03.28.12: John Smyth's 50 on 50

John Smyth, a longtime runner and friend of mine, decided to run 50 miles on his 50th birthday, despite never having run more than 20 miles at one time before. He made it into a fundraiser for The Rescue Ministries charity (they help abandonded & orphaned children in the Philippines) and invited his friends to come out and run or volunteer and to contribute to his cause. The planned start was 7:30, but since remote crews from Knoxville television stations WVLT & WBIR were at the track at 5:30 when John arrived, he chose to start the run at 6:00, 1½ hours earlier than planned. Throughout the day, the numbers ranged from 2 or 3 to at least 8 escorting John on this epic journey, but one stands out as he ran every single 1.2-mile lap: Doug Dibb. Some ran one lap, others several (Chris Hagood logged 7, I did 14), but Doug was the lone runner there every step of the way (and I have to add Angie Wilson would probably have done all 50 as well, but she didn't know about the start time change and arrived at the official start time of 7:30). I would try to name some of the runners but I know I'd overlook some friends so I won't even try. And the support staff can't be forgotten. Don't know all of them but Stephanie Smyth, Mike Edenfield's mother, John's mother, and Tracy Brooks, reduced to cheerleader and photographer status by a fractured leg, all came out at various times (there were a number of others, some I knew, and some I didn't). John also had a massage team on site for cramps, strains, etc. Just one final note: the first 14 photos were taken by Chris Hagood. I was running so I gave Chris my camera and asked him to get some for me. For anyone wanting a souvenir photo running on John's 50th these are free for downloading - just right-click - and are higher resolution than the ones I upload to races. They can also be 'shared' to FaceBook if desired.