Battle brewing over JFK 50 race use of Appalachian Trail - The Herald-Mail

[JAK]

Well I stand by what I said. There should be more running races, but not so much focus on getting more runners in each individual race, and less emphasis on t-shirts, and selling shoes. Running shouldn't be about selling running shoes, and this event, like many others, has become ALL about selling running shoes.

So run it in heats, one heat per weekend, with fewer runners in each heat, and alot less fuss.
It would be setting a good example for everyone. Simple active living.

[Sly]

Sly, friend, look you got your undies all in a twist over this and you're not thinking right. Your solution is to have some government bureaucrat deny citizens a privilege they've been enjoying for 50 year, or impose some limit that changes every time you close your mind and open your trap.

Seriously try not to take all my words out of context. Most of the quotes were used in response to another.

The race is has a limit of 1000 and bottom line I'd like to see them keep it at that. Any numbers I used such as 10 or 25 were describing LNT guidelines. Nipping it in the bud was in response to the race organizer asking to double the entries. Shutting it down was in response to the race organizer "taking the gloves off."

As far as editing my post, I mostly do that to correct spelling mistakes, or grammar mistakes, I may have made. It's a privilege donating members get.

[Bronk]

LNT guidelines pretty much nix this marathon plan. So, can we stick with LNT??

If past experience has shown that 1000 runners don't damage the trail then it pokes some pretty big holes in LNT in general...one might question other aspects of it.

Though I would have to think that running single file it would take a long time for 1000 people to run the trail, even if for only 13 miles. I know I would be less than thrilled to have 1000 people come running up the trail in the middle of my hike. My guess is you'd have to stop and wait for them all to pass (for hours) or get cursed or bumped into constantly as they filed through past you. You might expect to see 1000 people if you went to the mall or a baseball game, but few AT hikers would expect to encounter that many people in a single day while on the trail.

Most trail maintainers probably don't do it because they want to provide a nice trail for 1000 marathon runners.

Other than tradition, why does this race have to take place where it does? Is there another place it could be held?

[Sly]

If past experience has shown that 1000 runners don't damage the trail then it pokes some pretty big holes in LNT in general...one might question other aspects of it.

It seems one common misconception is that LNT is all about damage to the trail. While I agree the most of the points to have to do with physical and lasting impact, it's also about respecting the experience others may want to have.

If you happened to be hiking that section of trail that day, you'd be SOL.

[woodsy]

Move it to Maine. They need the money anyway.

Not a good idea.
We don't have enough Nat. Guard helicopters available to rescue all that would be injured.
But, if they wanted to set up a field hospital then i could make some money splinting legs/arms etc....