JFK 50 Miler...for Judy

My hat is off to my friend Judy, who finished the JFK 50 Miler with a very strong performance. She clocked a 10:10:29, which is more than respectable. I can’t wait to hear the details!

Per the preliminary results, Judy was 441st of 1014 finishers, and was 26th of 85 in her age group.

Judy was a stranger to me until last March, when I drew her from the pacer pool at the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Race for my 6th (of 8) 12.5 mile lap. Prior to the race, I had been negative or at best ambivalent about using a pacer, but in the middle of the night it seemed to be a good idea.

And it was. We talked for 3 hours as though we were the best of friends and had known one another for years. Funny how on the trail you can connect with a stranger so quickly, and share many personal things that in normal life it’d take a tremendously long time to broach.  The miles flew by comfortably.

So…hats off to you for a super job.  And in April 2011 you're gonna get one of these:

By the way, in all my happy chatter about the JFK race, I am mindful of the fact that on this date in 1963, the President of the United States was murdered. That event truly helped to shape the worldview of Americans ever since.