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Running 50 Marathons in 50 States by Boston 2011!

In an attempt to stay on task, I created a blog to track as I made my way through a marathon in all 50 states. There is, in fact, a "club" for this sort of crazy endeavor. The 50 States Marathon Club!

STATE-us...

Challenge... COMPLETE!!! I have finished 62 Marathons in 50 States + D.C. (Listed on the right menu). I have repeated a few states and my first marathon was in Athens, Greece-- although I tried to pass it as a "City-State," I don't think they would approve. 


What's Next?
I'm training to take on Western States 100 this June (2011) as well as repeating some of my non sub-4:00 marathons in hopes to make the 50-sub 4 club!

Where is All Began... 

I started distance running in the 3rd grade-- completing my first 5K through the guidance and encouragement of "Coach C" alongside with another couple dozen 3rd and 4th grade girls. Each year Mr. C would get a few girls to train for the Freihoffers Run for Women 5K in Albany NY.

In 7th grade - 9th I ran XC and track for my high school... Columbia High School in East Greenbush, making varsity in the 7th grade. I got a little bored with running year round and ventured off into other sports starting with Lacrosse (which I went to college to play), then Field Hockey  and eventually in college (Union College) switching to Rugby where I dumped LaX and played through school and eventually onto the women's team in Cincinnati. Which I would later dump for to circle back to running and start my life of extreme marathoning!

Marathoning....

In college I continued to run to keep in shape, but never going further than a few 10-15K's and one less than stellar attempt at a New Years Day half marathon while still drunk less than fully prepared.

I majored in Economics, but was a little ahead of myself in credits, so I opted to pick up a minor-- classical history. With this minor we were encouraged to take a class or term abroad... to Athens, Greece (go ahead... twist my arm). The summer prior to going abroad, I found out there would be a marathon (THE marathon) taking place while I was there and I started straining. With the help of MB--who had done a few marathons by this point-- and a training schedule I found online, I started training alone with no idea what I was getting myself into.

I would complete my first marathon in Athens, Greece in 4:06:45! This was 2005! In 2006 I would follow it up with the New Las Vegas Marathon... running with MB (and almost killing each other). In 2007, having graduated college and moved to Cincinnati, I ran 2 more (both in Ohio). Finally in 2008 I was pretty involved with rugby and running very little. But the Flying Pig Marathon came and I couldn't say no... completing the race with pretty much 0 training (woops).

Mega Marathoning!
Leading up to 2009 I moved to Jacksonville, FL for work (on a 6-month role) and trained for the Disney Marathon in January. Once I did that I decided to pick up another in March (ING Georgia), then another in April-- the most I had done in a year, let alone a few months. Then... it was all downhill.

I decided it was time to go after the 50-states. I knew it was something I wanted to do from the first time I finished a marathon... I just never had the time or motivation. Once I started picking up on my races, Pete (a fellow Cinci Galloway runner) asked me if it were possible to be the youngest female? Well I looked into it and found out it was. This was what started pushing the pace of my races even more. I mapped out a plan and realized that I COULD be the youngest... but better yet, IF I could qualify for Boston (which was a big 'IF' at the time) and I kept completing racees at a fast pace... I could FINISH at the Boston Marathon... in about 2 years!

Since starting this blog, the youngest female record has been made, and will very likely be smashed again within a few months. I've kept on pace because the first goal is to finish the 50, the second goal is to stay on task and complete them all by Boston! Fortunately I was finally able to make Boston in March of 2010 and have done so again 4 times in the year. I'll finish about 30 marathons and ultras this year (repeating couple of states) and a few more in 2011 to (hopefully) finish my goal! 

What can you find in this blog?...
~Tips/Tricks on Training, Distance Running, Recovery, Marathon Club/group information, etc
~Marathon Race Ratings/Reviews from Stephanie and Friends (Race Rating link in top bar)
~What is SURE to be a great story!


*NOTE!: As of June 2, 2009 all marathon race #'s have been changed to reflect the # of states completed rather than the number of marathons completed