Completed my third dozen marathons in less than 4 months – 12 weeks on, 4 weeks off.  Finish times started to suffer…but the adventures got bigger & shared more than a handful with friends & family.

Finished my 50 State halfway point, marathon #25, in St. Louis – home of the Gateway Arch & my sister Tammy.  Sis would run the Half, then join me at mile 21 & run tandem to the Finish.  Talk ’bout over-n-beyond!  Quite a memory.

6 days later, devoured KC barbeque & marathoned in a downpour – heaviest non-stop deluge of my 50 State journey.  True “Dorothy” experience at Olathe’s Garmin Marathon in the Land of Oz (Kansas).  Following weekend rain again, but not ‘til after mile 8 & a historic run thru Churchill Downs in Louisville KY.  Spent an all-Kentucky weekend with my bestie Dawn.  Mammoth Caves, [Evan Williams] bourbon tour, ‘behind the barns’ tour at Churchill & tickets to the Kentucky Reining Cup in neighboring bluegrass capital, Lexington.  Yep, marathoning was only a small part of the weekend.  LOL>

Slept in my 2^nd rental car before the Wisconsin Marathon in Kenosha.  Landed in Chicago O’Hare minutes behind midnite, located a rest area just over the Wisconsin border, dozed ‘til 4am, marathoned at 7 – home again by night fall…but not before visiting the Mars Cheese Castle.  LOL>  Experienced my first Maniac (complete stranger) room-share, the Motel 6 in Fargo…a step up from sleeping in a rental car 🙂  Starting & finishing in the Fargo Dome, my North Dakota memory.

Week break after running 7 consecutive, then celebrated #30 in New England at the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington.  Sprinted the ending (my most competitive Finish pic) – before sailing Lake Champlain.  Road-tripped to Casper for marathon #31.  Day hiked, museum hopped (lotta dinosaur fossils in Wyoming) & pre-race floated the mighty Platte.  Unfortunately had nothing left on run day – faded in 90-degree heat; Casper would be by 50 State PW (personal worst)…finishing, but well over 5 hours.

Mentally zapped, confidence lacking, travelled to the Pacific Northwest 6 days later.  Surprisingly, posted a 4:15 finish on a hilly course in Seattle.  Trust the process.  Space Needle, Chihuly Garden, Pikes Place Market – all amazing but…most memorable?  post-marathon seaplane to Washington’s San Juan Island, followed by an orca whale watch cruise with Ash & Tom.  Unforgettable.

Travelled to Michigan for marathon #33 in Charlevoix.  Recommended airport?  Grand Rapids.  Lesson learned?  Check a map before securing tickets.  4 hour journey to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  No big deal on arrival but mighty early start to catch an 8am return flight (plus rental car return & airport security – yikes).  Marathon’d Saturday, 2 hours later ferried to scenic Mackinaw Island.  Saw the Grand Hotel via horse carriage – no vehicles allowed on Mackinac, only bicycles & horse taxis.

Marathoned the 4^th of July at 8800ft in Angel Fire, New Mexico.  5 hour highway ride south on I-25.  Fried in high altitude sun (sweated thru 2 sun block applications).  First experience at ziplining – FAAANNNTASTIC!

Journey would have been incomplete without marathoning over the fog-obstructed Golden Gate Bridge. Probably > 50 options to race California – but for me, it was always San Francisco.  No regrets.

Fave of my 50, best of the best – Crater Lake Nat’l Park in southern Oregon.  Perfect mix of altitude, evergreen & natural wonder.  National Park inspired, not only placed in my age group but finished 30^th overall.  Course included a 5-mile non-stop uphill grind.

Would start my last 13, a baker’s dozen (50 States plus DC), in mid-September.  11 East Coast marathons, Christmas holiday, then a 7-hour nonstop flight to Hawaii in January.  Have met so many inspiring folk on this journey.  Absolutely anything is possible!

Took more than a year to complete my first dozen marathons.  I’d finish my second dozen in half the time.

Soon after joining both 50 States & Marathon Maniac running clubs in October 2014, the addiction grew & my journey began.  Never more than one a month, then 3 marathons in November – including another sub-4 in Indianapolis (& a new PR).

Completed my 13^th race in Des Moines (Iowa).  Took an overnight train to Omaha – whatta unique experience, I love trains.  Pre-race activity: live theatrical production of Dracula (& my unintentional VIP status…funny, almost embarrassing story here).  Aside from setting a new PR in Indianapolis, finished Monumental with my Sis – inspiration for running that first marathon in Alaska.

Ran my only night marathon down the lit Las Vegas strip.  Enjoyed historic Fremont but this Rock N Roll event would rank as my least favourite race.  Soon after exiting the Strip, spent the next 3 hours along dark interstate highway.  Pre-race activity: heli-adventure to the mighty Grand Canyon, lunching aside the Colorado River.  WOW!

Influenced by my new Maniac family, registered for Route 66 the following weekend in Tulsa (Oklahoma).  Sneaky hilly course.  Saw my Mom at the Finish – another first, mighty emotional.  Finished 2014 along the gusty Atlantic; ran #17 in Rehoboth Beach – the wild ponies of Assateague & Chincoteague Islands cement my Delaware memory.

New Year, New You.  Kicked-off 2015 with a full run calendar – began organizing flights, rental car & hotel reservations by spreadsheet, googled destination locations to memorialize my 50 State journey.  Hobby became a Quest.

Started the year on a red-eye flight to Jackson (Mississippi).  Passed the 4-hour pacer at mile 26…only to find myself sub-4 short by 2 minutes.  Argh!  Two weeks later, flew my 2^nd red-eye of the year to beautiful sexy Miami.  LOVED the energy of this city, its International feel & of course, its sandy beaches.  Finish was announced in Spanish: K R ‘AGA, Estados Unidos.  Muy bueno.

Not being a hot weather runner, strategy was to run everything USA South in the dead of winter.

Next stop: South Carolina.  Learned even the deep South experiences winter weather.  Strong ocean headwind, cold breezy finish. Final February Myrtle Beach Marathon…permanently propelled their race date to mid-March going forward.  Held my first gator 🙂

Visited my first Presidential Library in Little Rock (no books, who knew?).  Cold numbing sleet – but surprising, eeked out a 3^rd sub-4 performance (hilliest sub-4 of my journey).  Two weeks later, caught a cheap flight to Atlanta, then drove 3 hours to Montgomery (Alabama).  Spent a somber pre-race day in Selma.  Walked the same bridge Martin Luther King marched 50 years earlier.  Finished marathon #22 in Riverwalk Stadium, home of the Montgomery Biscuits (triple-A baseball).  LOL>

My 50 State PR would happen in wintery seaside Cape May (New Jersey).  6 days later, ran marathon 24 in Charlottesville (Virginia), home of my favourite U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson.  During his presidency, the U.S. expanded West thru Colorado – ‘from sea to shining sea’, Atlantic AND Pacific now in our country’s well house.  Buffalo, elk & Native American art adorned Jefferson’s Monticello residence.  Tight on time, finished Sunday’s marathon (hilly course), jumped in a car, raced north 3 hours to DC & took my first airport splash bath (sadly, another first).  Closest call of my 50 – return flight home was already boarding.  Yikes!

Took 6 months to complete my 2nd Dozen states – I’d complete the next TWO DOZEN in the same amount of time…and along the way, experience LIFE.  New places, new faces.  No regrets.