Ruff Fitness

Saturday was the 48th running of the 50-Mile JFK Ultra Marathon. Approximately 1000 runners toe the line to run through 3 distinct sections of the 50 - 16 miles of mountainous trails, 26 miles on the C&O Canal and a final 8 miles of hills to the finish in Williamsport.

Take a look at the participants and you'll see some that look like runners, but more actually look like regular folks from all walks of life. All however, share the dream of crossing that finishing line at 50 miles.

Most people say "50 miles is crazy," or "I could never do that" yet belief, desire, and will are powerful perhaps even unstoppable forces that enable ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Throughout the race each runner wages their own personal battle against the physical demands of "the 50" but even tougher is the psychological side...

JFK is a microcosm of life - over a long day (7-14 hours) participants are subject to a range of emotions - happy, social, feel good, unhappy, glad to be running, depressed, anti-social, back to happy - it's a whirlwind of emotions and like life, full of change.

The ultimate emotion comes at the finish - tears of happiness in virtually everyones eyes and then, an inner strength and confidence, that stays with you for the rest of your life! What you believe - you achieve!