Subject: Belated JFK 50 Report From: Dave Bursler Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 10:27:07 -0500 I made it into Hagerstown about 7:30 p.m. Friday night with my mother. I was a little upset I missed the packet pick-up by about an hour. Getting into town night before was my main objective. The first year I ran the race in "98" I stayed in town overnight and had a strong performance. The last three years I got up at 3 a.m. and made the 2 1/2 hour trip and felt sluggish at the start. The main objective achieved I now wanted to familiarize my mother with the area since she would watch me start and finish. I drove into Boonesboro and travelled the first couple of miles of the course. I did this to see just how much my car would struggle up that hill. It did not seem so impressive driving up it as when I ran. I would use this thought to my benefit the next morning. I then followed directions, supplied by Mapquest to the finsh, Springfield Middle School in Williamsport. The directions had me making lefts and rights, stopping, starting, going all over the place. The directions worked but I knew that there was an easier way. We took the route the shuttle bus takes on the way back. I had no idea where I was going I just went in the direction my memory was taking me. We found that Rt. 68 is a direct route between Boonesboro and Williamsport. The name of the road changes a few times but there are few stop lights and there are no turns. My first lesson learned during the trip Mapquest is not a good search engine. I now felt comfortable that my mother knew where she was going so we went back to Hagerstown got something to eat and went to sleep around 10 p.m. As is the case with all runners, I was a little nervous. My training pattern lead me into a minor injury the week before the race. I strained my right hamstring running a 5K in cold, windy, wet weather the Saturday before JFK. I also have never learned how to taper. I was maxing at around 85 miles per week until a week before and ran a 21 mile run 10 days before. The injury may have been a blessing since I was so concerned that I tapered dramatically the Monday before the race. This race in particular was very important to me. It would be my 5th consecutive. Putting me in the 250 mile club. The first Delawarean, that I know of, to do so. Running is emotional to me because it is the only thing that keeps my life together. If I did not run I would not be alive. It gives me self esteem. I like to run with no pain but I would have run this race if my leg was falling off. With some anxiety I awoke at 5:30 a.m. prepared myself and left for the 10 minute trip to Boonesboro. Since there was an early start for the runners in the 12 to 14 hour finish range I knew I would have to park far from the school. Sure enough at 6 a.m. the lot was full and we parked a good distance away. When we got out of the car I got the first taste of what to expect for at least the early hours of the race. A good cold, stiff breeze in the face. I checked in, listened to Mike Spinnler's race brief and walked what seemed like forever to the start. The normal start was in front of the bank in town but we moved up a few hundred yards. I never did find out why. At 7 we started the race. The first 2.7 miles are in town on paved roads. This is where I could put some distance between myself and others because I am strong going up. A lot of people employ the ultra method early on in the race by walking some up the hill. I like running up so I run the entirety. I made it up in good shape and started on the Appalachian trail for what would be the next 13 miles or so. The trail is very rocky and I mean rocky. If you have trail shoes this is the place to have them. I cruised through here in good shape using my past in the experience to guide me through the tough areas. I think about harder races, like the Cascade Crest 100 that I just ran in August. I know that if I was successful there than I should easily make it through this. Positive thinking always gets me through tough times. I met up with Frank Probst a guy I have ran with in the past in Arkansas, Rocky Racoon, and JFK. I know his ability and wanted to keep up with him. Even though he is a sixty year old guy he is one tough son of a gun. Frank would fly down the rock cluttered hills leaving me behind. I would then catch up on the up hills. I heard on guy comment that he must be part billy goat that way he runs throughs the rocks down hill. The worst part of the trail is just before the switchbacks. The rocks become bigger and more plentiful. If one slips at this point the person could expect to be seriously injured. The rocks are pointing straight up and the ends are razor sharp. My goal at this point is not speed but balance. I just want to get out of this area without injury which I did. I got to the switchbacks and noticed a lot of congestion. A lot of early starters were also making there way down to the towpath. I had some difficulty making my way around because there was little room for anyone to move out of the way without falling down the mountain. I was cursing the RD for the early start because these people were slowing me down. I soon realized that the race is supposed to be fun for everyone and that I need to be patient. I may have been delayed even if the early starters were not there because as I was going down I heard the train coming. The train intersects the AT exit and the towpath entrance occasionally stopping runners until it gets by. When I got to the entrance of the towpath entrance the train had already went through. I made it through the first 16 miles in about 2 1/2 hours. The next 26 miles would be the most boring part of the race. It is run on a flat dirt trail next to the Potomac River. It would be similar to running on a treadmill because the scenery rarely changes. My strategy for this leg of the race is to run from aid station to aid station. Never think about how many miles there is to go. The weather became somewhat of a factor because there was a headwind with some occasional gusts. I still felt pretty good physically at this point. I was running by a lot of early starters. The towpath is wide and it is very easy to get around people. Running is a unique sport because everyone is so supportive of each other. I would always make a positive comment to the other runners as I passed. Positive comments can sometimes give a person a second wind and let them achieve something they ordinarily wouldn't. I ran from aid station to aid station until meeting up with Jim Snyder from New York City at about the 30 mile mark. I have learned how to employ different methods of running in order to be successful. I decided to run 5 minutes and walk 2 minutes at least for a few miles. This strategy would keep my mind busy calculating time rather than thinking about pain or failure. It would also allow me to maintain the pace I was keeping even if I ran the whole way. I was well rested for the five minutes of running and picked up the pace. We maintained this method for a few miles before I hooked up with Frank Probst again. He was employing a different method, keep running. His pace would slow but he felt if he kept running he had a better shot of attaining his goal. I ran with Frank for about a mile or so leaving my strategy behind for a while. Frank was actually in the Pentagon when the September 11th terrorist attacks occurred and his son was in NYC. Fortunately neither was seriously injured but his wife was a nervous wreck. I would have liked to talk to Frank some more but I had goals to achieve also and took off. I was really feeling good and wanted to make up some time. I decided I was going to run the next mile as fast as I could. Jim was still with me and agreed to do the same. We took off and built somewhat of a lead on Jim initially. I ran about and 8:30 mile which isn't too bad at mile 34 or 35. I could have run faster but I kept looking for the mile marker and it seemed to never come. I got more exhausted looking for the mile mark than I did running. This is a good example of why you should not worry how much is left just run as fast as you can at the time. Jim was about 20 yards behind and caught up to me. We decided to go back to the 5 and 2 strategy since it worked earlier on. We did this until about mile 39 or so. We ran the last couple of miles to the end of the towpath mile 41.9. I discussed my strategy with Jim for this section of the race. We decided we would walk up the hills and run the straight-aways and downhills. This is what I would do to conserve energy during a hundred. We walked up the hill to start the final 8 mile road section. As we started up a young 15 year old boy by the name of Steven Staub came flying by us for about the 6th time. He would pass us on the towpath and then we would pass him and so forth. I decided this was the final time I was going to let him pass. I said out loud to myself I've had enough of this and without discussing my plan with Jim I took off. I had a new plan run the last 8 miles and try to break 8 hours. I had an hour and 15 minutes to do it and I was going to try. There are a lot of rolling hills during this portion of the race and for the most part I enjoyed them. I stopped maybe two times and walked to conserve energy for the final mile. I passed Steven Staub with about 4 or 5 miles to go. I was only able to do this because he had a cramp in his hamstring. As I went by I asked him if he was okay and he said he had a charlie horse. He was in some pain but kept going. This persistance this kid showed was admirable. You don't see many kids today with the desire or discipline to accomplish the goal of completing a fify mile race. I felt comfortable that he would be okay and continued to the final aid station with 1.4 miles to go. I made a mistake at this point that I would regret, I stopped at the aid station and walked losing about 30 seconds up the hill. I had a watch on but refused to look. I did not want to pressure myself to early into a sprint leaving me exhausted for a final kick. I ran steady the last mile or so never really kicking it in. The finish is sort of uphill and I just closed my eyes ignoring any pain and just kept going. I finished in 8 hours even 15 seconds. I was not totally disappointed because my primary goal is always just to finish with a secondary goal to finish in an allotted time. Eight hours is respectable and placed me in the top 50 at 47th. The winning time was not as fast as normal so I figured there I just followed suit with the top runners. I was happy I finished my 5th consecutive JFK and quietly emotional about it. I once again met some very interesting people. I talked with a marine on the AT that was stationed in Afghanistan and fought for my freedom. I was given the opportunity to thank him for this. I talked with Frank Probst a man who was in the Pentagon during the attacks and could have easily been killed. I talked with Jim Snyder a man who was very near the World Trade Center during the attacks and could have very easily have been killed. I run to escape the reality of the world but on this particular day the reality of the world was brought to my attention. Dave Bursler Bear, Delaware