JFK 50 Mile Challenge on May 8th

JFK 50 Mile Challenge

Articles on first events HERE & HERE

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy challenged his military officers to meet the requirements that Teddy Roosevelt had set for his own military officers at the dawn of the 20th Century. That Roosevelt requirement was for all military officers to be able to cover 50 miles on foot in 20 hours to maintain their commissions. When word got out about the "Kennedy Challenge", non-commissioned military personnel also wanted to take the test themselves as did certain robust members of the civilian population.

The first JFK 50 Miles were held in the spring of 1963 around the country as part of President John F. Kennedy's push to bring the country back to physical fitness. When Kennedy was assassinated in November of 1963, most of these events were never held again. The one in Washington County, MD changed it's name from the JFK 50 Mile Challenge to the JFK 50 Mile Memorial in 1964 and is the only original JFK 50 Mile Challenge event to be held every year since.

I was born in May of 1963 and have always wanted to do a 50 miler but never got around to doing one. I completed about ten marathons starting when I was 16 (ran 3:01). My senior year I ran BTC marathon again and ran 3:03 and then finally broke 3 hours at Lompoc (2:55) right after my graduation from Highland.

In college, I broke 3 hours at the Santa Monica race and then I ran my last marathon in San Diego (2:50) my sophomore year. Also in college I did my only ultra marathon when I finished the Royal Bricker 50K (31.1 miles). It was along the coast from Oceanside to La Jolla and I really enjoyed the race and remember running around 8 minute miles.

Then I started doing triathlons full time and gave up marathoning for awhile. Later on I ran a couple Los Angeles marathons and Long Beach but they were slow affairs. The last one I completed was the LA 2008 where I walked the whole way in about seven hours.

With the purchase of a Garmin GPS I started logging more and more miles and this past year I had one hundred mile week, a couple 90s and quite a few 70 to 80 mile weeks as well. So I think I am ready to tackle a 50 mile but most of the races in California have 12 or 13 hour time limits and I just do not think I can make those cutoffs especially if the course is hilly and on trails.

So I decided to have a 50 miler of my own! It will be on Saturday May 8th with a morning start and course still being determined.