Go Run Texas 325

Okay, it’s been several days since finishing a 10K in that 50th state. Lately, I’ve certainly been missing the cool Alaska weather.
Also, it’s time for some new goals— both short term and some long term.
In the long run, I’m hoping to complete a 5K run in all 50 states.

Good news— to get a quick start, I already finished 5K’s in Alaska and Hawaii. -You know, as long as we were already there, we decided to run the extra race in both states.

For the other states, I’m hoping to join the Mainly Marathons group again. These folks produce great events.
Y’all come along, at least for parts of this adventure.
I believe you’ll have fun. 🏃🏻‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏼

Regarding my short term goals and other running targets, I’ll catch you up in a few days. There’s always something cooking.

For the races in Alaska, we joined the group from Mainly Marathons.
On Wed Aug 5, we ran their 10K. That race was the reason for this trip— it was State #50, for me running a 10K.
Oscar was first place that day, while I was 2nd. Brandi was 2nd place lady.
Overall it was a successful way to complete this quest.

Truth be told, I would have been happy just jogging or walking. For me, this was sort of like the final stage of the Tour de France — more of a parade or celebration, than a race.
It has been a blast sharing these many state runs with so many friends.

Now, it’s time for a new goal!

Best friends in the universe, chapter #512.

Find your group. Find those people that will tolerate you, push you, encourage you and join you on your exploits.
Best case scenario—you’ll find people that come up with their own adventures, and then invite you to join them.

I had the tremendous privilege of joining Brandi and Oscar for two runs in Alaska this week.
It was State #50 for me, running 10K’s. They were kind enough and adventurous enough to join me. There are some of my people. (Don’t worry Tim, I love you, too.)

We got to explore Juneau AK and the surrounding areas.
We watched whales.
We toured glaciers.
We rode a float plane.
We saw a s**t ton of bald eagles and that was fun.
Oh yeah, we also ran a couple of races. That was almost an afterthought, in the overall scheme of things.
It was an amazing time.

There’s a great big world out there. Go get it. Go see it. Explore.
Enjoy life. Keep on keeping on.
As Joe Dirt would say: “Life is a garden, dig it”.

Stand by kids, because there is more to come. Much more.

49 states completed. Only one more to run.
Let’s go to Alaska!
We’re meeting up with the folks from Mainly Marathons. Highest recommendations for this group.
You can explore the entire USA with them.

So, having completed my half marathon in Antarctica, my next goal is to run along the Great Wall of China, then in Kenya. That was supposed to happen in 2020. Because of Covid, I did not get to make those trips, or any of the other international trips I was contemplating.

Professionally, we were super busy in the clinic, but I still held onto hope that I’d be able to travel abroad sometime. That turned out to be wishful thinking.

Since the 7 continents and overseas travel were on hold, I decided to go run all 50 states (and Washington DC) again.
This time, I wanted to run a 10K (6.2 mile) race in every state. For most of this second pass through the USA, I joined up with Mainly Marathons. They put on multiple race series, where you can explore several states on a single trip.

Touring the USA a second time has been a blast! Hawaii in January was state #49. State #50 will be Alaska. Should be fun— and it won’t be 104° up there.
I’ll keep everyone posted and send you some more pictures.

50 States Running.
Now that I had finished running a half marathon in all 50 states, I was floundering. Instead of feeling accomplished, I was feeling lost.
I needed a new goal— a new quest— and I needed it pronto. But what?

I had heard stories about a group of folks that were running a race in every county of Texas. Wow. There are 254 counties in our state. Thats quite a lot of running.

I’d heard of some runners that were running all 50 states over and over. One of the guys from Mainly Marathons had already finished running 50 states— NINE times. That was in 2016. I have no idea how many times he’s toured the USA by now.

Ultimately, I decided to run a marathon or half marathon on all 7 continents. I already had N America and Europe, so I began planning to visit all the others, ASAP. If international travel is on your list, I highly recommend Marathon Tours and Travel. Check them out.

So, now that I was going to run a half marathon on the 5 remaining continents, it seemed reasonable to sign up for the hardest one first— Antarctica.

That trip to Antarctica was so memorable that it will take several FB sessions to tell about it. I finished Antarctica in March of 2019, with future plans to tour African game preserves and the Great Wall of China and, and, and….. But then Covid derailed my international plans.

Okay, now what?
More questions, that needed new answers.

50 States Half Marathons Quest—
Ten years ago this month, I was fortunate enough to finish my 50th state, running half marathons.
The race was the Copper River Run in Cordova AK—where the Alaska Airlines jet was bigger than the airport.

A couple of my good friends from Mainly Marathons told me about it.
They also made me a great poster to celebrate State #50.
The friends you meet along the way are one of the most wonderful aspects of this running life.
-They have great ideas for future runs.
-They’ll go along with you on crazy adventures.
-I call them my “usual suspects“. I do that with great love and for all the best reasons.

I got to complete my 50 States shirt, but then I was sort of lost. What next?

What next, indeed? Stay tuned, friends.