I've had a few people ask about the significance of Berlin, so I wanted to take a few moments to explain why Berlin is on my bucket list, especially since I am spending so much time focusing on completing the 50 states and this is a detour from that goal.

In addition to being a 50 state marathoner (I'm 28 states through that goal!), I also want to be an Abbott World Marathon Major 6 star finisher. The AWMM series is composed of 6 of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world. The purpose of the series is to bring more global awareness to the sport of marathoning, raising support for the sport’s elite athletes and bring more excitement to the races. The series began in 2006 with 5 of the world’s top marathons and a 6th was added in 2013. For the elites, the series awards prize money to the highest point getters over the course of the time. For example, you get a certain number of points for 1st - 5th place and at the conclusion of the series a certain amount of money is awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers for mens, womens and wheelchair divisions. In the creation of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, there has been more awareness of the elite athletes competing, more of a draw to these marathons, and a growing desire among the general public to be one of the special 6 star finishers.

This was after my last Chicago race. There was a team from Abbott handing out these medals to those who were completing their 6 star that day. I took a picture of it, providing a hands on experience to a running bucket list that I will accomplish on… — This was after my last Chicago race. There was a team from Abbott handing out these medals to those who were completing their 6 star that day. I took a picture of it, providing a hands on experience to a running bucket list that I will accomplish one day, keeping me excited and motivated.

Elevation Course Map for each Major. Oh Boston and New York…hills, hills and more hills…

The marathons included in the series are Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. I have been fortunate to run Boston 3 times, Chicago 7 times and New York 1 time. I have loved all of my experiences that has come from my World Major races. I am a big city racer - I love the excitement, the prestige, the energy and the support that those races give. Yes, there is a draw to the small, no frills races as well. Being a 50 state marathoner, I have come across quite a few of those. I appreciate the hard work it takes to organize a race and some of my small races bring me back to the task at hand - running 26.2 miles all at one time! But if you asked me to pick, hands down, the big city races win out for me. I really thrive in the largeness that is a world major (though my actual marathon times might say differently). To see a large city come together and support the thousands that come to run their streets, it’s pretty phenomenal. Below you’ll find just a sampling of each of the US majors from my runs there in 2017. Boston was extremely hot that year, as you can tell from my picture with my mouth wide open signifying to my husband I was desperate for some fluids! Chicago brought along my three sweet kiddos, which I couldn’t have been more happy to see. New York provided such incredible joy as I had tried for 3 years unsuccessfully to get in to the race before finally getting an entry via the lottery, and is to date, my favorite race of the 38(!) marathons I have run.

Now this is where Berlin comes in and why it is a significant race for me. It will bring me my 4th star and one step closer to getting my 6 star medal. I applied for London this year and was unsuccessful (which was 1000% expected). I fully believe London will be my charity race, and I have a desire for it to be my final world major with my entire family there with me to celebrate it’s completion. While I’m not sure when London or Tokyo will happen, as this journey of mine is not a cheap endeavor in either time or cost, I’m confident it’ll happen. Hopefully not too far from now either. I have an amazingly supportive husband and 3 small kiddos that these two goals impact, and it’s sometimes a tough balance figuring it all out. (I’m also anticipating the addition of 1-3 majors in the next few years, so I’m feeling a bit of pressure to be one of the few 6 star finishers before that happens!).

At least I know, though, that Berlin will happen in September of 2019. It seems so far away from now, but I’m sure it’ll be here before I know it. If training goes well, that’ll be a goal race for me, too. Berlin is one of the flattest and the fastest major. It currently holds the world marathon, set just this year, by Eliud Kipchoge in 2:01:39. Let that sink in for a minute. That’s a pace of 4:38/mile. For 26.2 miles. Wow. Just wow. Berlin also holds 8 out of the last 10 records that were broken… so ya, it’s a fast course. And I can’t wait! Like I said, Berlin, I’m coming for ya!

Waiting at the airport in Tulsa to come home with our 50 State Marathon medals for the Route 66 Marathon in hand! Weekend success!

This past weekend my friend and fellow aspiring 50 State Marathoner Noelle and I headed out to Tulsa, Oklahoma to complete a new state in our journey. This would be my 38th marathon, 28th state, and my last marathon for 2018. We were up bright and early on Saturday morning to catch our flight to Tulsa, but thankfully, coming from Chicago, meant it wasn’t too bad of a travel day. The western states are really going to cramp our efficiency style, which is why I still have so many in the west to complete!

After arriving, we jumped in a Uber to make the 15 minute journey to downtown Tulsa. Along the way, I saw signs for “Joplin” bringing me back to my roots in the midwest, as Joplin was my birthplace and residence for the first 10 years of my life. The uber driver was quick to mention downtown was in a little disarray due to the race tomorrow, but I can promise you, coming from Chicago, we noticed nothing. It honestly seemed like a little bit of a ghost town and reminded me more like a St. Louis town in that there were buildings and such, but not a ton of people around. Tulsa had just completed a multi-million dollar project called “The Gathering” that is apparently beautiful, just on the edge of downtown, and I’m guessing most of their activity and revenue comes from the surrounding suburbs.

We made it to our hotel just fine (The Doubletree by Hilton, downtown), dropped off our luggage, and made our way over to the expo…which happened to be right across the street! I had no idea when we booked our hotel that it was the official race hotel, nor did I realize we were so close to the expo, as I had booked this trip about 10 months prior. These new pieces of information made the pre-race journey all the easier. We made our way through the expo, taking advantage of our “50 state marathoner” perks, roaming through all the booths, checking out the course map via video, and seeking out the pacers for race day. I discovered the fastest pacing team available was 3:50, which came as quite a shock and left me realizing I was in charge of pacing myself come race day. We were excited to find free gloves and neck/head warmers being passed out and snagged a couple each as the weather was predicted to drop from 68 to 28 with light freezing rain overnight (which did occur, so thank goodness for the extra layers!)

I have had terrible misfortune when it comes to race weather, and you might want to find out what races I plan to run before making your plans and avoid mine at all costs. Here’s a quick recap for your reading pleasure - January was a double marathon in Mississippi and Alabama where we ran in pouring rain the first day, and high humidity the second day with a threat of showers. April brought about Boston 2018, and the worst weather race I have ever been a participant in. September was the Fox Valley Marathon here in Illinois, where they ended up black flagging the course and eventually shutting it down due to 90 degree temps. October was in West Virginia, and probably my best weather race of the year, with still high humidity but at least cool enough temps in the mid-60s. And then Tulsa. The real feel temps were 28-33 with freezing rain and wind gusts at times. The real kicker is that the day before got up to 68 real feel, and the rest of the week post race was scheduled to be sunny and in the mid-50s for highs, with lows in the mid 30s.

At any rate, we planned accordingly for the race temps and were thankful for the freebies at the expo!

After leaving the expo we walked to Naples Flatbread for some food, as we were quite hungry from our day’s adventures. We made sure to get food that would settle well in our stomachs as well as set us up for success come race morning. Carbs and protein - both essential in marathoning! Unfortunately we weren’t able to get in to our room until after 4pm. I had a friend from high school who lives outside of Tulsa picking me up for dinner within the hour, and since we were both a tad exhausted from our travel day and wanting to relax, Noelle decided to stay back. One of the perks of this 50 state marathoning journey is getting to see people from all walks of life! I’m incredibly thankful for the time I was able to spend with Amy and her family and love that we can catch up after not having seen each other in over 15 years. They took me to some Tulsa hot spots, including Andolini’s Pizza and Hurts Donuts. I typically do pasta before a marathon, but that wasn’t an option this time, and decided on a margarita pizza with primarily sauce and crust, and it was super tasty. (I avoided all the donuts, but they sure did look decadent!)

I was dropped back at my hotel by 8pm, quickly got ready for bed, and snuggled under the covers for some Hallmark Movie before falling asleep before 10pm! It was the perfect ending to a busy day to allow me to focus and rest for the big morning adventure of racing 26.2 miles through the streets of Tulsa!

Now here we go - the real nitty gritty of the race recap! Noelle and I chose to stay at the hotel as long as possible because it was dang cold and damp outside.

Even through out the entire race we both struggled to get warm. I thought we were clothed well enough, but the freezing rain at the beginning with the slickness on the road to consider in the beginning didn’t help. And then the wind came for certain sections of the course that just felt cruel. And then the hills... the rolling hills that never really seemed to stop. While I don’t mind hills, and think I perform ok with the variance that the course brings with hills, my legs weren’t quite sure what to do when they *just kept coming*. A couple of times my legs almost buckled underneath me and I literally had to force myself to keep moving instead of stopping in their tracks.

Now let’s talk pace... I had a number of goals for this race. A-D goals with a far reaching E goal that would keep me away from marathoning forever if I didn’t make it. Goals A-D were all within 10 minutes of each other. And guess what?! I hit goal B 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼, and felt like I worked really hard for it. Goal A was within reach until mile 21, which is what motivated me enough to stay focused and buckle down to hit B. I went out waaayyy too fast. My goal pace was anywhere between 8-8:25. Mile 1 was a 7:09 😳😳😳. Miles 2-4 were slower but still too fast, and I knew it was going to shake out to be an interesting result. Either I would wildly succeed or I’d crash and burn trying... it was a mental pep talk from about mile 10 on. I was getting texts from friends and my husband however, and they kept me motivated. I knew people were watching and I didn’t want to crash and burn. It was motivating but also heightened the pressure and I’m *so* thankful I was able to deliver a good outcome for this race. Because let’s be real, these days don’t happen often and more times than not you can put your all in and it just doesn’t match up to your fitness level, and that’s ok! It makes the times that it does all the sweeter. This race was one of those days. I finished 3rd in my age group, set a new PR and got a Boston Qualifying time for 2020 with the new standards 🎉👏🏼💪🏼.

I am so thankful for this race and the support and encouragement from my family and friends. Oklahoma done! State #28 and Marathon #38 in 3:31:11 ✅

After finishing the race, I fumbled my way over to the results booth and got my preliminary results, which is when I discovered I had finished 3rd in my age group! I then went to the information booth to ask about award potentials, but before I could focus my words (because I was just so.dang.cold, the volunteer pointed me towards the direction of the shuttle. WHAT?! There are shuttles?! I think I was as happy about the shuttles as I was anything else at that moment. I worked my way over to get warm, ignoring all the post race food options, as nothing sounded good. A hot shower and getting clean was all I wanted.

Arriving back at the hotel, I did my usual “fighting for a late checkout so Noelle could shower”, was successful in getting the extra time necessary, and then headed to the room. My brother just happened to be driving through Tulsa with his oldest boy that day, so he was picking me up for some much needed food and COKE…my big craving post every single race. It was such a great time to see my family, as it happens not as often as I’d like, and I loved hanging out with my oldest nephew. (We did happen to eat at a restaurant on the 23rd mile of the marathon course, and there were still people running. Oh, I felt for them…they had to have been so cold!). After lunch, we grabbed Noelle from the hotel and then Mike dropped us off at the airport.

We made our way through security, got our first coffee of the day at 4pm at night(!) and then made our way to Chicago via St. Louis late Sunday night. Another whirlwind weekend with my favorite 50 State Marathoner and a successful marathon for the memories. Tulsa, you were good to me!!

Berlin, I'm coming for ya!

The Route 66 Marathon - Oklahoma!