Fittingly, the 50th running of the JFK 50 Mile proved to be one for the record books. Both the men’s and women’s course records were broken by multiple runners with Max King lowering the men’s mark to 5:34:58 (Old Record: 5:40:45, David Riddle ’11) and Ellie Greenwood (race report) taking 17 minutes off the women’s record by running 6:11:59 (Old Record: 6:29:21, Devon Yanko née Crosby-Helms ’09).
You can find our full play-by-play of the race on our 2012 JFK 50 Mile Live Coverage page.
You’ll find links to JFK 50-related articles, photo galleries, and race reports at the bottom of this article.
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[Special thanks to Andy Mason, Dr. David Horton, David Riddle’s family, and Bill Susa for assisting with our live JFK 50 mile coverage this year!]
2012 JFK 50 Mile Men’s Race
Despite the return of last year’s course record-setting champ David Riddle, Max King went into this year’s JFK as the favorite. Those two essentially ran together through the end of the Appalachian Trail section at mile 15.5. While Riddle hit the towpath first, King didn’t waste any time in taking the lead. By mile 30, Trent Briney, a 2:12 marathoner and 2004 US Olympic Team Alternate, had also passed Riddle and was slowly cutting into King’s 4-minute lead. Alas, once the pair came off the towpath and onto the roads with 8.4 miles to go, King started adding to his insurmountable lead. The only question that remained was by how much would he break Riddle’s course record. In the end, King set the new standard by nearly 6 minutes in a time of 5:34:58. With Riddle and, now, King cutting over 11 minutes off Eric Clifton’s long-standing course record of 5:46:22 in just the past two years, the question begs to be asked: When will someone go under 5:30 at JFK?
Max King leading the 2012 JFK 50 at mile 22. Photo: The Riddle family
2012 JFK 50 Mile Men’s Official Results
- Max King (Montrail) – 5:34:58 (Old Record: 5:40:45, David Riddle ’11)
- Trent Briney (MarathonGuide.com) – 5:37:56
- David Riddle (Salomon) – 5:45:13
- Ian Sharman (The North Face) – 5:50:46
- Matt Lavine – 5:56:19
- Michael Arnstein – 6:03:35
- Zach Bitter (Team Red, White & Blue) – 6:05:07
- Mike Bialick – 6:05:16
- Brian Dumm – 6:11:31
- Kenneth Janosko – 6:12:47
2012 JFK 50 Mile men’s podium. Photo: Riddle family
2012 JFK 50 Mile Women’s Race
With the season she’s been having, Ellie Greenwood was the favorite in the women’s race and, indeed, she was the first woman off the Appalachian Trail by a margin of 2 minutes and change over Emily Harrison. Harrison, who holds a blazing marathon best of 2:32, immediately started closing that gap on the flat and fast C&O Canal Towpath. Less than 7 miles later, Harrison was in the lead with 30 seconds on Greenwood. At mile 28, Harrison’s lead was 80 seconds, but the moment and the momentum was about to turn against the ultra rookie. Greenwood cut 60 seconds from Harrison’s lead in the next 3 miles. Just 4 miles later at mile 34.4, Greenwood was a full minute ahead of Harrison. For the math buffs, Greenwood ran 20 seconds per mile faster than Harrison between roughly miles 28 and 34… a rate differential the two would metronomically hold until the finish. While Greenwood ended up besting Harrison by over 5 minutes, the competition undoubtedly aided Greenwood in lowering the women’s course record by over 17 minutes to 6:11:59.
Ellie Greenwood with her crew, Dr. David Horton, after setting the JFK 50 Mile course record. Photo: Andy Mason
2012 JFK 50 Mile Women’s Results
- Ellie Greenwood (Montrail) – 6:11:59 (Old Record: 6:29:21, Devon Yanko née Crosby-Helms ’09)
- Emily Harrison (adidas) – 6:17:16
- Elissa Ballas (US Air Force) – 6:44:45
- Mel Bos – 6:47:05
- Beverley Anderson-Abbs – 7:14:31
- Anne Spillane – 7:19:29
- Meg Hovis – 7:20:23
- Tina Husted – 7:22:44
- Leslie Semler – 7:24:42
- Jacqueline Palmer – 7:32:07
The 2012 JFK 50 Mile women’s top 10. Photo: Riddle family
2012 JFK 50 Mile Articles, Race Reports, and More
Articles and Photo Galleries
Herald Mail article with video[broken link removed]- Herald Mail’s (local newspaper) photo gallery
- Geoffrey Baker’s photos
Race Reports and Interviews
- Ellie Greenwood (1st)
- Max King (1st)
- Emily Harrison (iRF interview) (2nd)
- David Riddle (3rd)
- Ian Sharman’s (4th) race analysis
- Zach Bitter (7th)
