My bucket list item

I know many people have created a "bucket list" for themselves.  Places they want to visit or things they want to do before they die or "kick the bucket".  I felt kind of left out because I honestly could not figure out what I wanted to place on my list.  I've been to most places that I want to see.  Sure, it would be nice to visit Asia or Australia. But if I die tomorrow, I would be ok without seeing those places. I've been to most of Europe and seen most of the US. I could die with my traveling log already.

I am not a real adventurous person. I have absolutely NO desire to hang glide or sky drive or bungee jump off a bridge. I'm good with my feet planted firmly on solid ground.  So nothing to add to a bucket list there.

What's a girl to do??? I then started to think (while running....Shocker!) about what I could add to a bucket list concerning running.  We moved to New England this summer, and there are a lot of states up close together.  You can drive to four different states within four hours, which is vastly different than our time of living in Texas.  IN Texas, you can drive 8 hours and still be in the same state.  So I thought "Maybe I'll run a different race in each state".  But that seems kind of wasteful.  Why would I drive 4 hours to run a 5k? I'd probably pay more in gas than the race entry fee. And that is when the lightbulb went off....

A HALF MARATHON IN EVERY STATE!!!

How perfect is that???? It helps me stay on track for my 2015 in 2015 challenge, and it is challenging enough to push me without being too overwhelming.  Being in Eastern Massachusetts, I could get six races done in 1 year! I might not be fast, but it was doable. Sign me up!

I started searching online for races that were not too far away from my house (ie--must be in lower Vermont and New Hampshire) and also were relatively flat.  If the race was described as "hilly" or challenging I marked it off. I also did not want to commit to a race that was in the winter time.  Last year because of the storm of the century in Boston, there were a number of races that were cancelled.  Because we might not be here in a year, I wanted to make sure to get these states finished off my list.  So I marked down races from July through November 2015, and then April through June 2016. And here is what I found:
July- Narragansett Half Marathon (Rhode Island)
September-  Maple Leaf Half Marathon (Vermont)
October- Hartford Half Marathon (Connecticut)
November-Wolf Hollow Half Marathon (New Hampshire)
April- Lake George Half Marathon (New York)
May- Fort Edgecomb Half Marathon (Maine)
June- Worchester Half Marathon (Massachusetts)

Upon finding these races, I was particularly excited to see a "bundle" pricing for some of them.  The company who is organizing the New Hampshire, New York and Maine races has bundle pricing.  So for $140, I got registration into any three of their half marathons!  That sounded like a great price, especially since I paid close to $100 for my Nashville Half Marathon. I'm such a sucker for a deal. :)  

I finally have my bucket list--50 races in all 50 states before I turn 50. Tennessee is completed, only 49 more to go.....