A love-hate relationship with the JFK 50-mile run

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For young Daniel, the JFK ultramarathon runs in the family
13-year-old is one of two Allegany County residents in 50-mile run

By Kevin Spradlin
TriStateRunnur.com

FROSTBURG, Md., Nov. 19 – His is a rather ordinary name. But Daniel Jones is about to begin an extraordinary journey.

And if he is successful, the 13-year-old Mount Savage Middle School student will have the best reason ever to miss gym class on Monday.

Jones, of Frostburg, and his grandfather, Sidney Allen, of Creston, N.C., will be among the 1,200 runners who toe the starting line in Boonsboro on Saturday for the start of the 48th annual JFK 50-mile ultramarathon. He is the youngest runner in the field.

The run begins on Main Street and travels up U.S. 40 Alternate until they reach the Appalachian Trail for about 15 miles. Runners travel about 26 miles on the C&O Canal towpath before finishing the last 8.5 miles on paved roads heading to Springfield Middle School in Williamsport.

“I’ve prepared for this,” Jones said at his home Thursday evening. “I have it set in my mind that I can finish.”

Daniel Jones, 13, of Frostburg, will attempt the JFK 50-mile ultramarathon on Saturday.

Until Saturday morning’s 5 a.m. start arrives, the longest race Jones has completed is a 1-mile downhill race in his hometown of Frostburg. Since his name was drawn from the lottery in July – yes, the event is popular enough so that thousands are turned away each year and excluded from the field of 1,200 – Jones has been training up to four days a week. His longest run was about 16.5 miles that he covered with his grandfather. That training run covered the first part – and arguably, the most physically demanding portion – of Saturday’s event.

Allen completed his 28th JFK in 32 tries in 2008. He figured then that was his last JFK. Last year, one grandson attempted the feat. So Allen went to the start line – with bronchitis – to help the younger family member. The two didn’t get to the finish line, but this year could be different.

“People ask me that a lot,” Jones said when asked why he chose this ultramarathon as his first. “I like the physical challenge (training) up” to Saturday.

He also expressed a deep appreciation for a family tradition. Along with his grandfather’s 28 finishes, his mother, Elaine (nee Allen) Jones has two finishes (1992, 1993). His aunt, Mary Joyce (nee Allen) Bland finished in 1986 and one uncle, Michael Allen, is a three-time finish in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Jones figured the most difficult stretch might be the first. Other than varying terrain and rocks, roots and other perils along the Appalachian Trail is the fact that he and the others in the 5 a.m. start will attempt that portion in the dark.

“It’ll be hard to keep going,” Jones said. “Once I’m awake (a planned 3 a.m. wake-up call), the first part (will be hardest). I’ve got to keep good footing, which is hard enough in the light.”

On Thursday, Allen supported his grandson’s 50-mile effort. He’s offered advice at every moment he though Jones would take it in. But he wasn’t sure what to think of being 13 and trying it.

A wall in Sidney Allen's home in North Carolina depict some of the
plaques and medals earned by finishing the JFK 50-miler. Allen has
finished the event 28 miles out of 32 tries.

“I was 33 when I first tried,” said the retired civilian officer at Aberdeen Proving Ground. “When I first got home, my legs wouldn’t move. I used my hands to move my legs.”

And in that first start in 1972, there were no aid stations. Runners provided their own support. It wasn’t until Allen’s third start that he was able to finish the event for the first time.

“You simply learn from experience,” Allen said. “Always drink as much as you can and eat something every opportunity you get. If you get thirsty or you get hungry, you can never recover.”

Also, “I never run up hill,” Allen said. “I don’t run very much at a time. I run a little and walk a little,” even on the flat towpath.

Allen’s best finish is in 10 hours, 46 minutes and 45 seconds. He posted that time in 1982. The pair have no goal regarding their performance on Saturday other than to finish under the 14-hour time limit. By 7 p.m., Jones hopes to be able to call himself an ultramarathoner – one of many in the family.

But what if Allen isn’t feeling well along the course – he’s been battling a nagging groin strain lately – and Jones is?

“That’s what we’ve got to decide here as a family,” Allen said of the decision whether Jones is to continue on without him.

Many of the family members will be at different points along the course rooting for Allen and providing necessary supplies. And later, in Williamsport, they could see him become the newest family member to join the ultramarathon club.

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JFK 50 Mile Home Page

Fight to the finish
Dumm holds off Riddle for JFK 50 Mile men’s title; Sproston edges Smith for women’s crown

JFK notebook — Hagerstown's Palmer learning the art of long-distance running

Amy Sproston, 36, of Portland, Ore., held off fellow Oregonian Pam Smith, 38, of Salem, by a measly 21 seconds to seal the win in 6 hours, 57 minutes and 16 seconds. Smith finished in 6:57:37. Smith had trailed by as much as three minutes but managed to close most of that gap by the Antietam Aqueduct at 27.1 miles, according to Herald-Mail reporter Andrew Mason. Sproston finished 25th overall in a field of approximately 1,200 starts. Smith finished just one spot behind Sproston.

The men’s race was a challenge early on between early leader Dam Olmstead, 38, of Eugene, Ore., and Brian Dumm, 27, of Colorado Springs, Col. Olmstead led at Gathland State Park (9.4 miles) and by one minute at Weverton Cliffs (15.5) when the runners first hit the towpath.

Dumm finished in 5:52:02, the sixth-fastest time in JFK history. David Riddle, 29, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was second in 5:53:09 and Jacob Edwards, 23, of Boulder, Colo., was third in 5:59:36.

Dane Mitchell, 33, of Birmingham, Ala., was fourth overall in 6:07:31 and Olmstead fell to fifth in 6:10:30. Local legend Michael Wardian, a perennial contender and one of a handful of pre-race favorites, finished sixth. The 36-year-old from Arlington, Va., stopped the clock in 6:12:07 while Johan Oosthuizen, 37, of South Africa, finished seventh in 6:12:25.

Jon Lawler, 47, of Knoxville, Tenn., repeated as masters champion with a time of 6:19:52. Riva Johnson, 47, of Carlisle, Pa., finished 32nd overall title in 7:08:53 to capture the women’s masters.

A love-hate relationship with the JFK 50-mile run
Preliminary Race Results
Videos
Jen Hartnett Plevinski pre-race interview
Daniel Jones mid-race interview
Becky Walter, Boonsboro XC coach, at Mile 15.5
Alan Gowen of Keymar, Md., is joined by his son, Jonathan Gowen, at Mile 15.5.
Thomas "blood on his head" Edman finished in 8:58:51
JFK CineMagic part 1 part 2

* Women’s finish is closest in race’s 48-year history; Sproston prevails over Smith
* Dumm solves Riddle, wins overall title
* 13-year-old Daniel Jones finishes in 12:58:41
* Cumberland's Fred Cook, 61, finishes in 12:59:05
* Fort Ashby’s Kirk Robinette finishes in 12:20:05
* One competitor: ‘I hate this race. I just forget to not keep coming back.’

BOONSBORO, Md., Nov. 20 – Two Oregon women were in the most closely contested JFK 50-mile finish on Saturday.

The JFK is America’s oldest ultramarathon. The 50.2-mile route begins in Boonsboro and includes the Appalachian Trail and C&O Canal towpath before finishing on paved roads in Williamsport at Springfield Middle School.

Fred Cook, Cumberland, Md., and Kirk Robinette, Fort Ashby, W.Va.