Everyone who has ever run a marathon remembers the thrill of completing that very first 26.2 miler. For many people, one marathon is enough, but others of us just keep coming back, over and over, to renew the challenge.

My marathon career started out innocently enough, when a colleague said that she was going to run the Marine Corps Marathon and asked me to come out to cheer her on. This was enough to stir up an ancient goal in the back of my head, which was to actually run one of the things. With a little guidance from my colleague and a bit of good fortune, I was able to complete my first marathon (Marine Corps) in 1988. All the while, my husband kept telling me, "You're never going to do this again, are you?" I really couldn't answer him honestly, because deep down, I was already planning the next one. Surely, I thought, I can run better and faster, and maybe even qualify for Boston! I also loved the wonderful, positive things that marathon training can do to one's body and outlook on life. So, a few months later, I ran the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, where I cut ten minutes off my previous time and went home with age group and masters awards. It took another trip to the Marine Corps Marathon before I managed a Boston qualifier.

I soon settled into a routine of running between two and four marathons each year. My husband came to realize that I really was hooked on this crazy stuff, and he frequently traveled to marathons with me. By the spring of 1997, I had completed 22 marathons, including eight trips to Boston, six Marine Corps outings, three Northern Central Trail Marathons, and two trips to New York City.

However, it was getting a little boring, repeating many of the same marathons, and I was seriously thinking about hanging up my marathon shoes. Then, I got an e-mail from a former classmate and fellow marathoner, who told me about a group of people who seek to run a marathon in every state plus the District of Columbia. This was just exactly the challenge that I needed to get myself going again. Six weeks later, I was off to expand my horizons with the Madison Marathon. Madison turned out to be great fun--pretty course, lovely May day, and several cousins to cheer me on.

Initially, I planned to add only about three new states to my list each year, but two things changed my mind. For one, I realized just how old I would be by the time I would complete a marathon in all fifty states plus DC. Also, as I traveled to different marathons, I met lots of other 50 staters, some of whom were doing some amazing things, like running a marathon every week or two, or even running two marathons in the same weekend. These people seemed to be staying pretty much injury free and, I thought to myself, if they can do it, perhaps I can, too! So I ratcheted up the rate a bit and managed to complete thirty-six marathons over a three-year period. This meant averaging a marathon a month, occasionally running marathons only a week or two apart. I completed my quest on October 13, 2001, when I crossed the finish line of the Aetna Greater Hartford Marathon. That certainly was a very high point in my life that I'll always remember.

Plenty of support is available for people who choose to run a marathon in every state. There now are two different clubs for people seeking this goal. One, called the 50 and DC Marathon Group (its web address is http://www.50anddcmarathongroupusa.com), is a low-key group established by Dean Rademaker in 1989. This group now has over 300 members, and you can join the group when you have completed a marathon in at least 20 different states. Over 140 of the members of the 50 and DC Marathon Group already have completed a marathon in each of the 50 states plus DC. One individual (Ray Scharenbrock of Wisconsin) has completed the entire 50-states- plus-DC circuit six times already!

More recently, a second club was formed, called the 50 States Marathon Club (its web address is http://www.50statesmarathonclub.com). This new club just had its first members' meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma in November, 2001, and plans to have reunions each quarter for any 50 staters who can attend. To join the 50 States Marathon Club, you only need to have completed a marathon in each of at least ten states, and you do not need to run a marathon in DC.

Both clubs have specific rules for what constitutes a qualifying marathon. One rule is that each marathon can count for only one state, even if the course goes through two or more states. (For instance, the Arts on the Green Marathon, which starts and ends in Omaha, Nebraska but includes several miles in Iowa, can be counted only for the state of Nebraska.) Neither the 50 and DC Marathon Group nor the 50 States Marathon Club has any specific time limit for completing a particular marathon, as long as the finish line is still open and a race official is present to document the marathon completion, and neither club has a time limit for completing the entire series of marathons. Most people require several years to complete a marathon in each state plus the District of Columbia, while a very few hardy souls have completed a marathon in every state in a single year!

Both clubs have special shirts that help 50 staters identify each other at marathons across the country. Through my travels to the various marathons, I have met many lovely people and made some very good friends among the 50 staters, as our paths frequently cross several times at different marathons. Running a marathon in each of the 50 states also means traveling to some very interesting places, such as Anchorage, Alaska; Reno, Nevada; Bismarck, North Dakota; and New Orleans, that ultimate party town. My need to run a marathon in Hawaii was an excellent excuse for a family vacation on the Big Island!

In addition to the necessary training, running a marathon in every state clearly requires lots of advance planning, particularly if you want to travel economically. Both 50 state running clubs, along with several popular running publications, are excellent resources for marathon schedules all over the country, and the 50 States Marathon Club plans to develop part of its website toward helping people in their marathon travel plans. Many publications, such as Marathon and Beyond, and the 50 staters themselves are excellent sources of information on training and running frequent marathons. So, if you like to travel and to marathon, just put the two together for a wonderful new challenge!

Janet was very modest and neglected to mention that along the way she picked up one third-place masters award, one first-place grand masters award, one second-place overall women's award, and seventeen age group first-place awards among the 71 marathons that she has completed. In addition to her running marathons, Janet "runs" the Montgomery County Road Runners Club, having served as President for two years and on the Board of Directors for seven years. Her husband, Bob, is also an active volunteer. As an aside, now the 50 Staters will have another option for their Washington,DC Marathon, with the inaugural Washington, DC Marathon scheduled for March 24, 2002. Editor.