50 States + DC and 7 Continents

Running marathons is fun and all, but there are so many out there to choose from.  Take a look at how marathoning has exploded in the U.S. the past 3 years since I started running them, according to MarathonGuide:
 - 2008: 477 marathons
 - 2009: 501 marathons
 - 2010: 620 marathons
 - 2011: 710 marathons
In 2000, there were only 220 marathons in the country!  In the span of a decade, the number of marathons has nearly tripled, and this doesn't even take into account ultramarathons, which have increased with an even more upward trajectory.

So, with so many races, how does one go about choosing which to run?  From my PoweredByDimSum running club teammates, I had heard of their marathoning adventures in various states and countries.  I decided to focus on knocking off states and becoming a 50 States Marathon Club Finisher.  Right from the get go, my first three marathons were all in different states.  In fact, my first 10 marathons were all in different states + DC+ Quebec Province.  After knocking off those initial 3 states (NY, IL, & PA), finishing Dean Karnazes' 50/50 book (about running 50 marathons in all 50 states in 50 days), and becoming a Marathon Maniacs member, my quest to run all 50 states became solidified.  Since childhood, I wanted to visit all 50 states and had been tempted to start collecting those state-shaped tourist magnets to commemorate each visit.  Luckily, I never started up such a collection, and could now use marathon/ultramarathon finisher's medals as state visit mementos.  I would say that's better than a refrigerator magnet collection!

I began marathoning on 9/20/2008.  With my marathon finish in Baltimore, MD, a year later (on 10/10/2009), I had run my 10th state + DC, thus qualifying me as a member of both the 50 States Marathon Club and 50&DC Marathon Goup!  As soon as I returned home from that marathoning weekend (which also happened to be my first marathon double: Baltimore+Steamtown), I sent my 50 Stater paper application and my 50&DC paper application to become an official member of each group.

After joining the 50 States Marathon Club, don't forget to also join their 50StatesMarathonClub Yahoo Groups email list:
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/50StatesMarathonClub/

Although it is a bit more difficult to finish 50+DC, there is less fanfare attached to it when compared to completion of the regular 50 State circuit.  The 50 States club is more active and visible.  You'll see 50 Staters in their 50 State gear on most marathon courses, but that is not the case for the 50&DC.  Many members are in both clubs, as am I.  Membership in either club does not preclude the ability to join the other; they are not mutually exclusive.

Had it not been for US Air, I would have already celebrated my 25th state finish (Charleston, South Carolina), but that is a whole other story.  My 50 State progress looks like this:
2008: 3 States (NY, IL, PA)
2009: 11 States + DC (LA, DC, DE, VT, MT, NJ, WI, MD, VA, IN, GA, NV)
2010: 9 States (FL, TX, CA, NH, ME, CT, RI, AZ, TN)
2011: 13 States (MA, AR, AL, NC, KS, MN, WA, ID, CO, OH, WV, OR, MO)
2012: 14 States is the goal in order to complete the 50 States
Total: 36 States + DC

An easy way to keep track of which states I have run, I use this 50 States Map Maker: "Map Maker Utility" hosted on a Texas A&M server (http://diymaps.net/).  To see my personal 50 States Map, click here.  A lower resolution version of the map also appears at the top of this blog entry.

Now that I have run 24 States + DC (roughly mission halfway accomplished), I have reflected back on which particular races I would recommend for the states I have already run in the list below.  Likewise, I have done the same for those questing to run a marathon/ultra on all 7 Continents, to become a Seven Continents Club finisher.

The greatest part about my 50 States+DC & 7 Continents quest is the fortunate experiences I have had being able to visit all the great places, domestically and globally, and meet such inspirational people hailing from backgrounds so different than myself.  This quest definitely instills in you a better sense of what "America" truly is and the cultural vastness and sheer raw beauty that this land of ours has to offer.

As I continue to run races and receive feedback from other runners, I will continue to revise both of the below lists.  Also, new marathons spring up all the time, so those might be better options in the future.  We shall see.

Kino's Recommended 50 States Marathons / Ultras
[States & races that I have run and recommend are in bold.  The others were recommended by others, or ones I selected based on my own research.  Currently finished with 38 states + DC.  Updated as of 02/21/2012.]
AL - First Light Marathon, Rocket City Marathon, Mercedes Marathon
AK - Frank Maier Marathon
AZ - Javelina Jundred 100M (Trail)
AR - Little Rock Marathon
CA - Western States 100 Endurance Run (Trail), Death Valley Trail Marathon (Trail), Big Sur International Marathon (Natural Beauty), LA Marathon (Big City)
CO - American Discovery Trail Marathon (Trail), Pikes Peak Marathon (Trail), Leadville Trail 100 (Trail), Hardrock 100 Endurance Run (Trail)
CT - Hartford Marathon
DC - National Marathon
DE - Delaware Marathon
FL - Miami Marathon
GA - Atlanta Marathon
HI - Honolulu Marathon, HURT 100 (Trail)
ID - Pocatello Marathon
IL - Chicago Marathon
IN - Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, Tecumseh Trail Marathon (Trail)
IA - Des Moines Marathon
KS - Oz Marathon, Eisenhower Marathon, Heartland 50/100 (Trail)
KY - Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon, Ironman Louisville (Ironman), Land Between The Lakes 60K (Trail)
LA - Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras Marathon
ME - Maine Marathon, Mount Desert Island Marathon
MD - Baltimore Marathon, JFK50 (Partially Trail)
MA - Boston Marathon
MI - Detroit Marathon, Grand Island Trail Marathon (Trail)
MN - Twin Cities Marathon, FANS 12 & 24 Hour Runs (Timed Ultra)
MS - Tupelo Marathon, Mississippi Blues Marathon
MO - GO! St Louis Marathon
MT - Missoula Marathon
NE - Lincoln Marathon
NV - Death Valley Trail Marathon (Trail), Red Rock Canyon Marathon, E.T. Full Moon Midnight Marathon & 51K
NH - New Hampshire Marathon
NJ - Ocean Drive Marathon, Atlantic City Marathon
NM - Jemez Mountain Trail Runs 50K & 50M (Trail), Run the Caldera Marathon
NY - NYC Marathon, Beast of Burden Summer 100 (Trail)
NC - Umstead 100 (Trail)
ND - Fargo Marathon
OH - NorthCoast 24-Hour Endurance Run, Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon, Akron Marathon, Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Run (Trail)
OK - Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
OR - Portland Marathon, Crater Lake Marathon, Eugene Marathon
PA - Steamtown Marathon (Partially Trail), Philadelphia Marathon, Back on My Feet 20in24 Lone Ranger Ultra Marathon (24 Hour Ultra, Pavement)
RI - Newport Marathon
SC - Myrtle Beach Marathon, Kings Mountain Marathon 
SD - Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon (Trail), Crazy Horse Marathon (Part Trail), Lean Horse 50K, 50M, & 100M (Trail), Black Hills 100 (Trail)
TN - Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon
TX - Houston Marathon
UT - Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run (Trail), St George Marathon
VT - Vermont City Marathon, Vermont 100 Endurance Run (Trail)
VA - Marine Corps Marathon, Grant-Pierce Indoor Marathon
WA - Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon, Cascade Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run (Trail)
WV - Freedom's Run (Marathon), Highlands Sky Trail Run 40M (Trail)
WI - Green Bay Marathon, Sandbox Indoor Marathon (Indoor Trail)
WY - Bighorn Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run (Trail)

Kino's Recommended 7 Continents Marathons / Ultras
Africa - Comrades Marathon 89K (56M Road)
Antarctica - Antarctic Ice Marathon & 100K (Trail), The Last Desert (250K 6-Days Trail), McMurdo Marathon (Trail), Antarctica Marathon (Trail)
Asia - Tokyo Marathon
Europe - Berlin Marathon, London Marathon, Paris Marathon, Edinburgh Marathon
North America - NYC Marathon, Javelina Jundred 100, Back on My Feet 20in24 Lone Ranger Ultra Marathon
Oceana - Buller Gorge Marathon, Gold Coast Airport Marathon, Sydney Marathon, Solar Eclipse Marathon
South America - Maratona do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro Marathon)

50&DC Marathon Group - 2011 Humanitarian Award Recipient

2011 HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Awarded by the 50 States & D.C. Marathon Group.
[This article was originally written by Frank Jobe and featured on the 50&DC Marathon Group website (http://www.50anddcmarathongroupusa.com/awards.cfm) on 12/29/2010. For the purposes of this blog, it has been revised below.]

[2010.12.25] Photo taken by Richard Chung in front of the Tortoise and Hare statue at Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx, New York City.

When you hear the term cancer, any thoughts you may have will likely be unpleasant ones.  When you hear the term pancreatic cancer, your thoughts may become grimmer yet, possibly along the lines of "low survival rate" or "short life expectancy after diagnosis".  Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death with a five-year survival rate of 6% (mortality rate of 94%).  According to the National Cancer Institute, over 43,000 Americans were estimated to have been diagnosed with the disease in 2010 with roughly 37,000 losing their lives.  75% of patients die within the first year of diagnosis.  The average life expectancy after diagnosis with metastatic disease is just three to six months.

The disease is hard to detect because of the location of the pancreas—it is deep in the abdomen and the symptoms are often vague.  There are no early detection or screening methods as there are with colon, breast or prostate cancer.  The mortality for pancreatic cancer is so high because patients are typically diagnosed when the cancer has already spread to other organs.

Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer death largely because there are no detection tools to diagnose the disease in its early stages when surgical removal of the tumor is still possible.  Early diagnosis and early treatment are two areas that need to be improved upon.  However, more funding for pancreatic cancer research is needed to enable scientists to fulfill these two research goals.  Despite being the fourth leading cause of cancer death, pancreatic cancer research funding was not one of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) 10 Most-Funded Cancers.  The NCI spent an estimated $89.7 million on pancreatic cancer research in 2009.  This represented a mere 2% of the NCI’s approximate $5 billion cancer research budget for that year, which constitutes the bulk of the U.S. federal government's cancer research funding dollars.

Low funding hinders scientific progress.  94% of pancreatic cancer patients die within five years from their diagnosis; a statistic largely unchanged in the past nearly 40 years.  In fact, pancreatic cancer is the only one of the top 10 cancer killers that still has a five-year survival rate in the single digits.  Additionally, in the same time frame, the five-year survival rate for all forms of cancer has risen from 50% to 68%, and some cancer survival rates are now 90% or above.  The sad truth is that there are few survivors to advocate for more research funding.

This year's recipient of the 50 States & D.C. Marathon Group's Humanitarian Award is Hideki Kinoshita, an individual who has lost two loved ones to this disease.  His concern for effects of this disease and his love for running were coupled together in a quest to run 14 marathons in 13 weeks.  He partnered with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to establish a fundraising goal of $10,000 to help in the research and awareness of this dreaded disease.  He set out to run one marathon a week for thirteen weeks (3 months) and in one of those weeks, he ran a back-to-back double to complete his goal of fourteen marathons.  Hideki experienced some unexpected results along the way: Four marathon PR's were set, the longest distance he ever ran was completed at 60K (37.2 miles), he met a lot of great runners along the way, and exceeded the $10,000 goal.

This 31 year old runner from New York/New Jersey has also participated in a seven person relay that raised over $26,000 for this cause and has since completed a 50-miler, a 24 hour run, and then a 100-miler.  He is halfway finished with his goal of running a marathon in all 50 states plus DC and plans to challenge himself to additional 100-mile endurance runs.

He continues to raise awareness and funding for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and aims to run for the organization's TeamHOPE charity runner group for his 50th marathon in Miami on January 30, 2011 and for his 65th marathon in Seattle on June 25, 2011.  His goal for both races is to raise $2,500.  To make a donation, visit his fundraising websites: http://www.tinyurl.com/runkinomiami and http://www.tinyurl.com/runkinoseattle .

Congratulations to Hideki Kinoshita, recipient of the 2011 Humanitarian Award.  To learn more about his 14 marathons in 13 weeks endeavor, visit his fundraising website: http://www.firstgiving.com/kino555 .  To learn more about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and TeamHOPE, visit these websites: http://www.pancan.org and http://www.pancan.org/teamhope/ .  To follow Hideki's races and progress, visit his website: http://www.runkino.com .

Note: The above facts and figures were obtained from the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.