Since people are not going to come to my house for a tour, I decided to take some pictures of my marathon medals (or other things that signify that I did it). I once had them all crammed on one wire on my wall near my computer, but having now finished a marathon in all 50 states, I have spread them out and arranged them in orders which will be explained with each individual picture. I have have lost a few over the years and some of the ones I did on trails (five Stumpy's Marathons were noted with rocks from the creek with labels).
Philly and Boston Medals: I first ran a marathon in 1995 - the Philadelphia Marathon. My goal back then was to be able to qualify for Boston, which I first did in Philadelphia in 1996 after learning about track work and other training aspects. Here are the medals from Philadelphia (9) that I ran from 1995 to 2006, from left to right and the medals from Boston (13) that I ran from 1997 to 2014. I could have gone to Boston a few other times, but other plans got in the way and I became less interested in the experience. I would like to go one more time at age 75 if I can qualify.
Overview of East Coast Marathons: This is the space where I was originally cramming all of my marathon medals, except for Philly and Boston ones. As shown below, I have spread them out now and I will detail what these are in sectional pictures.
Overview of the Rest of the Country Marathons: These are the medals from states that I did to complete the 50 states with only having done one in each state. The other wall has a couple that I did only only along the East Coast.
Delaware Marathon Medals: When I first started running marathons, the Races2Run organization had a Delaware Marathon in Middletown, DE. I ran it twice in 1995 and 1997. But the race lost sponsorship and ended. Before 2004, the 50 States club contacted Wayne Kursh and asked him to start a new Delaware Marathon as the only option at that time for a marathon in Delaware was to run a tough trail half-marathon twice. The club guaranteed Kursh that it would make sure at least 50 people came to the event. Well, it went better than expected and that version in Wilmington, DE has gone on for 14 years now and has been sold to an organization that specializes more in larger events. Since I am from the area, I decided I would do the marathon every year as long as I could. There are only a handful of us left who have done all 14 so far. Above are the two medals from the earlier version, plus all 14 from the current version (in chronological order from left to right). Notice how the medals have gone from plain metal to bling and iconic illustrations of the Wilmington skyline.
Other Delaware Marathon plus Maryland Marathons: Once I started diversifying from qualifying for and running in Boston each year, I became interested in doing marathons in other places. But I kept it local at first - others in Delaware and surrounding states. This is a picture of the others in Delaware plus Maryland. In Delaware they include Rehoboth (3), C &D Marathon (2), Fortitude for First Descents (2), Monster Mash, Stumpy's, and Triple Crown Trail Marathon, plus a medal from the first Triple Crown Challenge (a trail half marathon, 10K and 5K, one after the other). I did five other Stumpy's Marathons that were immortalized with rocks. Maryland's are: Baltimore, Last Train to Boston, B & A Trail (4), North Central Trail (2), Ocean City, Lower Potomac (2), George Washington Birthday (3, one medal missing), Western Maryland Rail Trail, and Potomac River Run.
Pennsylvania Marathons (exc. Philly): I have done a lot marathons in Pennsylvania, but not nearly all. They are: Steamtown (2), Via (2), Half Sauer Half Kraut (2), Garden Spot (2), Harrisburg (2), Johnstown, God's Country, Drake Well, Delaware & Lehigh Heritage, Bucks County, Bob Potts, Erie, Two Rivers and Run The Loop.
Other East Coast and Southeast Marathons: New Jersey, Ocean Drive (2), Asbury Park; New York, Wineglass (2), Mohawk Hudson River (3), Greater Binghamton; Virginia, Shamrock (2); Tennessee, Chattanooga(not included for Tennessee in 50 states because of short course); North Carolina, Last Chance for Beantown; South Carolina, Columbia, Hilton Head; Georgia, Savannah; and Florida, A1A (2).
New England and Mid-America States: Reading from right to left - Bay of Fundy (shell shape), Maine; Gannsett (patch), Rhode Island; Hartford, Connecticut; Clarence DeMar, New Hampshire; Vermont City, Vermont; Freedom's Run, West Virginia; Rocket City, Alabama; Nashville, Tennessee; Mississippi Blues, Mississippi; Canton, Ohio; Carmel, Indiana; Martian, Michigan; Fox Valley, Illinois; Lakefront, Wisconsin; Louisiana, Louisiana; Mid-South, Arkansas; Mo Cowbell, Missouri; Heartland Series - Iowa, Iowa; and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Western States: From right to left - Lucky Trail, Texas; Route 66. Oklahoma; Gobbler Grind, Kansas; Logan View Raid Run, Nebraska; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Fargo, North Dakota; Duke City, New Mexico; Revel Rockies, Colorado; Run With the Horses, Wyoming; Bozeman, Montana; Buckeye, Arizona; Deseret News, Utah; Lake Lowell, Idaho; Hoover Dam, Nevada; Carlsbad, California; Portland, Oregon; Birch Bay, Washington; Juneau, Alaska; and Big Island International, Hawaii.
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