Without further delay, here's the Run for Munda video of the 2009 JFK 50-mile race!
Please also see this really good piece in the Hanover (Penna.) Evening Sun - click here - about Munda and the community support around him and Shauna, including a bit about the Run for Munda. (Thank you, Tim Stonesifer and all of the Evening Sun folks!) And look for this week's Johnsonburg Press for a description of race day. I'll post the Press' story here on Wednesday, December 2, as well as a copy of Ray's and my engagement announcement!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Preliminary Results
We did it! Here are our preliminary results, from the JFK 50 web page:
Krista Shaffer - 10:23:10
Ray Rogers - 9:53:44
What to write? The thing that comes first to mind is that the support of my family, Ray, Ray's family, and our friends kept me going. I can't say enough about that. Mile 27 and 38 were the best, most wonderful miles I have ever run. I felt like I was in heaven. I feel truly blessed and loved.
The next thing that I have to write is that Ray had a beautiful little box in the bottom corner of his bag, and unbeknownst to me he had been waiting for the "right" time all weekend. Last night after the race, when we were kind of getting back to feeling like ourselves - at least as much as we were going to that night - Ray unpacked the bottle of champaigne he had brought to celebrate our victory. And then he took out the box, and inside was a beautiful diamond ring. It gave what had already been a perfect day a new sparkle, and cast everything in a new light.
More to come.
Krista Shaffer - 10:23:10
Ray Rogers - 9:53:44
What to write? The thing that comes first to mind is that the support of my family, Ray, Ray's family, and our friends kept me going. I can't say enough about that. Mile 27 and 38 were the best, most wonderful miles I have ever run. I felt like I was in heaven. I feel truly blessed and loved.
The next thing that I have to write is that Ray had a beautiful little box in the bottom corner of his bag, and unbeknownst to me he had been waiting for the "right" time all weekend. Last night after the race, when we were kind of getting back to feeling like ourselves - at least as much as we were going to that night - Ray unpacked the bottle of champaigne he had brought to celebrate our victory. And then he took out the box, and inside was a beautiful diamond ring. It gave what had already been a perfect day a new sparkle, and cast everything in a new light.
More to come.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
It's 5 am on Race Day
Good morning! Ray and I are on the way to Boonsboro High School for the pre-race briefing. It's sooooo dark outside. But at 47 degrees, it's warmer than forecasted, and so maybe I'll revise my race attire. I've got my Run for Munda t-shirt and sweater on (for now). With the hood pulled up - and I kind of feel like a boxer getting ready to enter the ring. A really, reallt BIG ring. ... I asked Ray to say something for the blog; he's driving, and drawing a complete blank. "Whoops - we were just speeding big time," he said. He wants to get us there and get everything squared away. Good man. Well, more to come! Oh, hey - I just saw a sign that said, "CAUTION: Runners on the road!" The road beyond - Route 40 - has cones down the middle. We're almost to the start!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Pre-Start
As I write, I am in a commuter bus on the way from my home in Annapolis to my workplace in downtown Washington, DC, about an hour's drive. I make this trip every weekday - but today feels very different! When I left home this morning, I left it for the last time before the race. From work today I will make my way via commuter bus to Frederick, where Ray will pick me up. We'll spend the night at Ray's parents' home in Frederick (thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Rogers)! Then, it's on to Boonsboro, and the start of the race tomorrow morning.
In any case, I FEEL like I'm on my way to the race! First thing this morning, I walked two miles to the bus stop. I felt the miles counting down. Just keep going and they'll keep counting down, I thought. It's just a matter of time! We can do this; just put one foot in front of the other.
It's going to be a beautiful day tomorrow - good for running and "spectating"! Not many members of my family can come to the race, but it's so far for them to come - it's okay. I'll keep blogging - I can do it on my phone, I just figured out! - and we'll get as much as we can on camera and post it here after the race.
Just the other day I received a comment on our Steamtown marathon video. It was from a guy who has run it and also worked the finish line. He wrote that he had never seen a video like ours, and it reminded him of how he loves to watch people finish the race. Neat! I've gotten comments from fellow runners on all three race videos, and they've been viewed hundreds of times on YouTube. It's good to know - and I hope that it's more broadly true - that people enjoy our perspective.
No matter what happens tomorrow, we'll have great footage and great memories! But I really think that if we run carefully, we'll finish, with no problem. It's like the card Ray sent me this week:
Well, I'm almost to work. It's time to really get the day underway. It's all just a matter of time!
P.S. - That reminds me that I must thank my boss Bill and my colleague Amy for their support! Not only are they contributors, but they're a huge help in more ways than they realize. Amy offers the best moral support I can imagine, and Bill is very kind and supportive, too - especially by not saying anything at all when he gets a Run for Munda update in the middle of a workday, or he hears me in my office ending a phone call with, "Hey, Shauna, I love you! Talk to you later!"
But Bill offers not just passive support. He has told me - and it means so much for me to know - that my work for Run for Munda is many ways connected to our work at Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal. Bill and I spend our professional lives talking about the virtues of small organizations and the bond between people helping people, and their importance for solving difficult social problems in America - for example in a speech he gave to the Ridley Park Ministerium prayer breakfast a little while back. You know, cancer might not be one of those problems that we normal, everyday people can cure, not without the help of trained medical professionals and lots of money. But there are related social problems that we everyday people must solve, because only we can - like helping the elderly remain independent, helping sick people hold on to their dignity, and helping their family members stay afloat in every way. These are not medical problems. These are everyday problems, our problems. And helping to solve them is being part of a community, and it's the best feeling. Click here to read Bill's speech.
By the way, Shauna has told me stories of the doctors who have supported her in ways both medical and otherwise - with phone calls and referrals and anything else they can think of. There are some really, really good-hearted, civic-minded, and just darn good doctors out there. And nurses are angels!
So... I'm going to get back to that, and then I've gotta run. (Okay, baaaaad pun.)
More to come!
In any case, I FEEL like I'm on my way to the race! First thing this morning, I walked two miles to the bus stop. I felt the miles counting down. Just keep going and they'll keep counting down, I thought. It's just a matter of time! We can do this; just put one foot in front of the other.
It's going to be a beautiful day tomorrow - good for running and "spectating"! Not many members of my family can come to the race, but it's so far for them to come - it's okay. I'll keep blogging - I can do it on my phone, I just figured out! - and we'll get as much as we can on camera and post it here after the race.
Just the other day I received a comment on our Steamtown marathon video. It was from a guy who has run it and also worked the finish line. He wrote that he had never seen a video like ours, and it reminded him of how he loves to watch people finish the race. Neat! I've gotten comments from fellow runners on all three race videos, and they've been viewed hundreds of times on YouTube. It's good to know - and I hope that it's more broadly true - that people enjoy our perspective.
No matter what happens tomorrow, we'll have great footage and great memories! But I really think that if we run carefully, we'll finish, with no problem. It's like the card Ray sent me this week:
Well, I'm almost to work. It's time to really get the day underway. It's all just a matter of time!
P.S. - That reminds me that I must thank my boss Bill and my colleague Amy for their support! Not only are they contributors, but they're a huge help in more ways than they realize. Amy offers the best moral support I can imagine, and Bill is very kind and supportive, too - especially by not saying anything at all when he gets a Run for Munda update in the middle of a workday, or he hears me in my office ending a phone call with, "Hey, Shauna, I love you! Talk to you later!"
But Bill offers not just passive support. He has told me - and it means so much for me to know - that my work for Run for Munda is many ways connected to our work at Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal. Bill and I spend our professional lives talking about the virtues of small organizations and the bond between people helping people, and their importance for solving difficult social problems in America - for example in a speech he gave to the Ridley Park Ministerium prayer breakfast a little while back. You know, cancer might not be one of those problems that we normal, everyday people can cure, not without the help of trained medical professionals and lots of money. But there are related social problems that we everyday people must solve, because only we can - like helping the elderly remain independent, helping sick people hold on to their dignity, and helping their family members stay afloat in every way. These are not medical problems. These are everyday problems, our problems. And helping to solve them is being part of a community, and it's the best feeling. Click here to read Bill's speech.
By the way, Shauna has told me stories of the doctors who have supported her in ways both medical and otherwise - with phone calls and referrals and anything else they can think of. There are some really, really good-hearted, civic-minded, and just darn good doctors out there. And nurses are angels!
So... I'm going to get back to that, and then I've gotta run. (Okay, baaaaad pun.)
More to come!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
What It's Like III
We're fast approaching race day - this Saturday, November 21! And it's time to get a little philosophical - please bear with me. Since I started posting on this blog back in August, Ray and I have tried to give a sense of what it's like to run a marathon, and to prepare for and run a fifty-mile race. But the truth is, we don't know what it's like to run a fifty-mile race. When I think ahead to Saturday, race day, it's just a big unknown we're sharing with you.
So I've done what Lance Armstrong tried to do when he first faced cancer - I hold onto numbers. I can tell you the number of miles I've run in my training, and how fast. I can tell you about my heart rate and average pace. I can even tell you how I expect to do on Saturday based on past performance and what I know about the race course and its elevation changes. I've done my research and I know my numbers.
I just don't know... what will happen.
Cancer patients and those who support them have a lot of unknowns - the biggest ones possible - and also a lot of numbers they can crunch. I've been thinking about some of the numbers Shauna has told me in our phone conversations. She is struggling with insurance companies, and she has become an expert in the number of doctor's visits and co-pays they've had, and the number of treatment sessions, and the numbers in dollar amounts that the doctors charge and the insurance companies offer (or refuse) to pay.
There are numbers I shudder to think about, like the number of times cancer patients get stuck with needles; the number of times their bodies have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation; the number of hours they spend waiting - for doctors, for results, for the nausea to go away; and the numbers that determine whether a treatment can go forward, and whether or not it is working - blood cell counts, for example.
And then, there are the numbers about Munda that I find myself writing as I describe him. He passed away on September 25, 2009. He was 52. At Munda's funeral, Keith Malonosky said that the numbers on a headstone aren't really important; what's important is the dash in between them, the life.
I can be proud of my numbers (some of them), but they're not what matters. Numbers are just a way of keeping track of what we think we know so that we don't think so much about what we really don't know. Numbers help us to not be so scared. But not really! People help us not to be so scared. What really counts are people, and helping people, and remembering people, and taking or having heart from those encounters and relationships. What's the value of 1 if it's just 1 person? Maybe a whole lot. Brad Paisley sings, "To the world, you're just another girl, but to me, you are the world."
I got to talk to my mom yesterday morning on the phone for the first time in weeks, and she asked me about the race. I haven't had a chance to talk with her much since she started a new job, and there's so much going on in her life and mine, as always. It was just great to hear that we were on the same page, even though we hadn't been in touch.
I talked with my sister Becky in Alaska, my dad, and two of my aunts, Shauna and Luck, too. Their questions and comments, and the questions and comments they pass on to me from other relatives and friends, show me that I do not face the unknown alone.
I think of Heavan, and Munda there ahead of us - maybe looking down and thinking that I am crazy to be doing this.
And fellow runners. The videos Ray and I created have gotten several supportive comments from fellow runners on Facebook; they remind me how supportive runners are of each other. Everyone has a story they run with. Here's someone whose story jumped out at me, for example (mainly because Ray sent it to me - thanks, Ray): This week the newspaper in Hagerstown, the Herald-Mail, is profiling JFK-50 runners; on Sunday their featured runner was 49-year-old local dairy farmer Dale Rhoderick, who has completed the race twenty-two times and will go for his 23rd this Saturday. Cancer took away his wife nineteen years ago, and he dedicated that year's race to her. This year, he'll run for the first time as a former dairy farmer; he just lost his farm. Click here to read the story.
And Ray - I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for Ray. And I wouldn't be able to do it, either.
We're crazy runners! Through it all, we just keep running. In today's Wall Street Journal there is an article about people who have run hundreds and hundreds of marathons. "Three Germans, a Finn and a Japanese woman are known to have clocked more than 1,000 marathons apiece -- that is 26,200 miles, about 1,300 miles more than the circumference of the earth. The record holder, 74-year-old Horst Preisler, has run 1,636 marathons," the article says. Click here to read. (For the record, Ray has run 14 marathons in 5 states, and I've run 6 marathons in 4 states.)
One multi-marathon runner's personal doctor called him a "nut job" and a "marvel." But the truth is, runners are pretty neat people, and they're a great, supportive group to have around. I don't want to put it into numbers - you can't - but I have to include this quote: Larry Macon, a lawyer who will soon complete his 600th marathon, told the Wall Street Journal, "The jerk percentage among marathoners is just so much lower than the jerk percentage among lawyers."
And then there's the advice people who run ultra-marathons (any distance over 26.2 miles) give and get - that you must make "relentless forward progress no matter what." You just have to keep going, even when every fiber of you wants to stop.
The fact is, runners are a ready-made support group; they have to find a way to deal with that. And in life you really, really need that!
As for numbers? They're just what gets you into the club, what allows you to enjoy the camaraderie of people who know what they really mean.
So I've done what Lance Armstrong tried to do when he first faced cancer - I hold onto numbers. I can tell you the number of miles I've run in my training, and how fast. I can tell you about my heart rate and average pace. I can even tell you how I expect to do on Saturday based on past performance and what I know about the race course and its elevation changes. I've done my research and I know my numbers.
I just don't know... what will happen.
Cancer patients and those who support them have a lot of unknowns - the biggest ones possible - and also a lot of numbers they can crunch. I've been thinking about some of the numbers Shauna has told me in our phone conversations. She is struggling with insurance companies, and she has become an expert in the number of doctor's visits and co-pays they've had, and the number of treatment sessions, and the numbers in dollar amounts that the doctors charge and the insurance companies offer (or refuse) to pay.
There are numbers I shudder to think about, like the number of times cancer patients get stuck with needles; the number of times their bodies have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation; the number of hours they spend waiting - for doctors, for results, for the nausea to go away; and the numbers that determine whether a treatment can go forward, and whether or not it is working - blood cell counts, for example.
And then, there are the numbers about Munda that I find myself writing as I describe him. He passed away on September 25, 2009. He was 52. At Munda's funeral, Keith Malonosky said that the numbers on a headstone aren't really important; what's important is the dash in between them, the life.
I can be proud of my numbers (some of them), but they're not what matters. Numbers are just a way of keeping track of what we think we know so that we don't think so much about what we really don't know. Numbers help us to not be so scared. But not really! People help us not to be so scared. What really counts are people, and helping people, and remembering people, and taking or having heart from those encounters and relationships. What's the value of 1 if it's just 1 person? Maybe a whole lot. Brad Paisley sings, "To the world, you're just another girl, but to me, you are the world."
I got to talk to my mom yesterday morning on the phone for the first time in weeks, and she asked me about the race. I haven't had a chance to talk with her much since she started a new job, and there's so much going on in her life and mine, as always. It was just great to hear that we were on the same page, even though we hadn't been in touch.
I talked with my sister Becky in Alaska, my dad, and two of my aunts, Shauna and Luck, too. Their questions and comments, and the questions and comments they pass on to me from other relatives and friends, show me that I do not face the unknown alone.
I think of Heavan, and Munda there ahead of us - maybe looking down and thinking that I am crazy to be doing this.
And fellow runners. The videos Ray and I created have gotten several supportive comments from fellow runners on Facebook; they remind me how supportive runners are of each other. Everyone has a story they run with. Here's someone whose story jumped out at me, for example (mainly because Ray sent it to me - thanks, Ray): This week the newspaper in Hagerstown, the Herald-Mail, is profiling JFK-50 runners; on Sunday their featured runner was 49-year-old local dairy farmer Dale Rhoderick, who has completed the race twenty-two times and will go for his 23rd this Saturday. Cancer took away his wife nineteen years ago, and he dedicated that year's race to her. This year, he'll run for the first time as a former dairy farmer; he just lost his farm. Click here to read the story.
And Ray - I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for Ray. And I wouldn't be able to do it, either.
We're crazy runners! Through it all, we just keep running. In today's Wall Street Journal there is an article about people who have run hundreds and hundreds of marathons. "Three Germans, a Finn and a Japanese woman are known to have clocked more than 1,000 marathons apiece -- that is 26,200 miles, about 1,300 miles more than the circumference of the earth. The record holder, 74-year-old Horst Preisler, has run 1,636 marathons," the article says. Click here to read. (For the record, Ray has run 14 marathons in 5 states, and I've run 6 marathons in 4 states.)
One multi-marathon runner's personal doctor called him a "nut job" and a "marvel." But the truth is, runners are pretty neat people, and they're a great, supportive group to have around. I don't want to put it into numbers - you can't - but I have to include this quote: Larry Macon, a lawyer who will soon complete his 600th marathon, told the Wall Street Journal, "The jerk percentage among marathoners is just so much lower than the jerk percentage among lawyers."
And then there's the advice people who run ultra-marathons (any distance over 26.2 miles) give and get - that you must make "relentless forward progress no matter what." You just have to keep going, even when every fiber of you wants to stop.
The fact is, runners are a ready-made support group; they have to find a way to deal with that. And in life you really, really need that!
As for numbers? They're just what gets you into the club, what allows you to enjoy the camaraderie of people who know what they really mean.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
What It's Like II
If you've watched the video of the JFK 50 by Steve Hilmy (see below), maybe you've noticed that the course goes over some pretty rough trails:
Ray and I practiced that part of the course (on the Appalachian Trail) back in July, and once in September, too. Parts that look like the picture above require a kind of fast-stepping walk instead of a run - it takes some practice! For the entire race course, we plan to run 11:00- or 11:30-minute miles. For this part of the race course (about 11 miles of the race), we think we'll run/walk 14:00- or 15:00-minute miles.
The course of the JFK 50 also has a lot of elevation in it; in the first 5 miles, we'll climb over 1,000 feet! I guess the organizers really want you to feel like you've accomplished something when you're done! Runners say that the trail is the most interesting section, and the rest of the race can be rather boring.
Here's a mile-by-mile description, in case you're curious:
0 – START in downtown Boonsboro on Alternate U.S. Rt. 40 at 66, adjacent to the Boonsboro Educational Complex, elev. 570. Run 2.5 miles East on Alternate Rt. 40.
2.5 – Get on Appalachian Trail at Turner’s Gap, elev. 1071. We run 13 miles on the AT (but really only 11, because we get off onto a paved road for two miles of that).
3.5 – Here we get on paved road for two miles, says the packet – you can see it on the MapMyRun map.
5.5 – Back on trail.
6.1 (roughly) – Lamb’s Knoll, highest point of race at elev. 1750 or so. We have climbed 1,172 feet! White Rocks overlook. Then we have a steady descent back down to …
9.5 (roughly) – Crampton Gap Shelter (elev. 1000) in Gathland State Park, where there will be an aid station and a crew meeting place. After a further dip to 905, we’ll have 130- to 200-foot climb and then small ups and downs until…
13.6 (roughly) – Ed Garvey Shelter (a.k.a. Rocky Run Shelter, elev. 1100). Then we drop from 1100 to 290 ft, a loss of 810 ft.
15.5 – Aid station no. 3 and crew meeting place, and then the AT meets the C&O Canal Towpath (near mile-marker 58), elev. 290. We run 26.3 miles on the towpath, climbing roughly 74 ft. Regular aid stations – seven over this next section.
27.1 – Antietam Aqueduct, crew meeting place.
38 – Taylor’s Landing, crew meeting place.
41.8 – Dam #4 Road (just past towpath mile-marker 84). Elev. 364. Get ready to climb – but not much (about 90 ft.) Two aid stations on this stretch.
46 – Right turn onto Spielman Road (MD Rt. 63). Aid station, crew meeting place.
48.7 – Junction with MD Rt. 68. Aid station nearby. Follow Rt. 68 for 0.9 miles.
49.6 – Right at Sunset Ave. Continue 0.5 miles to...
50 – FINISH in front of Springfield Middle School on Sunset Ave., elev. 452.
Ray and I practiced that part of the course (on the Appalachian Trail) back in July, and once in September, too. Parts that look like the picture above require a kind of fast-stepping walk instead of a run - it takes some practice! For the entire race course, we plan to run 11:00- or 11:30-minute miles. For this part of the race course (about 11 miles of the race), we think we'll run/walk 14:00- or 15:00-minute miles.
The course of the JFK 50 also has a lot of elevation in it; in the first 5 miles, we'll climb over 1,000 feet! I guess the organizers really want you to feel like you've accomplished something when you're done! Runners say that the trail is the most interesting section, and the rest of the race can be rather boring.
Here's a mile-by-mile description, in case you're curious:
0 – START in downtown Boonsboro on Alternate U.S. Rt. 40 at 66, adjacent to the Boonsboro Educational Complex, elev. 570. Run 2.5 miles East on Alternate Rt. 40.
2.5 – Get on Appalachian Trail at Turner’s Gap, elev. 1071. We run 13 miles on the AT (but really only 11, because we get off onto a paved road for two miles of that).
3.5 – Here we get on paved road for two miles, says the packet – you can see it on the MapMyRun map.
5.5 – Back on trail.
6.1 (roughly) – Lamb’s Knoll, highest point of race at elev. 1750 or so. We have climbed 1,172 feet! White Rocks overlook. Then we have a steady descent back down to …
9.5 (roughly) – Crampton Gap Shelter (elev. 1000) in Gathland State Park, where there will be an aid station and a crew meeting place. After a further dip to 905, we’ll have 130- to 200-foot climb and then small ups and downs until…
13.6 (roughly) – Ed Garvey Shelter (a.k.a. Rocky Run Shelter, elev. 1100). Then we drop from 1100 to 290 ft, a loss of 810 ft.
15.5 – Aid station no. 3 and crew meeting place, and then the AT meets the C&O Canal Towpath (near mile-marker 58), elev. 290. We run 26.3 miles on the towpath, climbing roughly 74 ft. Regular aid stations – seven over this next section.
27.1 – Antietam Aqueduct, crew meeting place.
38 – Taylor’s Landing, crew meeting place.
41.8 – Dam #4 Road (just past towpath mile-marker 84). Elev. 364. Get ready to climb – but not much (about 90 ft.) Two aid stations on this stretch.
46 – Right turn onto Spielman Road (MD Rt. 63). Aid station, crew meeting place.
48.7 – Junction with MD Rt. 68. Aid station nearby. Follow Rt. 68 for 0.9 miles.
49.6 – Right at Sunset Ave. Continue 0.5 miles to...
50 – FINISH in front of Springfield Middle School on Sunset Ave., elev. 452.
JFK 50 Race Course and Support Crew Information
As promised, here is more information on next Saturday's JFK 50-mile race - specifically, a course map! Below, find a BIG map with the course in the lower left, in red, just for orientation for everyone up there in Littlestown!
Here's when we expect to be at the crew meeting places (in best and not-best scenarious):
7:00 a.m. – START in downtown Boonsboro on Alternate U.S. Rt. 40 at 66, adjacent to the Boonsboro Educational Complex
~9:08 a.m. (best) to 9:22 a.m. (not best) - Gathland Gap, mile 9.3
~10:29 to 10:52 - Weverton Cliffs, mile 15.5 (SHOE CHANGE, please!)
~12:34 p.m. to 1:12 p.m. - Antietam Aqueduct, mile 27.1
~2:36 to 3:32 - Taylor’s Landing, mile 38 (moral support, please!)
~4:09 to 5:30 - Downsville, turn onto Spielman Road (MD Rt. 63), mile 46
~4:53 to 6:28 - FINISH in front of Springfield Middle School on Sunset Ave.
Click here to download official directions to the crew meeting places.
Note: There are really only two places where Ray and I will need help, we think. They're in bold above. The first is mile 15.5, Weverton Cliffs, where we'd like to change our shoes. (This is really only important for the person who will be carrying our extra shoes - THANKS, Nate!) The second is mile 38, Taylor's Landing, where we're probably going to need some moral support! The rest of the crew meeting places are totally optional; Ray and I don't know if we'll spend much time there (except, of course, for the start and finish)!
Support Crew Rules (from race documents):
"Support crew members are 'tolerated' at points designated by race organizers on the course. These locations are: Gathland Gap (9.3 miles), Weverton Cliffs exit (15.0 miles), Antietam Aqueduct (27.1 miles), Taylor’s Landing (38.0 miles) and Downsville (46.0 miles). If you do decide to use a support crew, make sure they only meet you at the aforementioned race designated points and that they are instructed to yield 'right-of-way' at all times to Park Service Personnel, officials, volunteers, participants, vehicles and pedestrians on the course. SPECIAL NOTE TO SUPPORT CREW: Vehicle traffic on the JFK 50 Mile’s final 8.4 mile road section will be limited to only race organizers, law enforcement vehicles, and local traffic between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on November 21, 2009. Support crew members in automobiles or on bicycles will not be allowed access to the final 8.4 mile section of the JFK 50 Mile course. Violators of this request will subject their participants to disqualification."
NEXT I'll post a mile-by-mile course description.
Below is a more detailed map (but still not GREAT - for that, click here). The places indicated with dark red circles and text are where race support crews can interact with runners. There are pretty strict rules about this - I've pasted them in at the bottom of this posting.
Here's when we expect to be at the crew meeting places (in best and not-best scenarious):
7:00 a.m. – START in downtown Boonsboro on Alternate U.S. Rt. 40 at 66, adjacent to the Boonsboro Educational Complex
~9:08 a.m. (best) to 9:22 a.m. (not best) - Gathland Gap, mile 9.3
~10:29 to 10:52 - Weverton Cliffs, mile 15.5 (SHOE CHANGE, please!)
~12:34 p.m. to 1:12 p.m. - Antietam Aqueduct, mile 27.1
~2:36 to 3:32 - Taylor’s Landing, mile 38 (moral support, please!)
~4:09 to 5:30 - Downsville, turn onto Spielman Road (MD Rt. 63), mile 46
~4:53 to 6:28 - FINISH in front of Springfield Middle School on Sunset Ave.
Click here to download official directions to the crew meeting places.
Note: There are really only two places where Ray and I will need help, we think. They're in bold above. The first is mile 15.5, Weverton Cliffs, where we'd like to change our shoes. (This is really only important for the person who will be carrying our extra shoes - THANKS, Nate!) The second is mile 38, Taylor's Landing, where we're probably going to need some moral support! The rest of the crew meeting places are totally optional; Ray and I don't know if we'll spend much time there (except, of course, for the start and finish)!
"Support crew members are 'tolerated' at points designated by race organizers on the course. These locations are: Gathland Gap (9.3 miles), Weverton Cliffs exit (15.0 miles), Antietam Aqueduct (27.1 miles), Taylor’s Landing (38.0 miles) and Downsville (46.0 miles). If you do decide to use a support crew, make sure they only meet you at the aforementioned race designated points and that they are instructed to yield 'right-of-way' at all times to Park Service Personnel, officials, volunteers, participants, vehicles and pedestrians on the course. SPECIAL NOTE TO SUPPORT CREW: Vehicle traffic on the JFK 50 Mile’s final 8.4 mile road section will be limited to only race organizers, law enforcement vehicles, and local traffic between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on November 21, 2009. Support crew members in automobiles or on bicycles will not be allowed access to the final 8.4 mile section of the JFK 50 Mile course. Violators of this request will subject their participants to disqualification."
NEXT I'll post a mile-by-mile course description.
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