Jfk 50 Mile

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There is a saying, Lloyd Storm says, among "the old guys" of the JFK 50, that the race doesn't really start until Shepherdstown Bridge, a good 30 miles into the 50-mile endurance challenge. As the seven runners profiled by The Herald-Mail last week reflected on Saturday's race, many agreed it wasn't until past that 30-mile point that the ultramarathon presented its greatest challenges. "It just starts eating you up after about 30 miles," said Dave Braithwaite, 52, who said that was when his determination to finish in less than nine hours started to backfire, in the form of intense pain in his knees and thighs.

John Snyder Jr., center, his daughter Sara Cunningham, left, and son John Snyder III, right, all of Hagerstown, recently completed the Leadville Trail Half Marathon, held annually over the July 4th weekend in Leadville, Colo. The race begins at an altitude of 10,200 feet and summits Mosquito Pass at 13,185 feet. The entire race is run above 10,000 feet of elevation. The trio has competed in numerous other races including the Bel Monte 25K/50K. John Jr. has completed many ultramarathons including the JFK 50-Mile 10 times.

JUNIOR FOOTBALL Hagerstown Giants 33, Hagerstown Browns 32: Daquan Edwards ran for two touchdowns, while David Williams, Desonte Morel and Mason Burnett each ran for one for the Giants. Alec Nelson and Michael Russ each ran for a pair of TDs and Reginald Russ also scored a touchdown for the Browns. Williamsport Vikings 31, Smithsburg Jets 0: Seth Near ran for two touchdowns and Shawn Likely and Antoine Malone each ran for one for the Vikings. Williamsport Vikings 21, Williamsport Bears 18: Kyle Stone threw touchdown passes to Michael Hill and Antoine Malone and Ryan Butts blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown for the Vikings.

November is a wonderful time to visit Washington County, and spend some time exploring! Visitors have been flocking to experience our fall foliage, and by all accounts, last month was the busiest October we've seen at local hotels and campgrounds. There are a number of great events in November, which are fun for the family and attract visitors to Washington County. Congratulations go out to the volunteers and organizers of the Alsatia Mummers Parade. Thanks for asking me to be grand marshal.

Run for your life, it's the Green twins. Unlike most Halloween spooks, these guys are real-life running monsters. And since they were denied a cross country season at Shepherd University this fall, road racers beware. Jake Green and Eli Green, 20-year-old brothers from Shenandoah Junction, W.Va., placed first and third at the third annual Run for Your Life 5K at Marty Snook Park on Saturday. Jake blew away the field of 102 participants with his winning time of 16 minutes, 19.7 seconds.

He likes the challenge Agencies name Abraham volunteer of the year By JULIE E. GREENE Staff Writer Austin Abraham enjoys helping people solve problems so much that he spends time both on and off the job doing just that. Because of his service, the Maryland Association of Community Action Agencies named him Volunteer of the Year on April 30. Abraham has been president of the Washington County Community Action Council's board of directors for almost two years.

Elet Hall trained at a downtown Hagerstown parking lot as though he were preparing for a high-stakes game of tag. He leapt up a wall nearly twice his height and vaulted over shorter walls, as though he were being chased or someone else's life were in danger. But as a practitioner of parkour it's all in a day's training. Popular in larger urban centers like Washington and New York, parkour and its close cousin, free running, have been described as what happens when cross country meets steeple chase in the streets for a rumble.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here is the result of event No. 9, the one-mile. First, No. 41, R.G. Bannister of the Amateur Athletic Association and formerly of Exeter and Merton colleges, with a time whic is a new meeting and track record, and which, subject to ratification, will be a new English native, British national, British all-comers, European, British Empire and world's record. The time is three ... " The rest of announcer Norris McWhirter's suspense-filled words was drowned out by the roaring crowd.

PREP GOLF YORK, Pa. - Andrew Burke's recent swing change is paying dividends as the golf season winds down to conclusion. The Chambersburg senior rattled off a 3-under-par 69 in tough weather conditions Saturday to capture medalist honors at the PIAA District 3 tournament at Briarwood Golf Club. Burke's round came on the heels of Friday's opening-round 71, and his 4-under 140 led a pack of six area golfers who qualified for the state tournament Oct. 25-26. "This clearly was Andrew's best round of the year," said Chambersburg coach Mark Yost.

The question most often asked of participants in the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon is simply, “Why?” Perhaps the best answer is, “Why not?” Why not take the circuitous route from Boonsboro to Williamsport, turning a 12-mile trip across Md. 68 into a 50-mile trek across rural roads, the Appalachian Trail and the C&O Canal towpath? Why not battle the elements, which have ranged from extreme heat (80-degree temperatures in 1967) to extreme cold (a wind chill of minus-15 degrees at the start in 1987)

Heavily rooted in U.S. history, what has become the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon began as a challenge issued in the early 1900s by President Theodore Roosevelt, who demanded that his ranking military officers be able to lead their men 50 miles in a 20-hour time period. Six decades later, President John F. Kennedy initiated a similar physical fitness movement. In celebration of both men's vision and leadership, the JFK 50 in Washington County started in the spring of 1963 as one of numerous 50-mile races held around the country, but many were never run again following Kennedy's assassination in November 1963.

Ultramarathon runner Dink Taylor's time of 7 hours, 40 minutes in the 50th annual JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon on Saturday was 41 minutes slower than his performance in last year's event. Pretty remarkable considering that just three months ago, he was fighting for his life. The 47-year-old from Huntsville, Ala., came down with a severe headache Aug. 29 and it landed him in the hospital for 10 days. While there, doctors told Taylor that he had suffered a stroke and had a 40 percent chance of death or paralysis, and a 70 percent chance of death if he experienced any further brain hemorrhaging.

Bob Harsh, who has lived on Falling Waters Road south of Williamsport all his life and owns a business there, says the closure of southbound Spielman Road (Md. 63) for Saturday's JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon will cause him problems. “It takes a gallon of fuel to make the detour,” Harsh, 72, said Friday. “I haven't seen anybody standing on any corner yet handing me a $4 bill for fuel.” Harsh's business, County Medical Transport Inc., is a private ambulance company. He says he has to leave the business multiple times a day and, although the road will be open for him going into Williamsport, on the way back he would have to use Lappans Road (Md. 68)

The director of the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon said Spielman Road near Williamsport won't be completely closed to traffic during the race on Saturday despite a sign that says otherwise. Mike Spinnler said a large LED sign on Spielman Road near Md. 68 incorrectly states that the roadway will be closed from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., when roughly 1,000 runners are expected to converge on the area. “There must be a miscommunication,” he said. “It won't be completely closed.” Spinnler said Spielman Road is to be closed to traffic only in the southbound lane.

Jesse Garrant's goal in his first ultramarathon isn't just to cross the finish line at the JFK 50 Mile, but to finish the rigorous test of human endurance with a smile. The 39-year-old native of Plattsburgh, N.Y., said he's ready for what he described as “the next challenge” in his life after running several marathons, including the Pittsburgh Marathon and the local Freedom's Run this year. “I like to set goals, I like to set challenges, and this one will be exciting,” said Garrant, who learned of the race after moving to Berkeley County about two years ago. Garrant, a lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard, said one of his colleagues at the National Maritime Center in Martinsburg had run the JFK 50 Mile and had a bib number from the race at the office.

When Kathleen Luzier first went to the Appalachian Trail to prepare for the JFK 50 Mile, she didn't like it. The rocky and difficult terrain spooked her. Luzier, 44, who was the first Washington County resident to cross the finish line of the ultramarathon in 2011, has grown to like the trail. These days, she talks about its beauty. “You are in peace, even with 1,000 runners,” Luzier said. “It's maybe the closest to God you can be on this Earth.” The Boonsboro mother of three will be back on the trail Saturday hoping to improve on last year's performance, when she finished her first attempt at the race in just less than 9 hours.

Jerry Mason doesn't run the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon to break any records. He does it for the sheer love of running. Mason, 56, is somewhat of a late bloomer to running. He dabbled in jogging but didn't become serious about the sport until 2004, when he ran the Halifax Marathon in Nova Scotia. “The wonderful thing about running is you don't get too old for it. There are some really fast people who are 65 years old. So it's not like football or rugby, where you sort of peak at 35 or 40. You can carry on forever and it's never too late,” Mason said in a British accent that remains intact after living in the United States for four years.

"Bucket list" was a term that came up when Mary Ellis and her daughter-in-law, Vicki Ellis, talked about why they wanted to tackle the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon. “My husband passed away in 2010 and it was a sudden passing,” Mary Ellis said. The death of her husband, Daniel, at age 60, prompted Mary to contemplate a bucket list - things she'd like to accomplish in life. While Mary, 63, and Vicki, 42, don't have actual written bucket lists, they've talked about running together for the grueling JFK 50 Mile.

View streaming video from the finish line at Springfield Middle School from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday online at www.herald-mail.com .   On the nightstand of Buzz Sawyer's room in Somerford Place is a copy of “The Flying Scotsman,” a book about the Olympic runner Eric Liddell, and copies of Track & Field Magazine. “Born to Run” and “The Perfect Mile” are in his bookcase, along with an All-America cross country award from 1954, and the walls are crowded with framed photos and newspaper clippings of a life spent on the run. At 83, William Joseph “Buzz” Sawyer Jr., the founder of the JFK 50 Mile, has slowed a bit and a walker stands by his chair, but he hopes to be at the dinner Friday night before the 50th running of the race and, possibly, there to see the finish Saturday.