Recap - Running a half marathon (13.1 miles) in all 50 States

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

You read that right 50 half marathons in 50 states. Travel can be transformative. Meeting people, immersing in culture, seeking out new experiences, and overcoming challenges— these are things that make travel magical and create lifelong memories. I hope this story inspires you to set off on your own journey as well as provide you with useful information to help you find your way. This is a chronology of half marathon runs in all 50 states, which formally started in 2001 at the Waukesha Trailbreaker 13.1 miler--way before having this crazy idea to run in 50 states. It began in 2005, but wasn’t until 2 years later when I pounded the pavement every weekend, literally. The idea emerged during a road trip with two high school friends. The first thought I had was, “This was a crazy idea, running a half marathon in every state.” So I came up with “Crazyrunninggal” as a hash tag. Initially the run started with just 25 states, in 2008, running in Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Florida, Nevada, Indiana, and running the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with my favorite guy. Back at it in 2009 I hit the pavement in Arizona, Oklahoma, and Georgia--with my favorite guy--and then solo in Colorado, Washington, and Illinois. Then in 2009, I’d run a state a week, from February in New Orleans to Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, California, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Colorado, Washington, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas, New York, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Vermont, Missouri, Kentucky, and Nebraska. I met people from over--completing all 25 states by April 2009. I got my Juju back in 2014 and decided to run a half in the remaining states. My average out-of-state travel cost was $118.70 running half marathons 5-days back-to-back, a week at a time, running in Calhoun County West Virginia, Bluefield South Virginia, North Carolina, and Seneca South Carolina. I only had 12 more states to run at the end of 2014. In 2015, I ran the Detroit marathon with my friend, and completed 7 more states: Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. As a lifetime traveler, I stepped foot in every state except Hawaii by this time; but, wasn't done, even though I took a break from my half marathon tour. I kicked the dirt in New York running the NYRR marathon in 2016—this is worth mentioning since the entire city was shut down for the runners--No kidding! In 2017, I ran 2 more half marathons in Utah and Oregon. Utah was crazy! I ran with a headlamp down a mountain and crossed the finish line at midnight. It was dark. Later that year I finished the IRONMAN Wisconsin! Now how many can say that? This year, 2019, my final year, was a magnificent 13.1 mile run along Honolulu’s Waikiki coastline. Before the race, they sang about "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness—in Hawaiian it is "Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono.” and before the race the announcer said, "Laki maikaʻi” which is "good luck!” The final run was in Juneau, Alaska. I can now officially say, “I completed running a half marathon, 13.1 miles, in all 50 states.” This journey brought so many large accomplishments and really just small baby steps to a much larger journey. How did I do it? The secret isn’t speed or stamina, it’s progression, start out small, the important matrix isn’t time, distance or pace, but improving, exploring, seeing with “eyes-wide-open” and discovering. Even if you’re just having fun; which is what it’s about anyway, the journey is for no one but you. If you pay attention, if you stay devoted, you’ll see things you have never seen before, and you will also see your life improve. It’s not only about the run or the states I traveled (but that’s cool too), it’s about who I met (now lifelong friends), what I saw (and understand), where I went (a big world out there), and how I changed (perspective). It changed my viewpoint (just like Robin Williams lesson in Dead Poets Society)—not only as a traveler, but my family views, spiritual views, career insights and all of it—learning to Just Be Me—Not someone else’s opinion of it Plus, I produced over 7 kids books which I gained from the ideas when I went on these journey OUT there….running. There’s so much more, and that’s just the start. I urge you to travel as far and as much as possible. Work ridiculous shifts to save your money, go without the latest iPhone, or no phone at all for a year (which I did). Throw yourself out of your comfort zone, find how other people live and realize that the world is a much bigger place than the town you live in. And, when you come home, home may still be the same and yes, you may go back to the same old job, but something in your mind will have changed, and trust me, that changes everything. Come along with me to the wild side, and see what you can see.

Stats on my Half Marathon Quest ---

• First State in Quest: Dubuque, Iowa June 2005 
• First State in this years Quest: Honolulu, Hawaii (*) 
• Last State in Quest: The Glacier Half Marathon in Juneau, Alaska 
• Years Half Marathoning: 18 
• Longest drive: 2870 miles (Wisconsin - New Mexico) * 
• Longest flight: 8,364 mi (Hawaii) 
• Ratio Drive to Fly: 35:15 (8:3) 
• Most expensive travel cost per day: Alaska 
• Cheapest out-of-state travel cost per day: New England series 
• Ratio Solo or Together: 38 solo & 12 with someone (38:12 solo ratio)