Jeffrey Di Maggio of Millington, NJ competed in the 2016 Vol State Road Race,, an ultramarathon totaling 314 miles. The runners start out from Dorena Landing, Missouri and finish in Castle Rock Georgia. There is a ten day time limit on the race which started at 7:42 am on July 14, 2016. Jeffrey finished in five days, one hour, and fifty-one minutes on July 19, his fortieth birthday. This earned him seventh place honors out of a field of ninety five entries behind the winning time of three days, seven hours and nine minutes. What is most amazing it that this was only the fifth race that he completed in.
DiMaggio was introduced to running as a hobby only three years ago. He trained with a friend and soon was able to last long distances without tiring. He bypassed the customary 5k and 10k community runs and ran in his first race in 2013, just a few months of training, a 50k / 8 hour race, approximately 31miles. He followed that with a second race in March of 2014. This time it was a 100 miler at the New Jersey Ultra Festival. In May of 2015 he ran in a 56 mile race with a 12 hour time control. This was another NJ event called 3 Days at the Fair at the Sussex County Fairgrounds. Later that year in November 2015, DiMaggio ran in a 24hour / 83 mile race.
Ultra races use a time control and each racer is scored by how many miles they run in the determined amount of time. The Ultra marathon that DiMaggio ran in July was challenging on so many levels. The race challenges the runners equally physically and mentally. The following synopsis from the organizer’s website, ultrasignup.com, describes it best:
It begins with a ferry ride across the Mississippi River, from Missouri to Kentucky, and finishes at “the Rock,” high atop Sand Mountain in Northeast Georgia. What lies in between are 314 miles of the great unknown. From the time the Vol-Stater steps off the Ferry, until they reach the Rock, they are totally reliant upon their own physical and mental resources. For the next four to ten days, in the face of the heat and humidity of July in Tennessee , the Vol-Stater must make their way on foot, along highways and backroads, from one small town to the next, over hills and across rivers, up mountains and down long valleys, all the while accounting for all of their most basic needs; “what will I eat?” “When will I find water?” Where will I sleep?”
Success is not guaranteed. There are no aid stations, teeming with volunteers waiting to tend to your every need and encourage you to continue. There are just miles and miles of empty road. Your friends can follow your progress from afar, but no pacers can carry your burden for you. If you do encounter another runner, theirs is the same desperate plight as your own. You will have doubts. Finishing will often seem an unfathomable dream. Your worst enemy may become the knowledge that an air conditioned ride to your car at the finish (in the dreaded seat of disgrace”) is but a phone call away.
Many will fail. But, for those who find the steely will and muster the sheer dogged tenacity to overcome the impossible obstacles, and reach the rock on foot, the Vol- State can be a transcendental experience. No words can adequately describe the sense of combined relief and amazement to be experienced at the Rock. No one can explain the regret that this incredible journey has actually come to an end. Former King, Barry Crumrine probably summed up the Vol-State experience as well as it can be put into words; “I found in myself something that I never knew was there.”
(above) Jeffrey Dimaggio crossing the finish line of a twenty-four hour race in the brisk weather in November 2015. He next ran a five-day race in the one hundred degree heat of Tennessee.
