My Running Journey

How I *almost* starting running:

When I was in junior high, one of my teachers who was also the school’s track/cross country coach asked me if I thought I might like running ~ I said, “no” and that was the end of that.  

Jim Dear had run in high school and re-started in 2001 after Maggie was born in order to get into shape. Jim’s first marathon was in Nashville for the Country Music Marathon in 2002; he qualified for Boston at that marathon and from there I planned race-cations to Boston, Disney, and Grandma’s marathons for the whole family.  With my sister-in-law Nicole Steimel leading the way, we made spectating marathons a sport unto its own, and we had loads of fun doing so! My mom, Charlene, and Jim’s parents, Jim and Faye, joined us for many of Jim’s early marathons.  It took all of us to wrangle Abby, Maggie and their cousins around the courses. During this time I spectated four Chicago Marathons, met many local runners, and got familiar with things like packet pickups, gu, chafing and port-a-potties.   

How I started running: 

Jim came up with a couch-to-5K training plan which involved run/walk intervals.  I started running in March of 2005 while visiting my sister Anne ~ my first run was in the Park Place Canyon next to her home in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA.  I kept the training plan going with my friends/neighbors Georgia, Carrie and Theresa (we later named our group the “reflective ladies” because we wore reflective vests while running).  I completed the walk-to-run program and then in June ran my first 5K at the Roselle Run for the Roses. A week later I ran my first 10K at the Walter Payton Sweetness Run in Aurora.  

I kept running over the summer and ran my first 10 miler at the Park Forest Scenic Ten held over Labor Day weekend and then my first half marathon in Chicago in September.  Having caught the running bug, I signed up to run my first marathon with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training choosing Rock N Roll Arizona as my goal race.  A highlight of finishing my first marathon was having my then 14-year-old niece Lexi run with me at the end of the race, and it was a joy to join her ten years later when she ran her first marathon in New Orleans.  

After completing Rock N Roll Arizona in January 2006, I was looking to train for the 2006 Chicago Marathon.  I already knew quite a few Fermilab and North Central Track Club runners through Jim but signed up to train with the Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA)’s Warrenville-based marathon training group, the Renegade Runners whose motto was “never let the run interfere with the fun.”  Around this time, Jim and I were also running and volunteering with the Lisle Windrunners and Fox River Trail Runners.  In training for subsequent Chicago Marathons, I connected with the Glen Ellyn Runners for spring/summer speed workouts and CARA-Wheaton’s training group for winter indoor runs.

From the excitement of the marathon banners going up along LaSalle Street, to Abby, Maggie and their cousin AJ being obsessed with sliding down the Picasso at Daley Plaza when we stayed downtown for marathon weekend, the Chicago Marathon was a big part of my early running days. I ran the Chicago Marathon seven times (2006-2011, 2013), and it was wonderful to share the experience with coworkers like Sarah Ingersoll and college friends like Sue Boren, who also traveled to Chicago for half marathons and 20-mile training runs.  My college friend Cheryl McPhilimy was always course-side for support near her home in Lincoln Park, and one year my college friend Caroline Harper and her family spectated in the early miles when it turned out their fall visit to Chicago coincided with marathon weekend.  I ran the Chicago Marathon step-by-step with my friend/neighbor/long-time training partner Carrie Gasik in 2013, and when my friend/neighbor Dawn Forden signed up for the Chicago Marathon in 2017, it brought us together for early morning weekday runs that have continued to today.  

How I started racing:

As a do-over of the ultra-hot Chicago Marathon 2007 marathon, I traveled to Tampa FL in February 2008 to run the Gasparilla Marathon. At Gasparilla, I fell 4 minutes short of qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  On a training run a few weeks later, I met Steve Richey ~ when I found out he lived in my neighborhood and coached runners who were trying to qualify for Boston, I asked him if he had room for anymore “students.”  He was a huge influence on my training content (speed work, hill repeats, “special” long runs, pace runs) and race strategy.  With his coaching, my marathon times improved in 2008 and 2009 qualifying me to run the Boston Marathon in 2010.  Along the way, Fred Fedewa gave me plenty of advice on mental preparation for races above and beyond the “don’t go out too fast” guidance he offers to everyone in all situations. 

While working on my marathon times, I dabbled a bit in ultras (I ran the Chicago Lakefront 50K in 2010 and 2011).  I competed in three local race circuits per year and was on the CARA Racing Committee for seven years.  While age-group racing, I ran approximately 25 races per year and clocked times which stand as my PRs:  5K (20:57 in 2008); 5 miles (35:54 in 2010); 10K (45:17 in 2009); 10 miles (1:14:59 in 2011); half marathon (1:38:53 in 2009).  My fastest marathon was at the Illinois Marathon in 2012 (3:39:15).  

Indestructible? 

No, the wear and tear of high volume and fast miles eventually showed up in issues with my back and hips as well as plantar fasciitis in both feet.  With the help of chiropractors and podiatrists I worked through those injuries.  To this day, an amazing sports massage therapist, Jennifer Day, as well as the best-yoga-teacher-ever, Claudine Beeson, are part of my overall wellness plan. 

How I started to run marathons in all 50 States:

Early on in my running, I met Windrunner Stephen Skegg who was running a half marathon in every state; we joined him for the Rock N Roll Virginia Beach half marathon for Jim’s 40^th birthday, and a few years later, Christine Lipa and I joined him for the Roots, Blues and BBQ half marathon in Columbia, MO.  

By a circuitous route, in 2007 I met Dennis Killian through CARA. I “ran” into him at various races and as he was closing in on his quest to run a marathon in all 50 states, Jim, the girls and I traveled to South Dakota for the Brookings Marathon.  Jim, the girls and I were invited to his 50 states finale in Alaska.  In advance of the marathon in Alaska in 2011, I put out a call seeking photos and stories to make a surprise scrapbook to document Dennis’s 50 states quest.  One of his friends who I had never met before -- Carol Reeb -- came up to me at a local race saying, “I have information which can help you.”  I met surreptitiously with Carol at a Starbucks a couple of times in order to get the photos, stories and memorabilia she contributed to the project.

The trip to Alaska and the hoopla of being part of a big group for the 50 states finale was super fun:  we visited Denali National Park, went whale watching in Seward and loved being in Anchorage so close to the summer solstice.  We met Julie Howell and Jen and Craig Strohbeck on this trip.  In Alaska, I was asked if I was planning to run a marathon in all 50 states (Alaska was my 7^th state), and without hesitation said, “God, no.” 

After returning from Alaska, my next few marathons were part of a family spring break trip (Virginia when visiting Washington DC with the Borens) and out-of-state but easily drivable destinations:  Indiana (with Dennis) and Minnesota (my 10^th state completed with Jim, Dennis and the Strohbecks).  A visit to see friends in Columbia in 2014 (Sue and Tom Boren and family plus Kim and Matt Lewis and family who traveled in from St Louis), made Missouri my 11^th state completed.  By the time I was in double digits state-wise, I decided to work on running a marathon in all 50 states.  

For a few years, I would “run” into Carol on the trail.  At some point I asked if she would like to get together for a run sometime; she said, “no,” saying that she usually trained on her own.  Our paths converged again in 2014 when we both were traveling to the Grand Rapids Marathon with Dennis; around this time, Carol messaged me asking if I would like to get together for a run sometime.  

How I kept traveling around and running marathons:

I met up with Carol for a long run most weekends.  She was working on running a half marathon in all 50 states and her husband Jim Reeb was working on golfing in all 50 states. I (and oftentimes Jim Dear) tagged along with her (and oftentimes her husband, Jim) to such places as Kansas (Sue Boren joined us), Nebraska, North Dakota, New Jersey (Dennis, the Strohbecks and Carol’s mom, Lillian joined us), Idaho (met up with Cabot/Richey runner David Boldridge) and Maryland. Though she didn’t exactly *need* these states to complete her quest, she came with me to races in Wisconsin and Ohio. In 2019, we joined the Reebs (as well as Dennis and Jim R’s friends the Palmers) in New Mexico for their 50 states finale where we spent time with them in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Los Alamos. 

In the summer of 2019, I completed a marathon in Oregon in the middle of a family vacation to Seattle and Portland, where we were able to visit our friends Linda and Michael Salinsky in Portland and the Thaler family in Seattle.  With Maggie having left for college in the fall of 2019, I kept meeting Carol for long runs, and I accelerated plans to complete more states.  In February, 2020, Jim and I traveled to Alabama over Valentine’s Day weekend. Then in March 2020, as with everything else, the COVID-19 pandemic placed a long pause on road racing.  I was able to travel to Kentucky and Tennessee for small, heavily mitigated marathons until racing resumed in the fall of 2021. We ended 2021 with a bang having met up with the whole Richey crew (Steve, Debbie, Amanda, Travis, Julie and Kimmy) in South Carolina.  

In 2022, I re-connected with Christine Lipa who was working on running a race in all 50 states ~ our travel plans converged for North Carolina (the Strohbecks were also there), West Virginia, Mississippi, Washington (also caught up with the Thalers again), and New York.  On the bus ride to the start of the Clarence De Mar marathon in New Hampshire in 2022, I met Andrea Flynn, a 50 states marathoner from Florida ~ many text messages about races, traveling and life later, our plans converged for Mississippi and Utah with more meet-ups planned for 2025.  I met up with my sisters Anne and Beth for marathons in Colorado (where we also visited our cousin Jessica and her family) and Oklahoma!  My Dad enthusiastically joined Jim and I for road trips to Arkansas (our travels included stops in Columbia to see the Borens and Iowa City to visit Maggie), West Virginia and Georgia. In addition to joining in the trips to South Carolina, Texas (Dennis, the Strohbecks and Julie Howell were there too), Georgia, Washington and New York, Carol accompanied me to Iowa (which included a stopover in Iowa City to see Maggie) and Delaware.  

In the fall of both 2022 and 2023, Jim and I made week-long swings East to visit states on back-to-back-weekends.  With the help of my 7^th grade geography teacher Linda, we planned an epic trip to New Hampshire and Maine; in addition to reconnecting with Linda in-person after having exchanged many letters, the Reebs joined us for a great weekend in Portland, Maine.  A year later, Jim and I mapped out an action-packed trip to Rhode Island and Connecticut; in Connecticut I met up with my former colleague Katie Fitzmaurice, and in between marathons in each state, we met up with the Reebs for three non-stop days in New York City.  In 2023, Jim and I traveled to Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park, which may easily rank as among the most beautiful places in our travels.   

My favorite parts of Project 50 States:   

I enjoy traveling and visiting new places very much ~ I have never met a museum, national park, state capital or lighthouse I didn’t like. But what I most love is training, running and the kindred spirits I have met, both on the roads and trails close to home (the IPP, Arboretum, Waterfall Glen, Springbrook, Stonebridge, Fox River Trail) and everywhere along the way.  😉