I decided to run the JFK 50 when I saw an article in Runner's World a long while back about Anna Bradford and the Reston Runners. To make a long story short, I roped my husband Eric into running it with me and off we went into training for the Marine Corps Marathon. I still had serious doubts about the line "If you can run a marathon, you can run the 50."

After the marathon, I had even more doubts as it was not a great race for me and I worried that I might not be ready for the JFK. My husband tried to convince me I had just had a bad day. I think I might have dropped out had it not been for the well-planned potlucks where several very kind Reston Runners offered encouragement and advice, as well as Eric's continuous support. And besides, I had already told so many people I was running the race I felt like it would be awfully embarrassing to back out now!

The night of the race I think I slept maybe an hour I was so nervous. When the wake up call went off at 3 am I was up and ready to go. Eric slept next door with my dad who was crewing because I was so nervous I wanted to be alone. I just wanted to get started with the race. We chose to do the 5 am start since we didn't know if we could finish in under 12 hours. We were concerned about the dark, but it didn't really prove to be that big of a deal. It may have slowed us down a little, but not too much.

As we took off from the gymnasium, we were told to stay behind a 12-hour pacer who was lit up like a Christmas tree. I was surprised how slow we were going, but Eric and I knew we needed to be patient as we had a long way to go! It was cold and windy, but we were comfortable in tights, fleece and gloves. I knew as soon as my feet started moving that I could finish the race. It was a very surreal experience, moving slowly amongst everyone, thinking about what we were attempting to do. We wore headlamps and navigated the trail with relative ease but with great caution.

We were so excited when around 9 miles we began to hear people screaming. When I came out of the woods and saw my dad and five of our closest friends I began sprinting towards them which I am sure I paid for later. I felt great and the AT flew by and we were soon on the canal. We plopped on our headphones and began doing a run five-minute, walk one-minute plan which we managed to stick to for the majority of the time. We felt good up until around the mid to high 30s and then it started getting tough. My feet, despite all my attempts, were blistered all over and Eric was having some knee problems. Later on, my crew said we didn't look so hot around the mid 30s and weren't sure we would finish. I thought that was funny because I felt pretty good at the time (was on my fourth wind I think) but I am sure we didn't look so good.

We slogged through the Canal and were so elated when we reached the road for the last 8 miles or so. That was by far the toughest part of the race and I had to walk-run it as best I could, with the walking taking more and more time. My spirits were lifted by the stray dog my crew had picked up and were carrying around in their car, and their cheers of encouragement. I don't know how they did it, but we saw them just about everywhere possible. I know we didn't need them to do the race physically, but mentally, I couldn't have done it without them this first time.

With five miles to go, my legs were freezing despite my tights and I had shooting pains running up and down my legs. I could hardly believe that a mile could feel so long. With half a mile to go, a man yelled "the finish is just over this hill." At that point I had had enough and started sprinting like a crazy woman to the finish. I wanted to be done. Eric and I finished at exactly the same time (12:24) and I can't tell you what a great feeling that completing the race gave us. We didn't pay attention to time and ran a bit slower then we hoped, but hey, we aren't complaining. We may - may - even try it again. We knew from the beginning we would run together and stay together for this and that too made it very special.

Many thanks to all the Reston Runners for the advice and cheers, especially to Anna.