Tri State
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My JFK time compares to history fairly well, but …
By Kevin Spradlin
TriStateRunnur.com
ELLERSLIE – My JFK time compares to history fairly well. Just not recent history. And the future doesn’t look so hot, either.
What is the JFK? The John F. Kennedy 50.2-mile Ultramarathon is the nation’s oldest ultramathon, which is defined as any running event longer than the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles. Yes, 50.2. That “point-2” miles means a lot, too, after the first 50.
I toed the starting line in 2000, the race’s 38th version, wholly unprepared for the experience I was about to put my body through. I lasted about 15 miles and stopped at Weaverton Cliffs. The ride to the finish was embarrassing; I stayed around to see the lead male and female competitors cross the finish line and receive their weighted – and well-deserved – official finisher’s medals. I didn’t get one.
By Kevin Spradlin
TriStateRunnur.com
ELLERSLIE – My JFK time compares to history fairly well. Just not recent history. And the future doesn’t look so hot, either.
What is the JFK? The John F. Kennedy 50.2-mile Ultramarathon is the nation’s oldest ultramathon, which is defined as any running event longer than the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles. Yes, 50.2. That “point-2” miles means a lot, too, after the first 50.
I toed the starting line in 2000, the race’s 38th version, wholly unprepared for the experience I was about to put my body through. I lasted about 15 miles and stopped at Weaverton Cliffs. The ride to the finish was embarrassing; I stayed around to see the lead male and female competitors cross the finish line and receive their weighted – and well-deserved – official finisher’s medals. I didn’t get one.
Until the next November. In 2001, some friends talked me into running a marathon after a relatively easy 18-miler in early August, little more than three months until race day. So I signed up for the inaugural Baltimore Marathon, ran well enough, I suppose, and in mid-October, I mailed my $80 (late registration fee) and entry form to race director Mike Spinnler.
Completing my first JFK was a wonderful experience. Other than a minor injury for which I took plenty of generic ibuprofen, there wasn’t anything that could stop me. I remember wearing a dorky smile at the bottom of Weaverton Cliffs, feeling great and knowing I would finally cross the finish line some 35 miles later.
I finished in 9 hours, 46 minutes and 14 seconds. My mentor and training partner for several of my long runs that summer and fall finished less than four minutes behind me. I was proud of myself for having finished; and thankful that he, a veteran of the event, was there to share in the celebration.
My time of 9:46:14 was good for 258th place in 2001 among 818 finishers. The year before – when I dropped out – that time would qualified for 238th place out of 703 finishers.
Completing my first JFK was a wonderful experience. Other than a minor injury for which I took plenty of generic ibuprofen, there wasn’t anything that could stop me. I remember wearing a dorky smile at the bottom of Weaverton Cliffs, feeling great and knowing I would finally cross the finish line some 35 miles later.
I finished in 9 hours, 46 minutes and 14 seconds. My mentor and training partner for several of my long runs that summer and fall finished less than four minutes behind me. I was proud of myself for having finished; and thankful that he, a veteran of the event, was there to share in the celebration.
My time of 9:46:14 was good for 258th place in 2001 among 818 finishers. The year before – when I dropped out – that time would qualified for 238th place out of 703 finishers.
But in the race’s first six years, my time would have won the race outright. That’s right – first place overall. Not in any age division. Every age division. In 1963, I would have blasted the field by more than 3 hours and 23 minutes in the JFK’s inaugural year.
It isn’t until 1969, the seventh year of the race, when the winner beat my only finishing time; I would have been seventh overall. Baxter Berryhill won in 8:32:04. In those early days, the race was still run in the spring. So it wasn’t until the 13th annual JFK that a winner in November beat my time of 9:46:14. Angelo Gioiosa, then 37, of Altoona, Pa., finished first in 6:27:58. My not-so-illustrious time would have finished just 84th in a field of 344.
This isn’t meant to take away from those who won, or those who finished faster or slower than 9:46:14 in any given year. It’s to point out only that, by 1975, the race already was a hit and started to attract runners of a who not only wanted to finish, but compete.
Spinnler, then 17, placed 16th overall in 7:46:54. Fifteen-year-old Brad Vaughn, of Braddock Heights, was one spot ahead of him with the same official time. Two years later, Spinnler was 10th in 6:57:54. In 1982, Spinnler, then 24, set the standard by “edging” Paul Jost, of Washington, Pa., by 6 minutes and 7 seconds. Jost finished in 5:59:12 to Spinnler’s 5:53:05, then a course record.
It wasn’t until 1994 when Eric Clifton, then 36, broke Spinnler’s barrier and won in 5:46:22. I first met Clifton when he crossed the finish line of the 35th annual JFK in 1997. At the age of 18, I was reporting on the event as a part-time sports reporter for the local paper. Clifton had a solid lead, eight-minute lead on runner-up Michael Harrison when he made the final turn before heading into Williamsport to the finish line at Springfield Middle School. I saw a young woman cheering wildly for him; I went to talk with her and learned she was his wife.
After Clifton finished and had a few minutes to recover – obviously, it takes more than a few minutes to recover from 50 miles but Clifton was accommodating – I asked him for a few minutes of his time for an interview. He agreed. It was during that interview I discovered what kind of racing shoes he wore. Brooks Cheetah, a distinctive model, neon yellow with black stripes. I had the same kind of shoe in the trunk of my car, sitting just a few hundred feet away.
Clifton then mentioned he needed to replace that pair; it was worn out. I couldn’t help myself. I asked him what size and, startled when he stated the same size as the pair lodged in my trunk – practically brand new, worn only a two or three times – I asked if he wouldn’t mind getting a new pair sooner rather than later.
He accepted. He tried to pay; I refused. I truly felt those shoes were better off with him than with me, a just-out-of-high school wannabe runner. For certain, they’d see more miles, more finish lines – and more victories – than had they stayed with me.
But regardless of which pair of shoes Clifton and his successors might wear, history indicates all records are made to be broken. Will this be the year?
Kevin Spradlin tries to average 30-35 miles a week in Allegany County, Maryland. Write to him at run@mountainMDmarathon.org.
It isn’t until 1969, the seventh year of the race, when the winner beat my only finishing time; I would have been seventh overall. Baxter Berryhill won in 8:32:04. In those early days, the race was still run in the spring. So it wasn’t until the 13th annual JFK that a winner in November beat my time of 9:46:14. Angelo Gioiosa, then 37, of Altoona, Pa., finished first in 6:27:58. My not-so-illustrious time would have finished just 84th in a field of 344.
This isn’t meant to take away from those who won, or those who finished faster or slower than 9:46:14 in any given year. It’s to point out only that, by 1975, the race already was a hit and started to attract runners of a who not only wanted to finish, but compete.
Spinnler, then 17, placed 16th overall in 7:46:54. Fifteen-year-old Brad Vaughn, of Braddock Heights, was one spot ahead of him with the same official time. Two years later, Spinnler was 10th in 6:57:54. In 1982, Spinnler, then 24, set the standard by “edging” Paul Jost, of Washington, Pa., by 6 minutes and 7 seconds. Jost finished in 5:59:12 to Spinnler’s 5:53:05, then a course record.
It wasn’t until 1994 when Eric Clifton, then 36, broke Spinnler’s barrier and won in 5:46:22. I first met Clifton when he crossed the finish line of the 35th annual JFK in 1997. At the age of 18, I was reporting on the event as a part-time sports reporter for the local paper. Clifton had a solid lead, eight-minute lead on runner-up Michael Harrison when he made the final turn before heading into Williamsport to the finish line at Springfield Middle School. I saw a young woman cheering wildly for him; I went to talk with her and learned she was his wife.
After Clifton finished and had a few minutes to recover – obviously, it takes more than a few minutes to recover from 50 miles but Clifton was accommodating – I asked him for a few minutes of his time for an interview. He agreed. It was during that interview I discovered what kind of racing shoes he wore. Brooks Cheetah, a distinctive model, neon yellow with black stripes. I had the same kind of shoe in the trunk of my car, sitting just a few hundred feet away.
Clifton then mentioned he needed to replace that pair; it was worn out. I couldn’t help myself. I asked him what size and, startled when he stated the same size as the pair lodged in my trunk – practically brand new, worn only a two or three times – I asked if he wouldn’t mind getting a new pair sooner rather than later.
He accepted. He tried to pay; I refused. I truly felt those shoes were better off with him than with me, a just-out-of-high school wannabe runner. For certain, they’d see more miles, more finish lines – and more victories – than had they stayed with me.
But regardless of which pair of shoes Clifton and his successors might wear, history indicates all records are made to be broken. Will this be the year?
Kevin Spradlin tries to average 30-35 miles a week in Allegany County, Maryland. Write to him at run@mountainMDmarathon.org.
Kevin Spradlin tries to average 30-35 miles a week in Allegany County, Maryland
JFK 50 Mile
Washington County, Maryland