End of a Successful Season

Anne and Mark Lundblad (Swannanoa, NC) were at it again last weekend at JFK 50 Miler, America’s oldest and most prestigious ultra marathon. In the 45^th running, over 1400 runners toed the line at one of the two (5:00AM or 7:00AM) starts. The race is held in Boonesboro, MD. Both Mark and Anne put the finishing touches on near story-book successful seasons.

Mark ran 6:09:17 for 4^th place and a near 11 minute PR. After coming off the Appalachian Trail (approximately mile 17) Mark was in 7^th, but steadily chugged away to catch and pass several runners who struggled from going out too aggressively. Coming off the tow path (mile 42), Mark was in 4^th, but appeared as if he and the third place runner may have been able to overtake the current second place runner. However, when the three runners could smell the finish line, they all found additional strength and the gap between the three remained nearly the same for the last 8 mile stretch on the road.

In the women’s race, Anne came across the Appalachian Trail section relaxed and in control and emerged from the trail about one minute down on first place. The gap was quickly whittled as Anne’s superiority on the flat, fast tow path surface took control. Anne’s lead continued to grow down the 26 miles of the tow path and final 8 mile stretch on the road, and her only competition seemed to be from the top 10-men’s field. Anne’s time of 6:42:50 was a new Master’s course record by 37 minutes 22 seconds and was 3^rd fastest all-time.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 at 6:41 pm and is filed under Results. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.