Multi-tasking the JFK 50 Miler

As a runner, I find I have a higher level of satisfaction if I set some goals for myself. My weekly mileage goals keep me motivated and in shape for upcoming races. I also set goals for individual races. My goals for the JFK 50 Miler were two: cross the finish line and in doing so, set a PR or personal best time, for the distance.

Shouldn’t be too hard! If I finish, I have my PR because I’d never come close to running this far before. I had another running goal; to try to finish in nine and half hours. I didn’t meet that one. But I was very happy in crossing the finish line in ten hours and nineteen minutes. I’d finished in front of more than 500 other runners. I was in the top half of my "freshman" class in the JFK.
As a naturalist and runner, I also might set goals that are odd for a runner but fine for a naturalist. Trying to keep track of all bird species positively identified along the fifty mile route on November 18 was the "naturalist" goal I’d set.

To best achieve that goal, I had to remember every kind of bird I saw OR I could write down, with pencil and paper, each one. I decided my memory might begin to fail or fuzz after 30 or so miles. And I lose pencils or their points snap off. Paper in a runner’s pocket invariably becomes wet pulp due to sweat or gets gummed up with GU gel residue.

To circumvent these possible problems, I chose to master, minimally, a very small digital recorder I’d purchased. The little wonder weighs almost nothing and records, so say the instructions, up to 16 hours of babbling. Like all of my other electronics that I can’t quite figure out how to use-- my Palm Pilot, GPS, and cell phone, it offers a lot more than I had figured out how to use.

So here was the scenario. Scamper up and down 14 miles of Appalachian Trail, plod along 26 miles of canal towpath and then dodge cars and traffic cones over the final 8 miles of rural roads, all while watching for birds and movement in the foliage nearby and listening for the sounds of anything that was likely a bird-- not groaning fellow runners, my own grunts and gasps and other extraneous noises. Then, while conversing with other runners and crew and well-wishers, remove the recorder from shorts’ pocket, activate the recorder by releasing the hold button, press the record toggle and when finished with the entry, remember to again place the little machine back on hold and store in pocket (the GU free pocket) until I next needed to log in an observation.

By about mile 20, I’d earned the nickname "Bird Man" from a couple of running buddies. The list included at that point, I thought, about 14 kinds of birds. My major observation was that the river’s frantic mood-we’d gotten 3 inches or more just two days before the run-and the disturbance caused by over a thousand runners along the course had sent many of the birds that would normally occur here to quieter, cleaner habitats.

Periodically, I’d hear something that was bird-like but not instantly identifiable. This would cause me to plunge off the race route into the riverside forest or tangle of vines and dead wildflowers to seek my quarry. There, I would make explosive pishing sounds trying to attract the supposed bird closer for positive identification. It was during one of these pishing episodes at around mile 25 that fellow NWF team member Andrew Pinger caught up with me and reminded me that we should attempt to finish the race before darkness. I stayed with Andrew for the duration. Or better, he stayed back with me as I pished, huffed and groaned my way to the finish.

So what did I find? I ended up with 33 species. There were many birds that never showed and that I had very sure expectations of seeing-mallard ducks, cormorants, vultures and juncos for instance. On the other hand, I didn’t expect to find so many woodpeckers-I found 6 of the possible 7 species in our area. My birding highlight occurred along the Potomac River, while running alone, except for the two winter wrens serenading me, one on either side of the
tow path. Here’s my complete list:

Canada goose
Mourning dove
Rock pigeon
Barred owl
Red-bellied woodpecker
Yellow-bellied sapsucker
Downy woodpecker
Hairy woodpecker
Northern flicker
Pileated woodpecker
Blue jay
American crow
Tufted titmouse
Carolina chickadee
Brown creeper
Carolina wren
Winter wren
Golden-crowned kinglet
Ruby-crowned kinglet
American robin
Northern mockingbird
European starling
Cedar waxwing
Yellow-rumped warbler
Northern cardinal
White-throated sparrow
Song sparrow
Swamp sparrow
Red-winged blackbird
House finch
American goldfinch
House sparrow