50/50/50

Have had this idea in my head for several years now, just never really talked about it.  Most people are aware of the 50 States Marathon Club.  Though I don't think I'll actually pay the dues to join the club it is a goal which I'll pursue over the rest of my life.  I have a few under my belt already:

Pennsylvania (Chambersburg 1992, Pittsburgh 1997, Philly 1997)

Texas (Austin '05 and '09, Rocky Trails '05)

Wyoming (Rocky Mountain '07)

Colorado (Salida '06 thru '09, Pikes Peak '06)

Luckily the 50 Club allows ultramarathons to count, so I have adopted that rule as well.  

Of course, since I always love piling lots of crap onto my road trips, on top of running at least a marathon in each state, I plan to bag that state highpoint and hash in the state as well.

I only have two state highpoints on my peak list, Mt. Elbert in Colorado and Guadalupe Peak in Texas.  I could have many more here, but I didn't catch the mountain climbing bug until I moved to CO.

Next up on the state highpoint list will be Mt. Davis in Pennsylvania.  Not a hard hike, which will be nice since I'll be going there right after the Oil Creek 100 in October.  Of course, I'll hit Mt. Greylock when I run (and hash!) Boston next April.

I'm much further along with my state hashing goal.  The very first thing I do when I find out I get to travel is look up the local hash.  Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, South Dakota, and North Carolina (the Army had a lot of help with those travels).  Some of these states will require a return trip for the marathon/high point goals, and of course the hash will be revisited!

Nothing to do with this post, but since I have the list out, here's my current lifetime count for marathon and beyond races:

marathon - 12

50K - 6

50 miles - 8 (and one this weekend!)

100K - 1 (sure wish there were more of these out there)

100 miles - 2 (3 attempts)

no-go on Kansas

Decided to bail on the Kansas trip. Freezing temps and reports of heavy snow, decided to wait until the weather improves a bit. It's only 3.5 hours to Mt. Sunshine, so I'm sure I'll bag it next year. I'll end 2009 with four state highpoints - Colorado, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. Sure wish I woulda been into this when I was in the military, I'd have a bunch more off my list. Should get at least three more in '10 - Kansas, Mass, and Arizona.

I'm a bit farther on my 50 states marathon quest. PA, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, New Mexico. Mass and Arizona this year, possibly one or two others.

Hashing is farther still. PA, Texas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Alabama, Georgia, and South Dakota. Plus Canada (Toronto), Juarez, Qatar, and Guantanamo Bay.

Good post on a guy doing the bicentennial (100 beers, 100 miles, 1 week) over here. Maybe I'll take a few days off after Leadville to join this club. I tried 100 beers, 100 miles, 100 hours once but had to DNF very early due to illness (which was not running or drinking related).