One question I get asked a lot is whether I get sick of running marathons. There was definitely a time when I did get sick of running marathons – mostly in 2009 when I went through a period of depression and was forcing myself to keep doing marathons just to meet my goal. But every single marathon I’ve done has been special, and every time I cross the finish line, it is honestly just as magical as that very first time. When I got to mile 24 of the Niagara Falls Marathon this weekend, I actually started tearing up because I couldn’t believe I was about to do it again!
99 marathons later, I still remember something very clearly about each and every race I’ve done – and often, a lot more vividly than you’d think. To commemorate the races I’ve run, I thought it would be fun to make a list of every marathon and what it stands out for, off the top of my head. (No looking back at past race reports!) To make it more fun, you know how Friends episodes where always titled “The One With” or “The One Where”? That’s how this list is going to go 🙂
I’m linking to the race reports where possible, but because I skipped writing and/or didn’t finish many of them, they aren’t all here. I’m trying to fix that going forward though! If you’re a Pinterest-lover, I’d also like to direct you to a new board I just created with all my marathon recaps. I’ll keep posting them there as I run/write them, so make sure to follow it! (Thanks to Ashley for inspiring me to create this board with her own marathon Pinterest boards.)
5/25/2008: The One Where It All Began (Key Bank Vermont City Marathon)
6/29/2008: The One With No Water (Seafair Marathon)
7/6/2008: The One In the Stampede (Calgary Marathon)
8/3/2008: The One Where I Set My Goal (San Francisco Marathon)
8/23/2008: The One With the Horses (Run With the Horses)
9/27/2008: The One With the Handshakes (Akron Marathon)
10/5/2008: The One With the Other Bloggers (Portland Marathon)
10/11/2008: The One With the Fancy Mac & Cheese (Hartford Marathon)
10/26/2008: The One With the Tricky Border Crossing (Niagara Falls International Marathon)
11/16/2008: The One Where I Fell Asleep Running (Tulsa World Route 66 Marathon)
11/27/2008: The One On Thanksgiving (The Weather Channel Atlanta Marathon)
12/14/2008: The One On Vacation (Honolulu Marathon)
1/11/2009: The One I Quantified in Pictures (Walt Disney World Marathon)
2/1/2009: The One Where I Drank a Martini (Mardi Gras Marathon)
4/24/2009: The One with the Biggest Losers (Country Music Marathon)
5/3/2009: The One With the Pee-R (Lincoln National Guard Marathon)
5/24/2009: The First One I Paced (Key Bank Vermont City Marathon)
6/6/2009: The One Like Rudy (Sunburst Marathon)
6/13/2009: The One with the Skit (Hatfield McCoy Marathon)
6/27/2009: The Toughest One Ever (Running With the Devil Marathon)
7/11/2009: The One I Paced Double (Missoula Marathon)
7/24/2009: The One With the Bagpipes (Deseret Morning News Marathon)
7/26/2009: The One Where I Completed Two (Carrollton Festival of Races Marathon)
8/16/2009: The One Where I Beat Palin (Humpy’s Marathon)
8/22/2009: The One With Huckleberry Milkshakes (Mesa Falls Marathon)
9/5/2009: The One With the Porta Potty Accident (New Mexico Marathon)
9/12/2009: The One With My New Favorite Beer (Lewis and Clark Marathon)
9/27/2009: The One Run In a Different State (Quad Cities Marathon)
10/4/2009: The One With the Flu Cure (New Hampshire Marathon)
10/5/2009: The One Where I Ate a Whole Pizza (Maine Marathon)
10/11/2009: The One Without the Jello Shots (Steamtown Marathon)
10/25/2009: The One With Spot the Dog (On the Road for Education Marathon)
11/1/2009: The One Finally in My Hometown (New York City Marathon)
11/8/2009: The One With the Pirates (OBX Marathon)
11/15/2009: The One Where I Got Redemption (Rhode Island 6 Hour)
11/21/2009: The One Where I Met Lauren (Rehoboth Beach Marathon)
11/28/2009: The One With Chicken Soup in the Gym (Northern Central Trail Marathon)
12/12/2009: The One Where It All Looked the Same (Kiawah Island Marathon)
1/9/2010: The One Where My Gu Froze Into Fudgsicles (Mississippi Blues Marathon)
1/10/2010: The Coldest One Ever (First Light Marathon)
1/23/2010: The One Where I Won (Yuma Territorial Marathon)
2/14/2010: The One with the Escort Service (Austin Marathon)
3/7/2010: The One with the Biggest Medal (Little Rock Marathon)
3/13/2010: The One Up a Snowy Mountain (Run Through Time Marathon)
3/20/2010: The One Where My Pace Group Waited for Me (National Marathon)
4/10/2010: The One at Garmin HQ (Olathe Marathon)
4/17/2010: The One With the Greedy Kids (Charlottesville Marathon)
4/19/2010: The One I Was So Lucky to Run (Boston Marathon)
4/24/2010: The One With the Flirt (Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon)
5/2/2010: The One With the Scars (New Jersey Marathon)
5/8/2010: The One Where I Was Unprepared (Lake Geneva Marathon)
5/15/2010: The One in the Surprising Suburbs (Brookings Marathon)
5/22/2010: The One With the Stadium Finish (Fargo Marathon)
5/31/2010: The One Before the Victory (Key Bank Vermont City Marathon)
6/6/2010: The One Where I Broke the Record (Minneapolis Marathon)
9/26/2010: The One With the Church Camp (Adirondack Marathon)
10/9/2010: The One Where I Went to Plan B (Hartford Marathon)
10/17/2010: The One I Didn’t Finish the First Time (Amica Breakers Marathon)
10/31/2010: The One Where I Was Superwoman (Marine Corps Marathon)
11/7/2010: The One Where I Paced a Tennis Pro (New York City Marathon)
12/4/2010: The One in the Tropics (Reggae Marathon)
1/15/2011: The One With the Conch Fritters (Bahamas Marathon)
3/26/2011: The One I Paced Sick (National Marathon)
5/1/2011: The One Where I Began My Comeback (New Jersey Marathon)
1/15/2012: The One With the Killer Condo (Bermuda Marathon)
2/19/2012: The One in My Old Backyard (HMRRC Winter Marathon)
3/17/2012: The One On St. Patrick’s Day (Rock N Roll USA)
4/28/2012: The One with the Country Concert (Country Music Marathon)
5/6/2012: The One After the Derby (New Jersey Marathon)
5/20/2012: The One With the Embolism (Colfax Marathon)
5/27/2012: The One Where It Became Tradition (Vermont City Marathon)
6/16/2012: The One As A Beer Girl (Half Sauer, Half Kraut)
8/19/2012: The One With the Track Finish (Drake Well Marathon)
9/30/2012: The One I PRed (Wineglass Marathon)
10/13/2012: The One on the East Coast (Rockaway Marathon)
10/14/2012: The One on the West Coast (Nike Women’s Marathon)
10/21/2012: The One Where I Spoke Along with an Olympian (Niagara Falls International Marathon)
11/11/2012: The Low-Key One (Fort Worth Marathon)
11/18/2012: The One I Ran the Furthest (NYRR 60K)
11/25/2012: The One With Indian Food (Northern Central Trail Marathon)
12/1/2012: The One Around Manhattan (Madhattan)
12/8/2012: The One With the Giant Banana (Rehoboth Beach Marathon)
1/19/2013: The One That Was So Close (Charleston Marathon)
2/24/2013: The One After the Wine (Sevilla Marathon)
3/16/2013: The One I Paced Without a Watch (Rock N Roll USA)
3/23/2013: The Dirty One Before the Gala (Grasslands Trail Run)
4/13/2013: The One That Was Too Long (Big D Texas Marathon)
4/27/2013: The One Where I Broke my Phone (Country Music Marathon)
5/5/2013: The One Where I Broke Myself (Puerto Rico Marathon)
5/18/2013: The One at BLEND Retreat (Ogden Marathon)
5/26/2013: The One I Paced in the Rain (Vermont City Marathon)
6/2/2013: The One With my Best Friends (Rock N Roll San Diego Marathon)
8/18/2013: The One That Was Double Out-and-Back (Chasing the Unicorn)
9/8/2013: The One with the Altitude (Bozeman Marathon)
9/23/2013: The One with No Regretzel (Adirondack Marathon)
9/29/2013: The Worst One Ever (Yonkers Marathon)
10/4/2013: The One Where We Hit a Deer (Wineglass Marathon)
10/10/2013: The One With Blue Hair (Hartford Marathon)
10/27/2013: The One Where I Was Tina (Niagara Falls International Marathon)
And what will #100 be? That remains to be seen – but I’m guessing it’s going to be “The Best One Of All” 🙂
Congrats! I am so amazed by this feat – I have never run a marathon and don’t plan to. It seems impossible but you prove it’s not. I also can’t believe you remember them all so well. How many more do you plan on doing, if there’s even the thought of stopping? I also never asked you how you train for them when you run some them on consecutive weekends.
I don’t have any goal for a specific number of marathons; I just want to keep doing them as long as they’re fun!
At this point, I don’t really train for any of them – I just try to stay in shape in between. It would be a different story if I were trying to run them fast, but I’m just there to enjoy myself, see some gorgeous scenery, and meet new friends on the course 🙂
I love that you put this together, Laura! I hope NYC is the BEST EVER!!! 🙂 I’ll be tracking!
Ericka, I’m so excited that you’ll be tracking! I’m doing a post today about the friends I’ll be thinking about in each mile and you’d better believe that you’ll be one of them 🙂
I have gone over a number of your race recaps and love reading them. 🙂 So exciting that number 100 is up next. Truly looking forward to reading that one. Hope you have the best one of all 🙂
So glad you enjoy them! Hopefully I can dig up the old drafts to finish a few more of those ones I’m missing 🙂
This is amazing! Have so much fun on number 100! I’ll be cheering for you!! 🙂
Awww thank you so much for thinking of me Sunday!! Really appreciate the well wishes 🙂
HOW DOES THE ONE WITH THE ESCORT SERVICE NOT HAVE A RECAP? I NEED TO HEAR MORE.