JFK 50 Mile 2012--Race Report

One word to sum it all up PERFECTLY AWESOME! It was one of those races where everything clicked, and I felt great, and was only feeling stronger as the race went on. I owe it all to my superb support crew, who were right there every time and helped carry me through. I don’t know what you want to hear about, so I will fill you in on everything as best I can, so you can plan for next year. Training was the key, back to back long runs on weekends, and track on Weds, everything else was recovery or just slow miles with the dog.




Overall time: 7:57:46

Finished in 87th Place

Overall pace 9:22


Race Recap

Went down the day before drank a bottle of Pedialite with a tablespoon of salt in afternoon. Pre-Race meal was chicken Parmesean and a salad. Drank a 20oz bottle with one scoop Infinit and 1 table spoon of Baking soda, and 3 Siberian Ginsing tablets, Ibuprofen.

A good solid 7 hours of Sleep

Woke at 4:30—1 cup coffee. Ate oatmeal, a banana, drank another 20 oz bottle of 1 scoop Infinit with 1 tablespoon baking soda mixed in, 3 Siberian Ginseng and Ibuprofen. Arrived at H.S. at about 6am, ate power bar. About 6:40 began walk to start line (about 1 mi away); was just chatting with fellow runners, when we heard the gun go off, no warning and we were still about ¼ from the start, I still have no idea where the start line was. Was a mad scramble, According to my watch, first mile was an 8:57, I was trying to move up and get ahead of the masses before entering the Appalaichan Trail. Mile 2 was up hill on the road, most people walked, but I kept a jog to get a head of the people. Entered the woods at about mile 2.5 to the trail, in about 24:30. The next 13 miles was on the trail steep up and steep down (twice across 2 peaks). It was brutal. Hoyt would have loved it, trail running at its best. It was fairly spaced out so you had some room to maneuver, but it was still crowded, difficult to pass, but I didn’t have to worry about that because mostly I was being passed. Lots of walking up the hills in the woods, and down the steep switchbacks at about mile nine and then coming out at Weverton Cliffs at about mile 15. The pace for the miles on the trail were anywhere between 11:00 and 13:00, slow going for me as I am not a good technical trail runner, that was about the only thing ugly about the race, was my running form in the woods, portions of the trail were very steep up and down and very rocky. I got pretty beat up in the woods, rolling my ankle a couple times near the end at about mile 14, and taking lots of odd steps, stretching my legs in funny ways (tweaked hamstring). It took me about 2:55 to complete the first 15 miles and get out of the Appalaichan Trail alive. I think that’s about a 10:50 pace. Over that stretch I took 2 Gu Roctanes and ate 2 packs of Cliff Margarita Blocs (both were great throughout race). Took water and a S-Cap at mile 9.3 aid station.


Exited the Woods at Weverton Cliffs at about Mile 15 Aid Stop, happy to be alive and in tact, drank water. Met Ann and the kids there, Ate a peanut butter and fluff sandwich (tasted great), Gu Roctane and 3 more Cliff Blocs. Picked up more Gu Roctane and Cliff Blocks, stuffed them in my bike shirt and kept moving picked up bottle of Infinit I carried with me.



On to the C&O Canal:

This was awesome, started feeling real good, so happy to be off the trail and the rocks and run on flat surface, beautiful scenery, started to hit comfortable stride, hitting about an 8:35 pace. Next 27 miles were on the C&O Canal, kept pace right at about 8:20-8:30, ran a couple miles under 8:00; nutrition was basically a Gu Roctane and a package of Cliff Blocs every hour, and sipping on Infinit (2 scoops) in between. Took water at aid stations. This was where I truly felt great and one of those days where you are just floating along, I do not believe I got passed by any runner on the canal trial, and just kept passing people. At about mile 24, I started believing I could have a shot at breaking 8 hours because I was feeling great, and I felt I could run a 3:45 marathon from here, Next saw Ann and the kids at about mile 27 at the Anteitem Aid Station, drank some Coke, Gu and Blocs, S-Cap and kept on moving. Great to see everyone, felt re-energized and kept on trucking down the canal path feeling great. About mile 33, got a little stomach pains and stopped in the port-o-potty for a couple minutes at mile 35, jumped out felt better and kept moving to mile 38 and the Taylors Landing Aid station, where Ann and the kids were there smiling again, Jen and Ryan were there, all a welcome sight after some long miles on the canal, according to the watch, still hitting about 8:20 miles at this point. Drank some coke, Gu, Cliff Blocs, and grabbed another Infinit bottle, everyone ran with me a little while which was great. Four more miles on the Canal Path, exited the canal path at about mile 42, was nice to have a change of scenery, walked up a steep hill off the path and up the road (first and last time I walked since the trail)Got up that hill and had about 7 miles to go to the finish. The count down begins, and this is the point were I started really believing I could break the 8 hour mark, if I could keep all my miles under 9:00. I did averaging 8:35 over the last 7 miles. Saw Jen and Ryan at mile 46, great to get a pick up and encouragement. I passed a few runners, and was also passed by three runners, felt strong and rolling along, legs and stomach felt good, but ready to get to the finish. I think I took another Gu at about mile 45, ate a couple Blocs and sipped on Infinit. Ann met me about ¾ mile from the finish and cheered me in, helping push me up the last hill. Great to see all the cheering faces at the finish, ran the last mile in 8:09 and felt incredibly, indescribably AWESOME, well worth it! Any other details, I will fill you in and I expect to see you at the start of the 50th Annual JFK 50 in 2012! Post-Race beverage of choice: Stella Artois