2022 JFK 50 Mile

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Usually, I write my race reports after the race. I’ve come to the point of making a decision. Run the 2022 JFK 50 Mile, or break my streak.

After my 2021 finish, I wrote, “this one was stressful and not fun.” After 2020 and 2021, I thought the race would be my last, stating I’d “wait until September to decide.”

For the second year in a row, I put off my decision to register until the end of October. Even if the race was at capacity, I’m confident I would be allowed in with my 26 finishes.

I scheduled my last JFK training run for October 27, 2022, and then make my decision. My guidelines were under 4:15 run and over 4:30 definitely no. Between the two times would be a toss-up.

I did my long-run build-up with weekly 14-mile runs in July, 16 miles in August, and 18 miles in September. I planned to run three marathons in October, treating them as 20-mile runs with a 6-mile walking cool-down. Then, my medical issue came to a head on September 27.

I canceled two marathons and ran the one on October 16, 2022. That was my only run longer than 14 miles since October 1, and it was not very pretty. My last 10km was at a 15:42 minutes per mile pace, which is not fast enough to finish within the JFK 13-hour time limit. And could I keep this up for another 24 miles?

Driving home from New Mexico, I came through the Shenandoah Valley on I-81. The fall colors and sun angles reminded me of the last 8 miles of the JFK course. My mind went to plotting the logistics of finishing the race in under 13 hours.

If I could get off the AT in 4 hours and 15 minutes and then to Antietam 3 hours later, I would have 5 hours to get from Shepherdstown to the finish, which is one hour for each major aid station. That’s assuming I can maintain a 15 minutes per mile pace.

It must have been the attraction of fall. Since before High School, fall has been a time of new beginnings. The summer heat turned to crisp mornings, pleasant nights, and faster race times. My thoughts go to football practices, new schools, new relationships, new homes, new jobs, retirements, and long races.

Bert Jacoby once told me, “it smells like cross country season.” To me, it smells like the challenge of a long race.

Getting home, I had no time for additional conditioning. I still plotted three long training runs, including my October 27 trail adventure.

The next day, I had a cardiologist appointment, the follow-up from my September 28 procedure. I guess Dr. Khan doesn’t have many patients who finished a marathon five days before an appointment. That day, my EKG was a normal sinus rhythm with PVC.

I told him about my race and that I wanted to finish six more marathons to complete the 50 states. He was confident we could get that done. My timeframe is in the next 11 months. I’m not sure about his time frame.

I then asked him about running JFK. He was less than positive and recommended against running. In the past, I’ve told others, “when a doctor tells you to stop running, find another doctor.”

Now for a clue, I didn’t fight him on his recommendation, nor did I try to figure out a workaround.

He recommended getting my long races down to half-marathons and two races per year.

Mentally, I knew I would not run the 2022 JFK 50 Mile and started plotting travel for upcoming marathons. I skipped an 11-mile run on October 22 to help recover from the previous week’s marathon.

I did my annual last training run on the Appalachian Trail on October 27. Hey, I can still enjoy the fall colors and smells.

It was 54 degrees at the start and 62 degrees when I finished 4 hours and 26 minutes later. My course goes from Weverton to Crampton Gap and back. I did negative splits of 2:17 and 2:09.

I still felt good at the end. Though I stumbled more than I remember, I did stay upright for the entire run.

Usually, I don’t run with a cell phone or ID. I carried both in my backpack. I was surprised to receive a call about my car warranty expiring on the trail. The surprise was not the spam call. It was the cell reception.

The cell phone let me stay in contact with my “call for help” daughters with an update at Crampton.

My time of 4:26:01 was faster than my runs in 2021 and 2020. Though 2021 was wet and slick.

Knowing it’s time to step away, I can work on other goals. Good luck to all who take on the JFK challenge in 2022 and beyond. Someday, I’ll stop in for my free meal at the Legend’s Dinner.