JFK 50 Mile race guide

Key dates for 2026

The 2026 race is sold out. Registration for 2027 has not been announced; in recent years it has opened on 1 March.

1. 19 November 2026
   Packet pick-up opens

   3 to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday at Homewood Suites, Hagerstown. No pick-up on race morning.

2. 20 November 2026
   Legends' Dinner

   A pasta dinner in Hagerstown, open to all runners.

3. 21 November 2026
   Race day

   6:30 a.m. start in Boonsboro. The finish closes at 7:30 p.m.

Source: official race website, checked 19 October 2026.

How to get a place

Entry is on RunSignup, first come, first served, with no lottery. In 2025 there was no qualifying standard and anyone aged 13 or over could enter; the 2026 rules say only that entry is open to 13 and over. The field is capped at 1,550, and the 2026 race sold out in what the organiser called record time.

The 2026 fee was $300 plus a $16 processing fee; earlier years started at $200 for March entries. Entries cannot be refunded, transferred or deferred.

• How race entry systems work

The course

From downtown Boonsboro you climb 1,172 feet in the first 5.5 miles and join the Appalachian Trail at mile 2.5. The trail is rocky single-track along South Mountain, past Civil War sites at Fox Gap and Crampton's Gap, with two miles of road in the early part. At about mile 14.5 it drops more than 1,000 feet down the steep Weverton Cliffs switchbacks to the Potomac.

At mile 15.5 you join the C&O Canal towpath, a flat dirt and gravel path closed to traffic, and follow it for 26.3 miles past Harpers Ferry, Antietam Aqueduct and Shepherdstown to Dam #4. The last 8.4 miles are on gently rolling country roads through Downsville to Williamsport.

• Follow the 50-mile training plan

Aid stations and cutoffs

There are at least 14 aid stations with drinks, sandwiches, snacks, gels, bars and first aid. Anyone who misses a cutoff must stop, and runners still out after 7:30 p.m. are picked up with no time or medal. Bags go from the start to the finish only; the organiser mentions no drop bags on the course.

• Plan your splits in the pace planner

Cutoffs for 2026, the same as 2025. There are at least 14 aid stations, roughly every 2 to 5 miles. Crews can meet runners only at Weverton, Antietam Aqueduct and Taylor's Landing. Source: official race website, checked 19 October 2026.

Rules worth knowing

• No pacers or companions. A runner with one is disqualified.
• No headphones or music players anywhere on the course.
• Crews can meet runners only at Weverton, Antietam Aqueduct and Taylor's Landing, and not on the final 8.4 miles. Bicycles are not allowed.
• Numbers are not handed out on race morning.

• Crew and drop bags

Records and results

Both records fell in 2024. David Sinclair ran 5:08:27, and Rachel Drake ran 5:57:33, still the only woman under six hours. Jim Walmsley's 5:21:29 from 2016 has been beaten twice since. In 2025 Hans Troyer and Jade Belzberg won, and 1,112 runners finished.

The top ten women and men share prize money, from $1,500 for first place, and a course record earns a $3,000 bonus. Every finisher under 13 hours gets a medallion.

• Official records and results

Course records

Kim Byron has finished 49 times, the most of any runner, and Carolyn Showalter holds the women's record of 38 finishes.

Source: official race website, checked 19 October 2026.

Is it a qualifier?

No. Western States only accepts races of 100 km or more, so the JFK 50 Mile does not count, and it is not a Golden Ticket race.

• Read the Western States 100 guide

History

In 1963 President Kennedy challenged military officers to match Theodore Roosevelt's standard of covering 50 miles on foot in 20 hours. William "Buzz" Sawyer of the Cumberland Valley Athletic Club organised a 50-mile event that spring, and four men finished, Sawyer among them. After Kennedy's death it became the JFK 50 Mile Memorial, and it is the only one of the original challenge events still held every year. In 1973 it was the largest foot race in North America.

Sawyer directed the first 30 races. Mike Spinnler, who won in 1982 and 1983, has been race director since 1993. The race moved to November in the 1970s and has finished at Springfield Middle School since 1980. The 2026 race is the 64th.

Running for good at the JFK 50

The race calls itself a military race in spirit. Its most prestigious award, the Kennedy Cup, goes to the best team of five from the same military branch, and service academies and units send large teams. The race supports local schools, running clubs, scout troops, fire departments and volunteer groups, including the Liberty Ski Patrol, which provides medical support. Volunteers sign up on RunSignup.

• Volunteer at the race

Getting there

Boonsboro is in western Maryland, off Interstate 70, and the nearest large airports are Washington Dulles, Baltimore and Reagan National. Host hotels are in Hagerstown, near packet pick-up. Runners park at the Boonsboro Educational Complex, and school buses run from the finish back there from 3 to 8:30 p.m. Live tracking uses the RaceJoy app.

Questions people ask