STATE NUMBER 50!!!! SUB 4 STATE NUMBER 50!!!! It was a double celebration and a day we had been dreaming about since we decided to embark on the 50 States quest all that time ago. We ran a strong 3:35 and Leah officially became the youngest female ever to run a marathon in all 50 States in under 4 hours each. Read about the completion of our 3 year goal here.
This was our last State to clean up before the big number 50. An oversight regarding the existence of different time zones and their boundaries made for a tense 7 hour drive out there. On the return journey our desire to get back home in time for dinner saw us miss the award ceremony and Leah’s trophy. However I did discover air-conditioned seating and now my life, and car experiences, will never be the same. Full write-up.
Marathon #77 & #67, and our 49th US State. Unfortunately we got rained on in this one! Not the funny, warm rain of Kentucky but the cold “I’m really freezing but still have 3 hours to go” rain of Tennessee. Despite this it was a good event run by a very friendly race director. We met some great runners to chat with while the miles went by and we got our 49th State completed. The write-up can be found here.
Where did that Personal Record come from?? Particularly being part of another consecutive streak of marathons in 2015, this time the 6th in 6 weeks. I came away with a new PR of 3:23:56 and Leah came away with $200 prize money for her placing. I guess we were both happy. I also got to meet and Leah got to see some of her extended family some of whom she hadn’t seen in years. Full race recap here.
You guessed it, another State repeat. In fact for this one it was our only exact race event repeat. For States we had to repeat we’ve always tried to choose a different race, but for North Dakota there aren’t a lot of options. We went back to Bismarck and tried to replicate our finishing picture exactly 1 year on.. but not replicate our last finishing time! Full details of how we got on are here.
After returning from a holiday/vacation the night before, we realised we could fit in a marathon the very next morning. So why not?! We signed up last minute for another repeat State. We ended up missing the start, running off into the mountains in the dark and we had our bag lost with our car keys. Drama from beginning to end but looking back on it we can laugh… now. Race report online here.
Marathon #73 was a repeat of Nebraska to try to get a sub-4 hour time. We ran through mists of 100% humidity, lost all the prize money to Kenyans, and caught up with some friends while also making some new ones. A successfully repeated State, full write-up is now here. It brings our totals to 48 States with 45 of those being sub-4 hour finishes. 2 new States and 3 repeats to go!
Of all the marathons we’ve done this is among the ones that I am the most proud of completing. The Pikes Peak Marathon is one of the toughest marathons in the world and quite honestly I was nervous every day from the moment we signed up to the day of the event. This is a long blog post, but it was a long marathon and a huge experience! If you’ve got the time, give it a read.
We returned to Alaska for the 2nd time to try for the sub-4 hour finish. This time we went to the capital, Juneau, which is located very far south of the state, close to the Canadian border. Who flies all the way to Alaska just for the weekend? Well, we did this time around, but we made the most of our trip there and even managed to fit in some exploring after the run. This race report is quite picture heavy but Juneau is spectacular!
Iowa in the middle of summer, it was never going to be easy. The heat and humidity were draining and made for a tough run. The organisers did a great job though and made sure all the runners got the liquids they needed. State #48 achieved and it took a lot of pushing but we also got the sub 4. Other big milestones were that it was my 70th marathon and Leah’s 60th! Full report here.