50/50/50

50/50/50....what does this mean?  I have decided that I want to complete 50 marathons or half marathons in 50 states by my 50th birthday.

I actually cannot recall who or what got this idea into my head, but the more I began to research, the more excited I became.  I read about a girl named Laura who had completed this task and she was 24!  Extremely impressive. (About Laura)  Since I am turning 28 this year (and the year is basically shot due to a committed California 2012 run schedule), I have 22 years to complete this.  I figured that was well enough time to travel to each state.  I would love to finisher sooner, but I wanted to be realistic.

My first step was to look online for other runners online who had completed this task, and see where they had run.  I checked the 50 States Marathon club site for the "favorites" and recommendations.  Yes, if I complete this, I get to be in this club too! 50 states club.  Technically the fifty states half club would be my club, as I will be running a mixture of half's and fulls.  50 1/2 club.

Next I began to look up each race.  Here were the points I used to make my selections:

1. Certified race- with course marshall (per fifty states club rules)
2. Race must provide finisher medal (I am not returning home without bling)
3. Race of course is pretty or challenging
4. Race is for a good or meaningful cause
5. Race is near landmark or icon in that State that I want to see (killing two birds with one stone)

I am really excited about my list.  I even have a few Rock n Roll events on there.  I am going to plan them to run them in the same year so that I can collect some extra Heavy Bling!

There are a few states in which I want to complete two races.  Luckily they either mean a lot, or are fairly close to California, my home state.  The only state without a selected race is Alabama.  Nothing has jumped out to me yet.  Here is my working list.

State	Town	Race Name
Alabama
Alaska	Ankorage	Humpys
Arizona	Phoenix	RNR
Arkansas	Little Rock	Little Rock
CA	San Francisco	NWM
Colorado	Boulder	Heart and Sole Half
Connecticut	Hartford	ING Hartford
Delaware	Wilming	Delaware
Florida	Orlando	Walt Disney World
Georgia	Atlanta	ING Georgia
Hawaii	Kauai	Kauai
Idaho	Idaho Falls	MAD marathon
Illinois	Chicago	RNR
Indiana	Idianapolis	Womens Half
Iowa	Des Moines	IMT Des Moines
Kansas	Olathe	Wickedly fast
Kentucky	Louisville	LSC Half
Louisiana	Baton Rouge	Lousiana
Maine	Portland	Portland
Maryland	Baltimore	Under Armour Baltimore
Massachusetts	Boston	Boston
Michigan	Detroit	Detroit
Minnesota	Minniapolis	13.1
Mississippi	Jackson	Mississippi Blues
Missouri	St Louis	Go St Louis
Montana		Missoula
Nebraksa	Omaha	Omaha
Nevada	Las Vegas	RNR
New Hampshire		Hamptons Smuttynose rockfest
New Jersey		Cooper Norcross Run the Bridge
New Mexico		Chips N Salsa
New York	NYC	New York
North Carolina	Charolette	Thunder Road
North Dakota		Fargo
Ohio	Cinncinnati	Flying Pig
Oklahoma	Tulsa	Route 66
Oregon	Portland	RNR
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Philadelphia
Rhode Island	Newport	Amica
South Carolina	Myrtle Beach	Myrtle Beach
South Dakota		Run Crazy Horse
Tennessee	Nashville	WHM
Texas	Austin	Livestrong Austin
Utah	Salt Lake City	Salt Lake
Vermont	Colchester	Vermont City
Virgina	Arlington	Marine Corps-Full
Virginia	Richmond	Richmond Suntrust- Full
Washington	Spokane	Windermere
Washington	Seattle	RNR
West Virginia	Williamson	Hatfield and McCoy
Wisconsin	Kenosha	Wisconsin
Wyoming	Casper	Casper

I also found a blog online where a girl mentioned how to save money when traveling to all of the races.  She would often rent a car and sleep in the Walmart parking lot.  I am not sure if this will be my route, but 2-3 races per year and lots of planning should make things more manageable.  I also plan to let all my friends and family know what I am up to and ask that they support me by recommending a relatives or friends "couch to crash on" in any state that I might be visiting.  With me working a full time job, several of these will be long weekend turn around trips.

I am also going to be starting an interactive race calendar until it is full.  Here is my progress thusfar.

A long way to go, but here's to 50!