Running the States

Tag: races

  • 19/50: Massachusetts — Boston’s Run to Remember

    19/50: Massachusetts — Boston’s Run to Remember

    Hello friends! Can’t believe it’s August and Labor Day is peeking around the corner. Summer is flying by!

    Let’s rewind back to Memorial Day weekend for a minute though. I owe you guys a race recap for state #19: Massachusetts!

    Yes, that was more than two months ago. Sorry for the delay. Things happen. Laziness happens. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    The race was a good one — I did Boston’s Run to Remember. It honors the city’s first responders killed in the line of duty. The weather was beautiful, the race was well-organized, there was amazing course support, annnnd I finished with a PR. Second PR that month!

    I highly recommend this race if you’re looking for a good half marathon in the Boston area.

    (more…)

  • Memorial Day, Boston’s Run to Remember, Another PR in May

    Memorial Day, Boston’s Run to Remember, Another PR in May

    Happy Memorial Day, friends!

    I just returned from Boston last night after participating in Boston’s Run to Remember — a half marathon that honors the city’s first responders killed in the line of duty. It was a beautiful race that started in the Seaport District and went through historic downtown Boston. I finished with another PR!

    I’ll have a full write-up of the race and my trip up soon.

    I hope you all are enjoying the long weekend.

    Thanks, Boston, for giving me my 2nd PR this month. And THANK YOU to all who have served and sacrificed in the line of duty. We honor you.
    Thanks, Boston, for giving me my 2nd PR this month. And THANK YOU to all who have served and sacrificed in the line of duty. We honor you.
    boston 2
    About 10,000 runners participated in this year’s Boston’s Run to Remember, a race that honors the first responders killed in the line of duty.
    boston 3
    This beautiful flag garden at Boston Common contains 37,000 flags — a flag planted in memory of every fallen Massachusetts service member from the Revolutionary War to the present.
  • 14/50 and 15/50: Kentucky and West Virginia — Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon

    14/50 and 15/50: Kentucky and West Virginia — Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon

    Have you ever been so miserable during a race that you wanted to stop and just quit right there?

    There were two occasions where I was miserable, but not quite close to quitting or wanting to quit:  The Hottest Half in Dallas, Texas in August 2014 and the Savin Rock Half Marathon in West Haven, Connecticut in March 2015.  The former was just as advertised — it was hot as hell during that race, but at least the course was super flat and the heat was dry. I pushed through and thankfully, survived without any injuries, albeit some minor sunburn. The latter was the complete opposite of the former — it was freezing — in fact, it was snowing. Big fluffy flakes fell steadily from the sky throughout the entire race.  And the snow was falling on top of existing snow that had accumulated from the previous day.  At one point, I was even running along side a snow plow. Fortunately, the course was flat for this race as well, and I managed to make it to the finish line. (I remained cold for a good hour after that race though.)

    I didn’t think it could get any more challenging than those two races…

    But then, I did the Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon last June.

    I experienced a whole new level of challenge with that race. It was hot. It was humid. It was hilly. And it was high elevation.

    I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it.  At every single water stop during the second half, I debated whether or not to quit and catch a ride back into town.

    But surprisingly, I did make it — six (!!!) hours after the start time, I completed a half marathon in the hills of West Virginia and another half marathon in the hills of Kentucky, crossing states numbers 14 and 15 off the list.

    (more…)

  • 13/50: Arizona – Phoenix Pride Run Half Marathon

    13/50: Arizona – Phoenix Pride Run Half Marathon

    If you’re attempting to run in all 50 U.S. states and one of your old high school friends invites you to her wedding in Arizona, then naturally you look to see if there are any races taking place the weekend of her wedding.

    Because why not kill two birds with one stone, right?

    And because the prices of plane tickets these days are not cheap.

    So I did a quick search on one of my favorite race websites, Running in the USA, and lucky me — I found a race taking place the day of her wedding — the Phoenix Pride Run Half Marathon! Some friends thought I was crazy for running the day of the wedding, but hey, it’s better than running the day after the wedding!

    (more…)