Greg Crowther wins JFK 50 Mile race

In 1963 president John F. Kennedy presented a challenge of running 50 miles to encourage physical fitness kicking off the JFK 50 Mile Challenge. He drew inspiration from Teddy Roosevelt, who early in the 20th Century, had implored his military officers to cover 50 miles on foot in 20 hours to maintain their commissions. Now known as  The JFK 50 Mile race, this ultra-marathon remains popular among the armed forces, but it is open to and attracts civilians from across the country.

With a large field (1027 participants finished this year's race) and a 47 year history, the JFK 50 remains one of the country's most prestigious ultra-marathons. This year the 47th annual JFK 50 Mile race was run and won by Seattle's own Greg Crowther in a time of 5 hours, 50 minutes and 13 seconds.

The course begins in Boonsboro , Maryland named for its founders, George and William Boone, cousins of the legendary Daniel Boone. Leaving Boonsboro, the course quickly heads for the hills via a grinding 500-foot climb up to the Appalachian Trail. The trail, a 2,175 mile greenway stretching from Maine to Georgia is comprised of rocky sections that make for unsteady footing and the potential for injury in the event of a fall, demanding ups and downs and a series of steep "switchbacks" along a narrow path just wide enough for one person. Eventually runners transition onto a flat unpaved dirt segment that follows the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The last portion of the course returns along rolling paved roads that bring runners into the finish in Williamsport, Maryland.

Crowther, a Research Scientist in the UW Department of Medicine, has jumped into the ultra scene with both feet. Since 2004, when he started running ultra-marathons, he's run 23 ultras, winning 10 of them and setting five course records. In 2007 he was named USATF ultrarunner of the year in 2007.  He was a member of the US World Cup 100K team in 2005, 2007 and 2008 and has a personal best 6:52:52 from his 2007 race in which he placed 11th. Crowther was the USA National 50km Champion setting a course record of 3:04:35 and the USA 100k Road Champion running 7:14:31. He's also placed in the top three in the three long running Pacific Northwest marathons; Portland marathon, Seattle and Vancouver. Following his victory at JFK, I caught up with him on-line, the only place I am likely to catch him.

How and why did you decide to run the JFK 50 Mile?

GJC: I first ran JFK in 2007, having been attracted to its reputation as a prestigious race with a rich history, held on a course that favors "road guys" like me. However, the 2007 event went badly (I was 10th in 6:40, about 50 minutes behind the winner), so ever since then I've wanted to give it another try. This year JFK was convenient for me in that I had to be in the DC area for a conference around the time of the race. In addition, after two disastrous road ultras in 2008, I spent most of 2009 focused on trail races, which was fun, but I felt that it was time to get back to the roads.

It was an incredibly close finish in a competitively fielded race. Can you tell me a little bit about your competitors and how you felt crossing the finish line?

GJC: There were a bunch of other well-known ultrarunners in the race, including several I was concerned about: Oz Pearlman (New York NY; 50-mile PR of 5:25 and JFK runner-up last year), Chad Ricklefs (Colorado; 2001 JFK champ and Team USA 100K teammate), Johan Oosthuizen (South Africa), etc. There were also guys like Hal Koerner and Scott Jurek, who are awesome 100-mile trail runners but not quite as effective in shorter, flatter races. Anyway, by mile 38, I had passed all of those guys but was still in third place because two "no-name" guys were still ahead of me. So I had to chase them down without knowing anything about them - not that prior knowledge would have made the task that much easier!

The finish was an unusually joyful experience for me. Usually my sole thought upon finishing a marathon or ultra, whether I've run well or poorly, is "Thank God that's over." But because I was so fired up about my late surge, and because there was a large crowd of people and a boisterous announcer waiting at the finish, finishing felt much more like a triumphant "Rocky"-like moment than it usually does.

What is the Appalachian Trail like?

GJC: I think the phrase "rocks covered in leaves" sums up the difficulty pretty well. The climbs and descents were not horribly steep or long, but the ubiquitous rocks and the difficulty of seeing them make that section of the course a real challenge. I was very relieved to exit the trail without having fallen. (In 2007 I tripped and bloodied a toe, which wasn't a huge deal except that I still had 35 miles to go.)

A lot can happen in 50 miles. What do you think about during a 50 mile race and how do you stay focused and motivated?

GJC: Every race is a bit different, but for me it can often be divided into three phases: a period where I'm just trying to relax and conserve energy, a period where I'm more focused on running good, solid splits (and adjusting my pre-race goals as needed), and a final stretch where I'm no longer motivated much by time considerations and am mostly running to catch people and/or avoid getting caught. Thus, I try NOT to be too focused early on because I want to save that focus and the corresponding stress for the second half. At JFK, the Appalachian Trail was my "just get through this as easily as possible" section; the 26.3-mile towpath section was where I focused on setting a strong, even pace; and the final 8.4 miles of rolling country roads was where I stopped caring so much about my time and was able to speed up only when the leader finally came into view.

How do you prepare generally for an ultra run and how, specifically, for this race?

GJC: My ultra training is not that different from my marathon training - a fairly standard mix of intervals, tempo runs, long runs, and easy days - except that my long runs (one every other week or so) are longer and slower. I try to do a long run of 50-60% of the race distance over race-like terrain at a race-like pace. Since JFK is sort of a hybrid trail/road race, it was hard for me to practice everything at once, so I kind of ignored the trails and focused on the flat, fast running that constitutes the majority of the race.

What does a "typical" training week look like for you when preparing for a 50 mile race?

GJC: A hard training week is roughly as follows…. Daily runs to and from work (5.8 miles each way) plus 0.8 miles with the dog. (She's not very fit.) On Wednesday, stop by Cal Anderson Park (Capitol Hill) on the way home and run intervals around the 0.32-mile gravel loop there - something like 3 laps, 2 laps, 2 laps, 1 lap, 1 lap, 1 lap. On Friday, commute by running only one way to rest up for a short race or long run (25-32 miles) on Saturday. Then take it easy on Sunday, maybe logging 6 or so miles with my three-year-old son in the baby jogger.

How do you stay fueled during these races?

GJC: I take mostly Gatorade and water with a few salt tablets and gels. I have a pretty tolerant stomach, but I feel as though I can't afford to slow down much to chew and digest "real food."

Do you have any recovery advice or secrets?

GJC: My approach to recovering from a marathon or ultra is fairly hedonistic. If I ran well, I want to celebrate; if I ran poorly, I want to console myself. Either way, I eat a lot of junk food, don't run much, and try to attend to any non-running issues (e.g., family stuff) that may have been neglected in the buildup to the race.

What's next?

GJC: The USATF club cross-country championships (open men's 10K) in Kentucky on December 12th. I won't quite have my legs or killer instinct back by then but will be aiming to help my team, the Seattle Running Club. As for my next ultra, I've tentatively decided to do the Rocky Raccoon 100-miler (Huntsville State Park, Texas) on February 6th and the Mad City 100K (Madison, Wisconsin) on April 10th.