My wife has had it in her head for years that she wants to do Ultras. Her first step was to get her marathon to where she wants it to be and she’s done that. So this is the year. She’d like a race in the early fall and in the Eastern or Central time zone. She’s looked at all the caledars she can find online but would apreciate a recomendation of a specific 50 miler. Four she’s been looking at are: JFK in Maryland, Northface in DC, Stone Cat in Mass and one in Vermont.
The other thing that would be great would be any online training resources, plans, advice …
Thanks
My wife has had it in her head for years that she wants to do Ultras. Her first step was to get her marathon to where she wants it to be and she’s done that. So this is the year. She’d like a race in the early fall and in the Eastern or Central time zone. She’s looked at all the caledars she can find online but would apreciate a recomendation of a specific 50 miler. Four she’s been looking at are: JFK in Maryland, Northface in DC, Stone Cat in Mass and one in Vermont.
The other thing that would be great would be any online training resources, plans, advice …
Thanks
JFK is just up the road from me and is awesome. Be careful that they now reach their 1000-athlete cap and close out entries. It’s the only ultra I have done but would recommend the experience to anyone so inclined.
A simple Google search will prob turn up more resources than we can chronicle here. www.ultrarunning.com and Marathon & Beyond magazine (www.marathonandbeyond.com) are two decent places to start.
Paul
Some good ultra calendars can be found here:
http://theultramarathonstore.com/
run100s.com (they have a section that shows 50-milers)
The Superior 50 is in early September. It runs the Superior Hiking Trail along Lake Superior; the scenery is outstanding and the course is fun. It’s quite challenging and very technical (mostly singletrack). I highly recommend it.
There is also a new 100k this year near Duluth, MN. It is also on the Superior Hiking Trail.
http://wildduluthraces.wordpress.com/
Adrian,
I raced JFK & can honestly say it was one of the highlights of my endurance sports career - not necessarily from a personal competitive standpoint, but from a positive experience perspective. The event has been going on now for close to 40yrs & was a *culture *somewhat foreign to me. Despite the race selling out, there is a true, grass roots feel to it, FAR away from anything in the M-Dot tri-world of today.
I have a detailed race report posted here if you’re curious w/ a course profile & probably more information than you need (but it should give you some better perspective into the event (Note: I didn’t say race ;o)
**
We always have a few guys that head down to it & try to field a decent Team, so if you end up putting on the calendar, let me know.
My wife has had it in her head for years that she wants to do Ultras. Her first step was to get her marathon to where she wants it to be and she’s done that. So this is the year. She’d like a race in the early fall and in the Eastern or Central time zone. She’s looked at all the caledars she can find online but would apreciate a recomendation of a specific 50 miler. Four she’s been looking at are: JFK in Maryland, Northface in DC, Stone Cat in Mass and one in Vermont.
The other thing that would be great would be any online training resources, plans, advice …
Thanks
Congratulations to her. I can’t answer any of your questions specifically since it has been years since I have done any of this but I wish her the best of luck.
Frank
The Highlands Sky 40 miler is on 6/20 in Davis, WV.
Very beautiful area with a unique climate (it’s the Southern most spot in the N. hemisphere with tundra like vegetation). Very tough climbs, small crowds, low entry fee. Bear Rocks in Dolly Sods is one of the prettiest places in the Eastern US. Website is at: http://www.wvmtr.org/events/highlands-sky-40m-trail-run/
I’ll be doing my third 50 mile ultra this spring at the Croom Fool’s 50 race. I don’t have any suggestions for a racecourse because I always race IM in the fall, but there are a few good threads here for training suggestions and things to think about for the race. Eileen Steil is a good resource, check out some of her suggestions here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1262890;search_string=;#1262890
and an old RR from my first ultra:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1268260;search_string=croom%20triguy42;#1268260
Just remember train hard, train often. You need to be able to handle the distance while running on similar terrain. The first time I tried running on sugar sand trails down here I almost died…hard to keep momentum, hard to keep your footing stable, etc. Having the right pair of shoes makes a tremendous difference. If it’s mostly trails and not too much in the way of rocks or soft sand, super lightweight xc racers are a good choice. I run in Puma Sierra Trail Racers or New Balance 790s but am racing on mostly packed or soft sand with the occasional root or two. Inov-8 makes some good compromise shoes that are very light but still pretty stiff against rock intrusion into your feet. Above all in a race this long, make sure you have enough water and also spend enough time stretching. One sore muscle at mile 15 turns into a nightmare at mile 45… Oh, and try not to fall on your face at mile 6. I did that last year, it was not good.
If you are looking for something else in Virginia, check out these races in the southwestern part of the Old Dominion.
Legendary production and race director, though note that the mileage is “++” in many regards and thus 50K becomes 34 miles or so.
VHTRC and WVTRC are good resources.
I’ll second Paul and Brian’s recommendation of the JFK 50 Mile run near Hagerstown, MD. After a few subpar performances over the 70.3 distance in the spring of 2008 I decided to give the ultra a go and decided on the JFK. 2008 was the 46th running and it was a great event with fantastic support from the area residents and volunteers.
As Paul said there is a wealth of information on the race if you do a search on google. I found a lot of good of information in the many people’s race reports I came across on not only race tactics but the training they did for the event and the corresponding times the training produced. You can also search this forum and find my JFK 2008 race report. There is also a new book that has been written on the event called 50 Miles, Running the JFK, the Nation’s Top Ultramarathon. The author is Dixie Shaffer and it is a light read but has a lot of good information and pictures of some of the terrain you’ll encounter on race day.
If your wife is interested in signing up for the event I would recommend she do it as soon as possible when it goes online on July 1, 2009. They take 1,000 and last year the home page recommended early sign as they thought it would fill within two months. It filled within three weeks. This year it should go even quicker as many of the runners return year in and year out.
I would also recommend the Legend’s dinner the night before the event if your wife decides to give the JFK a go. It is like their hall of fame dinner for multiple finishers of the event and past champions. As I said earlier, 2008 was my first attempt at the race and the dinner the night before was a great history lesson on the 46 year history of the event. I got to see many people who have finished the event from 5 to 30 times receive special awards for joining the different “clubs” based on their number of finishes; there was also a guy in attendance going for his 39th official finish in under the cut-off time; there was a guy in attendance trying to become the second official finisher over 80; it was really an eye opener the night before the event. Many of the past champions and multiple finishers also spoke and gave tips to first time runners of the event. The pasta dinner that was served was quite good as well.
Good luck to your wife in her ultra endeavor.
Jim
too far for me!
Thanks for the responses, you’ve all been helpfull
.
50 and 100 milers are the new Ironman. That shiz is HARD. Way better blisters, too. Added bonus is lots of them are in the mountains, so you could get eaten by a bear. The shark threat gets old, but bears are awesome. Ever run from a bear? That’s multisport. 
“Ever run from a bear? That’s multisport.” - made me laugh. I’m signed up for one in the Canadian Rockies where I will be - optimistically - 4th down on the food chain… j
Ever run from a bear? That’s multisport.
Hahahah, I actually did run from a bear once…at mile ~31 out of a 35 miler. I don’t think I’ve covered a half mile that fast in a loooong time. Fortunately in Floriduh the black bears are not much bigger than a dog and much more interested in grubs and roots than people.
Oh and I’d second that on the difficulty. After 6 IMs and 12+ HIM races the first 50 miler was absolutely the hardest race I’ve ever done. Blisters never bothered me but the crushing quad fatigue is brutal. I literally crawled up the stairs to the bathroom after the race.