Remembering 50 years ago, I came across this background of the 50-mile craze of the early 1960s. This, of course, included the start of the JFK 50. The 50-mile craze could be hiking or something as simple as checking off a mile (running, swimming, whatever) on a scorecard until you reached 50.
http://50milehikers.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/the-50-mile-hike-phenomenon/
Thanks for sharing that. I'm running JFK 50 tomorrow, and had heard bits and pieces of its history, but not the whole story of the 50-mile hike sweeping the country. Very cool.
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Interesting reading. Thanks for posting this.