First and foremost, it's great to have such a large group of fellow runners, so many of them JFK and 100 mile ultra vets, to bounce ideas off of. I think the best tip I incorporated this year was to use salt tablets. I really feel they help keep my lows from getting too low.

As I have in each previous JFK, I chose to sleep at home the night before and ride up early the next morning. Thanks go to Monty who generously provided me with a ride for the 2nd year in a row. A week earlier at the final preparation/planning meeting at Loretta and Mark's house, I saw Monty almost as soon as I walked in the door. He immediately asked if I wanted a ride again this year. I accepted and that took care of the sum total of my "business" concerns for the night. At the last minute, Dennis got in touch with us and ended up coming along too. Again we took the I-270 to I-70 to 66 route and made it up to Boonsboro in perfect time, about an hour an twenty minutes.

In the school the pre-race atmosphere was just like it always has been, lots of fun but with a deep sense of purpose at the foundation of it all. With nearly twice the number of RRers signed up to run (43 starters), it was hard to meet and greet everyone even in the full 45 minutes or so we had before heading down to the starting line. I had a brief moment of panic when I went to change into my running shoes. Only one of them was in my bag of stuff! Yikes. I took a deep breath, found Monty and went out to his car and found the other one which was in his trunk. Phew. I actually had another pair of shoes but that pair had the insoles removed as I use superfeet and swap them from pair to pair. I grovelled for some salt tablets from Russ having decided that this would be a good idea, especially considering the relative warmth predicted for the day. Karen A, Jim's A other/better half, was to be my crew person and she was so helpful all day. We talked briefly in the gym and she insisted she could carry all our stuff back to the car despite our saying we could help do it. By way of preparation I greased myself well with Vaseline, used a single wide bandage for each nipple. I wore shorts and a long sleeve coolmax under my singlet w/ bib # attached. I did not want my sunglasses that early and I did not take any ibuprofen or salt prior to the start. I had planned to use the very thin-layered ultramax socks but decided to go with the double-layered (duofold?)  socks at least until Weverton. I had consumed about a liter of sports drink on the drive up and in the gym before the start. I would not carry water or anything else. This is a well supported race even without the support crew I had and I prefer to run unburdened. I did meet one RunWashington person, Craig, in the gym but no Toks, no Terry. Oh well. It's crazy in there.

So Jim A and I all but too casually walked down to the start and the next thing we knew we heard the bang of the gun while we were still near/at the back of the pack. At this point we/I had to decide which principles were more important, not overexerting yourself too early running up the hill, or not getting stuck in heavy single file traffic on the AT. I opted (without discussion) for an aggressive early approach and in retrospect, there is no question that that ended up being the right decision. JimA was right there with me up the hill as we passed several hundred runners. The funny thing is our pace was only about 8 min/mile. We did walk a couple of places on the way up the hill but much less than in year's past. I did pause and reverse course in Boonsboro when I saw a quarter on the road. If it had been a lessor denomination I might have left it.  :)

Split for the start to the AT (approx 3 miles), 24:11.

Bill VA was not far behind us as well as Loretta (more on her later) and we also passed a large number of RRers earlier who we would not see for the duration. The spirit of comradery at this point (and throughout) is amazing. I kept wondering how Nigel was doing/would do since he was an "ultra virgin" and since I had not seen him since the gym. We had also heard him suggest that he would be aggressive in his approach to the day. More on this story later.

I/we had an uneventful (in terms of falls) passage to the cliffs. Our strategy paid off well as we were able to run on a largely uncrowded trail for nearly the entire way. Most or all of the other traffic present was going about our speed and was well spread out in marked contrast to my previous experience on this section. We arrived at Crampton's Gap one behind the other with Bill VA just a minute behind. I drank a couple cups of sports drink and took a couple pieces of Cliffbars and was on my way following what would be my last "nature break" of the day (could I have been better hydrated? quite possibly).

Then we ran mostly together to Weverton with Jim A pulling ahead by a minute or 2 and Bill VA catching me right at the top of the cliffs. Bill mentioned being an aggressive downhill guy but so am I, so I took the point as we blazed down the switchbacks using the well placed trees to swing around the turns whenever possible. This is one of the most fun times of the race and I enjoyed it all the more for having visited this very section with my family the previous weekend and having Bill for company. Bill thought it was cool when I told him how my 4 year old would struggle after each obstacle to get back in front of me repeating "I want to lead the way" as we hiked up from bottom. My feet were anxious for a break from the rocks and I needed to ditch the long sleeve coolmax I had worn under my singlet. It was soaked. As we came out of the woods we saw soooo many familiar faces that I won't try to list them all and just say thank you to everyone who was there. It's really quite a remarkable moment in the race because that is perhaps the one time you see virtually everyone who is crewing. I even saw one of my fellow Reston Masters swim people there. When I got to where Karen was I drank heavily and took two salt tablets. I decided that my feet were fine and rather than fall way behind the other runners I was running with (by changing shoes/socks as I had in years past), I took off, backtracked to grab a huge banana from Karen, and took off once again for the towpath.

Split to the bottom of the cliffs (from the beginning of the AT section, about 12.7 miles) 2:22:13 Total elapsed time to the bottom of the cliffs 2:46 and change

I remember some guy (don't know if he was a volunteer or just a spectator) who wanted to be helpful and told us to watch out for a tricky section just before the aid station. He needn't have bothered. If we had made it that far, we were not going to have a problem getting onto the towpath. You have to be easily amused at this point and I was. I never figured out what was so tricky about it.

Split from the bottom of Weverton Cliffs to the beginning of the towpath 6:34. (includes crew meet-up and aid station where I availed myself of more vaseline)

JimA was now just about lost to view and Bill VA had gone  through the support station and then the aid station a little faster than I and was now about 100 yards ahead of me. I tried in vain to reel him in but this is probably the most difficult section of the race for me. Bill slowly became a smaller and smaller yellow dot off in the distance. JimA was gone for good as it turned out. So I was all by my lonesome and things were starting to hurt. The euphoria of finishing the AT had subsided and the large number of miles yet to go (over 30) weighed heavily. Bill had mentioned back on the AT that I should just try to be consistent on the towpath and I would have a great day. This however, is much easier said than done.

But I was still pretty happy because Bill had said we were ahead of pace for a 8:30 finish. I would have been astounded to have finished with that time so I was unworried about slowing down some. I was also beginning to have a really good feeling about how I might do (in spite of how I was starting to feel) and started wondering about requesting a RR support person to try to contact my family and warn them of the possibility that I would finish before 4 when I had suggested they should arrive. I tried to remind myself of everything I needed to do the next time I met Karen (or other RR support folks), sunglasses, ibuprofen, request someone call home.

I also had a "race inside the race" goal for myself which was  to finish the towpath marathon in under 5 hours so I did not want to dawdle. I had just missed running under 5 hours the previous year. But I was starting to hurt and wished I had taken some ibuprofen at the cliffs. I had decided to wait as Karen had said she would try to meet us just four miles later. Turns out she  was unable to get there due to the authorities blocking access and the aid stations had aspirin which I refused, but no ibuprofen. Nothing else to do but continue on as best I could.

Now here is where the club spirit is such a big help. Shortly after passing the point where I expected but failed to meet up with Karen, I encountered Doug and Cristina biking "downstream" on the towpath. Doug and Cristina are a couple who ran the JFK together the year I crewed (1997). Their shared experience led to their eventual marriage! Cristina was ahead and she recognized me (and my team shirt) at once and immediately asked if I needed anything, to which I replied, "Ibuprofen!". She turned and called to Doug "get out the ibuprofen!". Cristina knows all about the need for such things at those times. What a wonderful surprise and a great boost. I don't which was more important, the emotional support of so many colleagues and friends out there just to help or in this case, the pharmaceuticals they had on hand. 400 mgs of ibuprofen   and a healthy dose of water later and I was on my way already feeling better and knowing that would improve as the drugs kicked in.

A few miles later I encountered another RRer and JFK vet on his bike. John had put up a very strong effort (8:40 something) the previous year in his first attempt. He clued me in as to what was going on in front of me. I learned Nigel was running like a man possessed having done the first 26 miles in 3:30. He was half an hour ahead of JimD, my pick for fastest RR of the day. Could it last? Read on.

This year I remember (for a change) that the milepost I needed to get to on the towpath was mile 84, so I started trying to keep track of where I was. You need something to think about even though it was a beautiful day and the river was lovely. I tried to keep focusing on the job at hand, getting to the halfway point of the towpath, then to the end of the towpath. In addition to running sub 5 on the towpath, I also wanted to see if I could negative split that marathon. An aid station or two later I remembered to ask more RR support folks if anyone had a cell phone. Having now accomplished that,  I had to continue to run well so I wouldn't be guilty of "crying wolf" about when they needed to be there.  TimE was another consistent (support) presence on the course and reminded me often of his 9:20 PR. That was one goal I had had along with Loretta's previous PR of 9:29 which was ten minutes better than me previous PR. I got news all along this section that JimA and Bill VA were ahead of me. Because 50 miles is such a long way I knew that nothing should be considered "unexpected" as far as whether I would see either of them again. You just don't know. So again I  pressed on and tried to stay strong and consistent. I got to the 71 mp (halfway) on the towpath in 2:19. I told myself I was doing fine. I continued my preferred strategy of running into aid stations and walking out of them. I used this strategy in 2000 and felt it worked much better for me than the timed run-walk strategies favored by many others. I just don't like those transitions from walking to running. Too painful. My method minimizes those transitions and forces you to "run more within yourself". I forgot to mention earlier that I had forgotten to pack my heart rate monitor so I had no objective feedback. My energy waxed and waned. At one point, Loretta, running along with someone I did not know caught me. I wasn't ready to concede the race to her yet so I pressed harder and reeled her out until the next aid station. I stopped too long, walked too long, then took too long to regain my good pace and Loretta (and partner) was long gone. She had crushed my fragile male ego, just as she had 2 years ago on this same towpath. But I still had other goals, places to go, people to meet, things to do (run some more). Onward ho. But before I left the aid station I did my last brief course reversal and got Karen to take a moist towel and wipe my face off. My eyes had started to burn a moment ago as I pondered what food might be good at the table. I could see the dried salt on my shorts. Upper 50s might be warmer than ideal but not by much for my tastes.

I took soup at a couple of aid stations. Those salty noodles seemed like a really good thing and logistical problems prevented me from getting soup from RR folks. Thank goodness for the great race support by the organizers. I left Karen with a cliffbar I had carried for 15 or more miles that I couldn't eat. I caught Bill VA!  As he came into shouting distance I heaped abuse on him hoping to spur him on at least enough to run with me (he loves that stuff). What are friends for after all. Another couple miles, another aid station and here comes Bill. He says something in the way of friendly abuse back to me. I am running "scared" even though I didn't necessarily expect to be with him this late. I expect him to be very strong and hoped I could stay with him. He had aspirations of sub 8:30. Those were now gone but he is deep-down strong even in the face of unmet goals. We get to the 38 special more or less together. Karen is right there and lets me know she will see me at mile 46. If it were not for ultra brain, I would have told her not to if it would mean that she would miss her husband's finish. I know how much it means to me for my family to be there when I finish. I take another salt tablet and another 400 mgs of ibuprofen and some bagel pieces. Bill gets out quicker and starts running sooner but I slowly build pace, catch and drop him.This is a part of the race I start to actually gain energy as the end becomes closer to reality. Knowing I can stop soon keeps me going stronger. When I run, I am generally faster than those running around me. When I walk I am a slow walker. With that and the clock in mind, I try to run more, walk less.

I close out the towpath marathon with a split of 4:46. This makes me very happy breaking 5 hours. It also makes me happy to allow myself the luxury of walking, even if it is up a relatively long, steep hill.

A sub 9 hour run is becoming a more remote possibility but I still have an outside chance. Well not really. As usual, my walking speed, relative to others on the course is sloooow. I walk all the way up the big hill from the towpath. After this, my chance for a sub-9 is about as shot as my legs and feet are. A whole bunch of folks pass me walking up the hill. But once I start running again I regain some of those lost places. The countdown mile markers begin. 7, 6,...With 5 to go I calculate that if I could string together five 8 min miles, I could still break 9 hours. No chance. Not when you factor in the uphill walking on the rollies into Williamsport. But all things considered, I feel really good. I get to the 46 mile mark and am relived to see that Karen has handed me off to another RR support person. Good. I wish I could have stuck with JimA the whole way. Another year maybe.

I catch most everyone who had passed me on the hill. I pass one more RRer, Neil, at I-81 with a mile to go. Right turn, traffic light, little rise and there is the finish. I am cruising. All of a sudden, I hear "Go Jim!" as my wife (and kids) drive past me in the car. Cool. Good thing they weren't any later. JimA is there. Karen A is there. Many others are there. I learn about Nigel who finished 2nd among RR with an 8:39. As I hear more I learn he paid the price for his aggressiveness. I was amazed he recovered well enough to finish as strong as he did. My good friend and ultra monster Russ puts in another excellent performance with an 8:40 Jimmy D had a tough last 6 miles and still finished in under 9. He says he got to the finish with Loretta and they were in a dead sprint, he was dead, Loretta was sprinting. Loretta gets an 8:54, thirty-five minutes faster than her previous PR. JimA  runs an 8:57 bettering his PR by around 20 minutes and beating me by 15 minutes. Bill VA cruises in with Neil at about 9:17.

It's a been a great day for RRers. 42 finishers out of 43 starters, ask Mike V about not stocking his crew properly.

How wonderful a hot shower feels. A massage even better. Life is good.

Final split from towpath to finish (8 miles) 1:33

total elapsed time 9:12; a PR by 27 minutes.

To anyone who likes/loves to run, try the JFK50. It's your once a year opportunity to spend a whole day in the park being pampered while doing something you love, and come away with the an intense sense of accomplishment.

If you can run a marathon, you can do the JFK50.