We did it again. For the 16^th year in a row, Reston Runners have sent a team to Boonsboro, Maryland to compete in the annual 50-mile footrace across hill and dale and then hill again. This group bonds together during repeated potluck strategy sessions and trail runs - we train, scheme, eat, and party together, and then in November we line up at the starting line ready to face the day. [Note: Be sure to read our growing library of JFK50 Experience Articles]

Most Reston Runners are used to this program, having run or crewed at some point over the last couple decades. They’ve seen this event in action, and the average club member knows that 50 miles is a long way, but not an impossible distance. Around 250 Reston Runners have finished this race, and well over 300 Reston Runners have supported the team on race day. And most of those people have done this more than once. Or twice. It’s just that kind of an event.

But the average club member is not really a normal person. This year over 30 volunteers and family members got up before dawn to line the course with their bright smiles and energetic cheer. They hauled bags, served soup, changed muddy shoes, filled water bottles, and paced lagging runners to their finish. And some of those crazy people did this for 16 hours straight.

And then there are the runners. They are truly nuts. After training all season, obsessing builds throughout the pre-race week with hourly checks of the weather, ritualized packing and unpacking of drop bags, and late runs to pick up the third spare water pack. This behavior peaks race morning with multiple costume changes and shoe re-ties right up to the starting line. But once the gun goes off, the runners discover that, in fact, they are ready. And if they’re not – no biggie. They’ll see their crew in no time. When a Reston Runner starts the JFK, chances are, they’ll finish.

Some Numbers

Thirty three Reston Runners started and 32 finished the 50 miles this year. Seven of those were first time finishers, and 12 were women. The average age was 44 years, ranging from 31 (Marlyssa, Sandy and Ben) to 67 (Pat B). The average finish time was 10:21, ranging from 7:36 (James B) to 12:47 (Tammy M). Our first woman was Mary K (9:36) – in 6 finishes Mary’s time has varied by only 14 minutes. The average number of JFK finishes per runner was over 4, with a total of 139 finishes among the 32 runners (the most, of course, is Bill T with 19 finishes). Exactly half of those running this year earned themselves a PR (if you count those first timers, who should really count double). Our biggest PR was earned by Dave C who bettered his time by 46 minutes, followed closely by Susana D with a 45 minute PR and Jordan A cutting off 42 minutes from last year. In fact, every runner with a PR over 10 minutes was running their second JFK, so apparently it’s worth returning.

Why It Works

These runners work hard, of course, to keep moving throughout the day, even if it’s not that much fun every step. What keeps them going is the knowledge that a sea of Reston Runner volunteers, donning famous blue pinnies, are waiting to cheer them into an aid station very soon. Jess H took on the Crew Chief position this year, after apprenticing for the last 2 years at Antietam. Under Jess’s fine management, every runner had their bags neatly stacked and ready for the Crew Captains, Deb M, Charley H, and Leslie S, who shuttled them to the course. Cliff, Jarrett, Menzies, Holly & John meticulously recorded runners’ splits, while Pat K & Manfred served soup, and Steve & Kishan took photos. Hank, Bill J, Amy H, Paul G and Libbe B handled the runners’ every need along the course, while Ann D made sure the crew had all the support they needed throughout the day. First timer, Lee C, was amazed by the organization, and his wife, Sarah, was heard commenting on the “gold mine” that was the Reston Runner support system. Yep. We got this one.

What Happened Out There

Everyone who started, finished. Except for Tom B (25) who, after 4 miles, discovered that his quick meal en route to Hagerstown the night before was causing serious problems. After sitting down to recover on the AT, he realized all his fellow 5AM starters were gone, and no one else would be coming by for another hour. Cold, wet, sick, and alone in the dark, Tom yelled “Help Help!” (really!) and like magic, “Boy Scout Troop 641 came and gave me their sleeping bags and called for an ambulance. They were all around 11 or 12 and were very excited to have found an actual person in trouble to whom they could apply their boy scoutery. They also instructed roughly 75% of the 7:00 starters to send back help from the water stop.”

Most other runners merely suffered the occasional fall, your basic whininess from too many rocks, and the usual rearranging of time goals. I suspect that at some point during the day, each runner confidently declared that they would never make this ridiculous mistake again; Ellen M was heard growling at mile 38 that she was off to find a new hobby. First timer Ken F was unclear how much pain was normal, and what should be a sign of true injury. Sunday morning he emailed me to say “It seems I ripped my toenail loose on the AT and it jammed back into the toe. I just got back from the hospital and am now wearing a ridiculous looking boot and will not be able to run for a while.” Good thing he didn’t change his shoes at Weverton – we might have lost a few crew volunteers after that.

Some runners seemed to have flawless days, and were seen grinning ear to ear every time they cruised through an aid station. First timer Woody B was one of those uber-cheerful runners, along with the ever-grateful Susana and party-boy Chris J from Ohio (Chris dragged his friend, our Jon W, off the bleachers and into the fray this year after a decade of confidently declaring he would never run 50 miles. Just remember what the Borg taught us about resistance).

I was not one of those “life is wonderful” runners this year, although I had no particular reason to complain – just your basic slow legs. So slow, in fact, that for the first time in my JFK experience I found myself surrounded by the chatter of anxious runners all calculating that they might not make it to the next aid station before the cut off. It wasn’t until I hit mile 34 with only 2 minutes to spare that I realized I could be in trouble. For a full hour I noticed I couldn’t move faster than 14 minutes/mile without getting dizzy, so when I saw Jess at mile 38 (with just 4 minutes to cut off) I barked instructions for her to put running clothes on Mike B so he could pull me to a finish on time. As the team orchestrated an entire outfit change, I was relieved to see Pat B slip into the aid station behind me - just in time to be allowed to continue. Mike B assumed his “official finish or bust” game face with great seriousness and took all the brainwork out of our final 12 miles. By gently dictating the run-walk schedule, Mike gradually had us to pick up the pace. We absorbed 5 more runners into our peloton along the road and redefined “safety in numbers” as we all cruised arm in arm to the finish a full 25 minutes ahead of schedule.

“To finish is to win” is so cliché. But you know what? I lived that cliché this weekend. And so did all those Reston Runner friends ahead of me. Congratulations to us all. We clearly owe much to the support team out there, and to our running friends who inspire us beyond our resistance.

For complete results of the JFK field, go to http://www.jfk50mile.org/2011/JFK2011results-2.txt