finish it in as little as nine hours.  I really don't know about that, but after seeing a couple of videos on past years, I think that with a good day and being smart in the first third of the race, I could possibly get down to nine and a half hours.  It will really depend upon how my body handles the Appalachian Trail section.  I plan to be very cautious on this section and then hope to be able to hammer the towpath to achieve a good finish.

From what Mark says, he expects Meghan (3:08 marathon PR) will be shooting for a seven hour finish.  So I doubt we will be running together for long.  I was hoping we might be able to help each other, but I don't think that will be in the cards.

Red Eye 8K

Finished up the Run3 Series of races today at the Red Eye 8K.  The series consists of the Ramblin' Run 10K, the Sundowner 5K, and the above Red a Eye.  Ran very well running sub-7 minute miles for 34:30.  It turns out it is my best time for this distance in over 20 years.  Pretty incredible.  And it capped my Run3 Series where I finished 1st AG in all three races.  I never would have expected this last January.  I am really trying to appreciate this year because it has been a phenomenal year for me.  I am so grateful being able to run this well at my age.

More on JFK

Deep down I ended up signing up for the JFK 50 Mile because I wanted a challenge.  I wanted to try something that scares me and is very different than what I am used to.  The last time I attempted something like this I failed.  I only made it halfway though the Black Hills 100.  It was the technical aspect of the trails that did me in.  In particular, traversing those trails in the dark.  It was hard enough in the light.  At the JFK I won't have to deal with the dark, but from what I've read, the Appalachian Trail part is even more technical and more difficult.  Add in the cutoffs and I think I will be pressed for the first third of the race to make up some time because the middle third is going to be just plain hard. If I haven't made up some time on the cutoffs in the first third, I will need to run like 11:40/mile from 15.5 to 27.1 to stay ahead of the cutoffs.  And even harder, from 27.1 to 34.4 it needs to be 10:16/mile.  That is almost crazy.  Fortunately, these two sections are flat, but still.  If I do make it to here the time constraints ease up the on the final third.  Maintaining about 14:45 to 15:00/mile will get me to the finish in time.  It should be obvious by now that I am feeling rather nervous about this one.  I keep thinking "will I be able to do this?"  I was much more confidant for Hennepin even though it was twice the distance.  

I guess "I'll just have to see."

Another Ultra?

This entry is a total surprise.  My running year has been slowly winding down.  The Hennepin Hundred was my main priority for so much of the year, but I have had some incredible success in the shorter races as well.  Whether it is the Hundred training or just staying very healthy, I am grateful for the way things have turned out with numerous firsts in my age group and some of the fastest times in several years. After my birthday run last weekend, I figured I would just have two, maybe three short races left for the year.  But low and behold, things can change suddenly.

The night of my birthday run I get a text from Mark Clarke about possibly crewing for him and another at the JFK 50 Mile in just two weeks.  As it turned out, there was nothing going on that weekend and the wife gave the okay.  The JFK 50 is one of the oldest and largest ultra in the USA.  I was very excited about heading out 

East and seeing the Appalachian Trail for the first time which encompasses about 10 miles of the race.  After sending a text back saying "Hell, yes!" to Mark, a while later he sends back that I should maybe register myself even if I end up on the waiting list.  By race time, a spot might open up.  At first, I thought this was kind of crazy.  I had just run 38 miles earlier that day only two weeks before the JFK.  Would there be a chance that I could even be ready and it would be pretty expensive this close to race day.  I sent back that It would be a crazy idea, but I would think about it.  I went to bed with the whole thing jumping around in my mind.

The next morning, it was probably the first thing that popped into my mind.  What might be my only chance at this thing kept pounding away at my resolve.  I decided to check the website later that morning just to see what all there was.  To make a long story short, I signed up and got in right off the bat.  So, in just a week and a half I will be running one more ultra this year.

It has a strict 12 hour cutoff, with some fairly tough mid race cut offs as well.  I'm a little scared of it.  The Appalachian Trail can be very technical which is not one of my strengths and it has some heavy duty climbing as well.  A big part later in the race is on a towpath like Hennepin's, so if I can reach that point and not be destroyed by then, I should be okay.  But the first 15 miles is going to be tough.  With my first half at Hennepin being under nine hours, you would think I should have no problem.  But the combination of the technical, the climbing, and not actually being in the same shape I was for the hundred is going to make it interesting.  But I suppose life is meant to be challenging and this race will be a good challenge for me to see just what I am made of.

61st Birthday Run

Had my 61st Birthday Run on Saturday.  61K this year.  I did it on a one mile loop at Mather Woods in Plainfield.  Had a number of people join me for parts of it which was great.  Chris, Steve and Julian from Central's XC Team, Dave Cyplick, Kricket Baltz and her son, T-Bone, Matt Clark, Gary Andruch and his son, Mikey, John Warren, and Kibet Rono.  Also, my whole family came for the last couple of hours.  And Mark Kazich stopped by to wish me a Happy Birthday, but didn't run.  All of these people is what made it special.  Thanks, everyone!