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SRRC Race Reports
My JFK "Marathon" Experience
by Desiree Williams
This past Saturday, I completed what I call the "JFK marathon" as I could only finish 27 miles of the course before I was booted off by race officials because I did not meet the timing cut-offs.
Here is a perfect illustration of how slow I was going: Phil finished the ENTIRE race in a little over 10 hours - I got to the 27 mile aid station (the halfway mark) in 9 hours. It took me around six hours to safely navigate the first 16 miles of the course (three of which were completely uphill and the rest on a wet and slippery Appalachian Trail).
My experience at the 2004 JFK 50 was a "charlie foxtrot" from the beginning. It all began on Friday, the day before the race, when my boyfriend called to say that his recruiting trip would run over and he wouldn't be able to drive me to Hagerstown until 10 pm. This put me in quite a pickle as packet pick-up was scheduled to end at 7 pm.
Desperate, I emailed Phil to ask for a ride to Hagerstown and Phil, bless his heart, obliged. We met at the SR Starbucks at 4 pm and I spent the next two hours with Phil discussing race strategy. This is when it occurred to me that I had forgot to bring my trail shoes with me. I was super bummed, but hoped that my road shoes would make it through the AT section intact.
Phil and I got into Hagerstown and picked up our packets at the Clarion hotel. Phil had reservations at another hotel and so we went our separate ways. I checked into the Clarion and got situated in my room.
I realize that the Clarion is an old hotel, but I didn't expect dirt brown water to come out of the sink when I went to fill my camelbak for the race! Not so happy with the thought of drinking nasty brown water for 50 miles, I spent $15 on bottled water at the restaurant next door to the hotel.
Then, while unpacking my gear, I realized that one of my cats, upset that I was packing and knowing it meant I would be gone for awhile, had urinated on the bag that had all my running gear in it. Thankfully, the bag was water resistant and only the bag and my windbreaker were ruined. Unfortunately, this meant that I'd have to re-evaluate what I wore on race day.
On top of all this, the TV in the hotel room did not have the Weather Channel, so I had to guess what the forecast would be. I struggled to open the window in my room and stuck my arm out to gage the temperature. It was chilly, but temperate, and I remember the forecast from the previous day calling for clouds and a little rain on race day. I decided to wear shorts and my long-sleeved dry-weave shirt and a fleece pull-over. This turned out to the perfect choice as race day proved to be a wee bit chilly, with a lot of fog and a little bit of rain and wind mixed in.
So, clothing decision made, I tried to close the window. It wouldn't budge. I called the hotel operator and was told that the hotel was completely booked and they couldn't move me anywhere else in the hotel. Additionally, the maintenance guys were busy with other major catastrophes in the hotel and wouldn't be available to help me close my window until around 2 am. Not wanting to mess with a good night's rest I told them not to bother with the window until the next day. I turned my heat on full blast and tried to pretend that it was just white noise.
My boyfriend called me later that evening to check up on me and see how I was doing. He reported that his work scheduled had changed once again and he wouldn't be able to drive me to the start line the next morning, that he would only be able pick me up at the finish line the next day. I called a taxi cab company after that update, and made a cab reservation for 4 am on race morning.
After all this pre-race drama, I decided to order buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing and cheesesticks from Papa John's for dinner. It was, I thought, very yummy for a pre-race meal. I settled in for bed, set my alarm for 3:15 am, and finally fell asleep at about 10 pm.
I woke up well rested the next morning, white noise and all, and got dressed in my improvised gear. Since my boyfriend was unable to crew for me, I made some last minute decisions about how much food to carry and what other things I needed to bring. I tend to over pack and this time proved to be no exception. I put five packets of GU, two powerbars, two packets of peanuts, and a small bag of sea salt in my camelbak. After 27 miles, I only ate 2 GU packets (both of which were eaten during first 10 miles). Once I got on the towpath there was an aid station with snacks and fluids every 2-3 miles, so I never needed to raid my own stash.
For breakfast I ate two bananas and drank some Gatorade. I jumped in a taxi at 4 am and, after enjoying a $17 cab ride, arrived at the Boonsboro High School at 4:20 am. After the pre-race briefing, about 200 runners and I walked the 1/2 mile to the start line. Armed with reflective vests and flash lights, we started the race and were off. I was told by many people not to run the hill that's at the start of the race. So, when we arrived at a small hill, I dutifully walked it. It was very dark and foggy out and I couldn't see the top of the hill, so I kept walking, waiting for a break in the ascent. It never came. The hill started off small, but grew in height. After 45 minutes of walking up a steep incline, I started thinking "this wasn't in the brochure!"
Eventually, we climbed to the top of the mountain and hopped on the AT. Since we were up so high the fog completely surrounded us and I had a hard time seeing the person who was 20 feet in front of me - even with a flash light. The course was a bit treacherous, only because the trail was covered with damp leaves and the fog made it hard to see your own feet. I could hardly make out the path and the subtle differences between dark brown leaves and black rocks.
A couple hours later the fog lifted and the trail, although still slippery, was visible and could be navigated more easily. I liked the trail section, it was very peaceful and it kept your mind focused on your feet instead of the distance. I was about halfway along the AT section that the 7 am front runners started to pass me. It is amazing how fast they were!
The group of runners that were most memorable were a sextet of navy guys who were all the same height and all had the same haircut and blue and white outfits. I did a double-take, convinced that four hours of contemplating my feet on the trail and eyeballing evil rocks and leaves had gotten to my head. I realized that my eyes were not deceiving me when I got passed a couple seconds later by their seventh member, who was straggling behind and crying "wait for me!" He had what Phil referred to as the AT right-of-passage - a back covered with dirt and leaves from a fall on the trail.
Just when I was getting sick of being on the trail, I started a steep decent along a series of switchbacks that led to an aid station and the C&O towpath section. I made the cut-off for the aid station with an hour to spare. Most importantly, the port-a-johns were fully stocked with TP and this made me as happy as a little clam.
The change from trail to towpath was a welcome one and reinvigorated my energy level. The towpath was beautiful as well. It follows a river and provides great vistas. Aid stations came frequently and provided enough food and beverages that I could have gone without my camelbak and personal food stash.
At one of the aid stations I discovered a beverage called "Coke" which, like it's name suggests, is a close relative of crack. It had such a strong effect on my system that, when I drank a couple of sips at each station, it both settled my stomach and lit a fire under my rear for the next mile or so. It was fabulous!
Somewhere around mile 20, Phil passed me and offered words of motivation. Unfortunately, by that time, I had slowed down so much that I was in danger of missing the next aid station cut-off time. I was having a lot of trouble with tender feet - a problem I have never had before. I attributed it to wearing road shoes on a rocky trail. The good news is that the knee pain that I had been experiencing since the Andiamo 45 in early October (and was a leading factor in my dropping out of MCM) did not rear its ugly head. I think the reason was two-fold. First, the soft trail and towpath are easier on the joints. Secondly, my legs were much stronger from muscle-building workouts I started doing three times a week about a month prior to the JFK.
Overall, the JFK 50 is a great event. It is well organized and I really appreciated the frequent aid stations. I plan on returning next year as either a faster runner or a crew member for other newbie JFKers.
The SRRC would love to hear about your running, racing, or crewing experiences! If you would like to submit a race report, to be posted on the SRRC website, please email srrunner@srrunners.org.