O hai! I’m MB, and I’m working towards my goal of running a race in every state in the good ol’ USA. What better way to travel and explore the country by racking up some miles and earning medals along the way?

This goal kind of snuck up on me. As a Michigan native, I’ve done many a 5k, 10k, half, and marathon in my home state since I started running in 2005. In 2012, my bestie Cara and I took a little vacation to visit a friend in South Lake Tahoe, California, and decided we’d run a half marathon while we were there. The following year, Cara and I knocked off a couple other races on our bucket list: the Walt Disney World half/full and the Chicago Marathon. At that time, I realized, “Hey, I’ve already run in 4 states, so I should do the 50 states thing!”

I don’t have a self-imposed timeline to complete this personal challenge. Nor do I have a strict policy on what “counts” toward this goal, though I’m partial to sticking to half or full marathons. I’m aiming to knock a couple states off the list each year, but that will ebb and flow depending on life events, budget hurdles, unforseen circumstances, and who knows what else.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading a bit about my journey across the country. I know I’m having fun experiencing and writing about it!