Ultramarathon

The only unfortunate thing about the new Sole Challenge 24-hour race is that Rick Meyers will be too busy to run it. Meyers, a veteran ultramarathon runner and the owner and operator of The Runner's Sole store in Chambersburg, Pa., seems to live for events like this. But being the race director might be the next best thing to competing. The Sole Challenge, which will be held May 25-26 on Memorial Day weekend at Norlo Park in Fayetteville, Pa., is Meyers' baby. And he only wants it to thrive.

This year's 50th running of the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon will still include a 13-mile section of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, but organizers will look at ways to expand the field of entrants in future years while maintaining a limit of 1,000 runners on that portion of the course. The Cumberland Valley Athletic Club, which organizes the race, and the National Park Service reached an agreement last month to allow continued use of the trail for this year's race on Nov. 17 and in subsequent races, JFK co-Director Mike Spinnler said Monday.

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)

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Forty-five years ago, Mark Rosette sat in front of his television watching history. The president of the United States had been assassinated. Rosette was a teenager when John F. Kennedy died in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Rosette decided to honor Kennedy's memory on the anniversary of his death by participating in Saturday's JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon. But not as a competitor. "I wanted to volunteer," he said. Standing behind a table near Dam 4 Road, Rosette lined up bottles of water and Gatorade in anticipation of thirsty runners.

andrews@herald-mail.com Melanie and John Connor saw their father wrapping up a wrenching and exhilarating run, and they joined in. Melanie, 13, grabbed one hand. John, 11, grabbed the other. Mike Connor of Hagerstown lifted his children's arms high along with his, jogging together through the finish chute at the JFK 50-Mile ultramarathon. He had done it. Fifty miles. Connor, a physician, will be 49 just two more months, which is why he kept his legs churning along Alt. U.S. 40 in Boonsboro, the Appalachian Trail and the C&O Canal Towpath, before finishing the run at Springfield Middle School.

As a runner, Gil Crumrine draws much of his motivation from his faith in God. The Hagerstown man has made several mission trips to Africa, and recalls that his fastest times in the JFK 50 Mile came after his first trip to the country in 2005. Not only was Crumrine impressed by the number of talented distance runners in countries like Kenya and Ethiopia, but he came to appreciate the people's simple way of life. Crumrine, 58, said he felt like he was honoring the great runners of Africa when he finished the 2005 JFK 50 Mile in 10:48.

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.

julieg@herald-mail.com Mom might say not to run after you eat, but, when you're running 50 miles, you have to consume calories along the way and that's often in the form of food, says Dr. Bob Bowen, a pulmonary- and intensive-care specialist in Martinsburg, W.Va. There's only so much fat a runner can burn in a race as long as Saturday's JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon. Runners need to load up or store carbs to burn during the earlier stages of the race, says Bowen, who used to be the JFK 50 Mile race doctor.

For those who like to go the extra distance, the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon has become a wildly popular way to do it. The 47th annual edition of the race, which will be held Nov. 21 in Washington County, reached its maximum number of entries in record time. The entry period opened July 1, and by July 13 it was closed. Last year, it filled in a then-record 23 days. It's the third straight year the race has sold out. "We're four months out, and people have JFK fever already," race director Mike Spinnler said.

The only unfortunate thing about the new Sole Challenge 24-hour race is that Rick Meyers will be too busy to run it. Meyers, a veteran ultramarathon runner and the owner and operator of The Runner's Sole store in Chambersburg, Pa., seems to live for events like this. But being the race director might be the next best thing to competing. The Sole Challenge, which will be held May 25-26 on Memorial Day weekend at Norlo Park in Fayetteville, Pa., is Meyers' baby. And he only wants it to thrive.

A milestone day at the oldest and largest ultramarathon in the country had fitting results, as Max King and Ellie Greenwood set course records at the 50th annual JFK 50 Mile on Saturday. King, 32, of Bend, Ore., conquered the 50.2-mile course - which started in Boonsboro and finished in Williamsport - in 5 hours, 34 minutes and 58 seconds. He averaged 6:42 per mile to top the field of roughly 1,000 runners. Trent Briney, 34, of Boulder, Colo., finished second in 5:37:56, also dipping under the previous course-record time of 5:40:45, set last year by David Riddle, who finished third this year in 5:45:13.

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)

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.

Last year's 49th annual JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon was one for the ages. David Riddle passed Michael Wardian late in the race and held on to win in a course-record time of 5 hours, 40 minutes, 45 seconds. Wardian finished second in 5:43:24, also dipping under the previous mark of 5:46:22 set in 1994 by Eric Clifton, whose record once seemed untouchable. “It was pretty special last year,” Riddle, 31, of Cincinnati, said in a phone interview this week. “Everything just came together perfectly.” While Wardian is sidelined with an injury, Riddle will be back to defend his title Saturday at the 50th annual JFK 50 Mile, the largest, oldest and arguably most prestigious ultramarathon in the U.S. “It's definitely a big year,” Riddle said.

Hagerstown resident Dave Fox enjoyed running as a teenager li ving in the Midwest. But he got away from the sport, then developed an interest in it again after graduating from culinary school at James Rumsey Technical Institute near Hedgesville, W.Va. While working his first job after culinary school, Fox met a friend who competed in the JFK 50 Mile. “He just said, 'Hey, you want to do this 50-mile race?' I said, 'Sure.' I had never run an ultramarathon before,” said Fox, who completed the race in 11 hours and 19 minutes in his first attempt.

The JFK 50 Mile began as more of a forced march, with 11 male participants, four of whom finished the grueling trek. Almost half a century later, the ultramarathon draws more than 1,000 men and women, some of them elite runners from across the country and around the world. As the level of competition increased, winning times have been cut in more than half - from 13 hours and 10 minutes the first year to a record 5 hours, 40 minutes, 45 seconds last year. Saturday is the 50th running of the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon, which takes participants from Boonsboro to Williamsport along paved roads, the Appalachian Trail and the C&O Canal towpath.

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.