Experiences from "America's Oldest Ultramarathon", and possibly your own first 50 mile ultramarathon
The John F. Kennedy 50 Mile Ultramarathon, also known lovingly by the much shorter name, JFK 50, is a 50 mile running race though rural western Maryland. To us, it was the latest installment in Treeline Athlete, Shae Rhinehart's unending quest to run ever-farther. Shae was also the star of The Couch-to-50K Training Plan, which detailed her challenging journey to finish her first 50K ultra. This past November, she leveled up with her first 50 mile race finish at JFK, in a time of 11 hours and 42 minutes.
With Shae's first 50 mile race, her running feats crossed into some exciting new territory: it was her first run that she started before the sun came up for the day, and finished after the sun had already gone down. She watched the sun go up, pass over her head, and disappear again below the horizon-- and she was still running. That's a bit of a surreal experience.
With the rest of this post, we will look at Shae's story since Couch-to-50K. Her aspirations, her training, and her experience completing America's Oldest Ultramarathon. Let's jump in.
"I want to know what it's like to run a hundred miles".
Shae said these words to me not long after running her first 50K, and even if that 100 mile goal hasn't been in the spotlight all of these last three years, it has been an idea in the background that has subtly driven training and racing decisions.
The thing about progress-- especially in big, meaningful endeavors-- is that it's not linear. We succeed, fail, and suddenly rise higher than ever before. No amount of coaching will eliminate this non-linear progression; instead we aim to heighten the peaks and shallow the valleys.
Shae's story emphasizes this. Between her first 50K and her first 50 mile, there were a few other races. The most notable were The Rut Mountain Runs 50K , the Lake Sonoma Trail Marathon, and the Wy'East Wonder 50K.
In September of 2022, Shae took her first DNF at The Rut, missing the Mile 19 cutoff time. It was a tough blow following a grueling training block with enormous long runs. Shae says, "It's a little disappointing training for The Rut, because all of the runs I wanted want to do don't have enough vertical gain and loss. You end up so limited by this need to find the steepest thing around."
From Shae's effort to run one of the most rugged 50K races in North America, she came away with a clear learning: pick races that align with the ways in which you want to train. For Shae, her ideal training was running picturesque ridge line loops through the Rockies , even if it was less challenging terrain.
Her next race was at the Lake Sonoma Trail Marathon in April of 2023, where she ran the race easily, keeping pace with some friends that had come along to run the race as well. She learned to be thoughtful in choosing spring time running races that required running through the winter, even if she'd have preferred going nordic skiing that day.
"You saw whole families of people running together [at JFK], and there was a balance of that ultramarathon culture of support, but also the race was well organized."
That brought us to the Wy'East Wonder in June 2023. The event is held in the Mt. Hood, OR area, on many of the same trails that Shae's first 50K was run on three years earlier, and she still needed to get her ultra running confidence back after a disappointing result at The Rut, 10 months prior. Part of the reason big challenges take such bravery is that there's real consequence if you fail, and Shae's confidence in her running took a hit. With Wy'East Wonder, we aimed to re-capture that.
Training for JFK 50
After proving to herself that she remembers how to do the ultra-endurance thing, it did not take long for Shae to find the next step. She suggested the JFK 50 Mile, held in November, just 10 days after finishing up an 8-hour run at the Wy'East Wonder at the end of June.
JFK immediately looked like the perfect race for a first shot at running 50 miles. Shae was already planning to be in Maryland, the state where the race is held, through the fall season. The race was well-established, had an interesting course, and was a relatively runnable race compared to some. The race takes place in mid-November, so the challenge of battling summertime heat would be a non-issue. Before long, we had a plan and Shae was training for her next big achievement.
"Running a hundred miles feels achievable, but I want it to be a good experience when I do."
We had about 18 weeks to gear up for JFK, but Shae's endurance was clearly already in a good place having just run a 50K. The two challenges would be training to run a race 20 miles longer than the farthest she'd ever run before, and doing it on different terrain than her legs were used to.
JFK is a relatively flat 50 mile race. The first 16 miles roll through hills on the Appalachian Trail, before the middle marathon where runners ramble along an almost completely flat gravel path that runs along the shore of the Potomac River, and then finish out with 7 more miles on roads into Williamsport, MD.
Over the final 18 weeks to race day, Shae averaged just over 5 hours of running per week with a weekly 30-minute strength session to supplement. Her volumes, both on the strength and running side were not as high as we'd hoped due to a chaotic fall of traveling to several weddings. We also were vigilant as we made the switch back to road run training from years of trail running training. The higher impact and repetitive stride of road running is so different from meandering along singletrack dirt trails, so we would take an extra rest day whenever it was needed. The biggest three week period, we saw 7.5 hours of running per week.
A Look Inside JFK50 Race Day
Having crewed JFK 50 for Shae from start to finish, I got a detailed look into the race, and there's a lot of good to share about it.
First, the event is huge by American ultramarathon standards. More than one thousand people stood at the start line as the gun sounded at 6:30AM. The benefit to runners is a strong sense of togetherness. Most runners won't find themselves alone for too long with so many athletes running and so many families out to crew or spectate.
Second, despite the fact that the race course moves through many towns, it has a rural feel thanks to the dense forestation that characterizes the Appalachian Region of the U.S.
Third, there's a sense of history to the race, due in part to its 62 years of existence, but also to it's location. The course runs through Antietam, where one of the most defining battles of the American Civil War took place.
And finally, it's an impressively well aided point-to-point 50 mile race with 14 aid stations.
Shae's Experience
Shae reflects on the most memorable features of her run at JFK 50 last November. "It was inspirational. You saw whole families of people running together, and there was a balance of that ultramarathon culture of support around you, but also the race was well organized-- like at a bigger road marathon."
Similar to her first 50K, Shae was able to exceed her expectations for JFK50, and went on to run the race at an average pace about 30 seconds faster per miles than the average of her aerobic training volume.
With crew access to the course about one every half marathon, Shae notes that there was always something pulling her forward. Seeing your people in the middle and late miles of an ultra prove to be a large lift to morale for the majority or runners. We were able to provide favorite foods and drinks, a change of clean clothes, and words of encouragement as she soldiered on.
Shae crossed the finish line just before 6:15pm, grinning ear to ear. With the satisfaction of a new athletic feat to cap her 2023 (and three or four days of shuffling about the house while she recovered from a very special degree of muscle soreness), Shae was able to relax and enjoy the holiday season with family, with some incredible new stories to tell.
So, where does Shae stand in regard to that 100 mile race goal?
"Running a hundred miles feels achievable, but I want it to be a good experience when I do. I think running a few more events at the 50 mile to 100K distance will give me the confidence I can do that."
Comments