50 States Marathon Bucket List

Ahh start of New Year, and a perfect time to reflect on all the states missing from my race metal rack. So I decided to go through the states left and pick out a race or two so I can reflect back to this list. I’m keeping the biggest city next to each state as a reference but not a necessity.

Also, as a warning, I look for marathons that are road majority. I love trails and think they’re incredible, but for my 50 states bucket list I wanted to stick to roads. Second, I tried to find races that are certified courses just because I felt more comfortable giving my moneys to a course that went through that hoop. Third, I did try to pick races with medals because I want something to display once this is complete. A little keepsake that’s easier to hold onto than a trinket, at least for me cause I’m disorganized.

For states that I have completed, I will add a photo of the medal and a link to write up if available

Alabama – AL – Birmingham – Rocket City (End of Dec, Huntsville ) versus First Light (Start of January, Mobile)
Alaska AK Anchorage – Big Wild Life (Mid August, Anchorage with 49K option)
Arizona AZ Phoenix – Lost Dutchman (Mid Feb, 45 minutes out of Phoenix)
Arkansas AR Little Rock – Little Rock Marathon

California CA Los Angeles – Big Sur (April) , LA marathon (March)…. so many!
Colorado CO Denver – There’s a double in May between Boulder Marathon and Colorado Marathon in Fort Collins I am drooling over
Connecticut CT Bridgeport – Hartford Marathon October

Delaware DE Wilmington – Monster Mash (October) or
Florida FL Jacksonville – Walt Disney… I know it’s stupid, but I want to. (January)
Georgia GA Atlanta – I was bad and didn’t write a recap, but here’s a photo of the medal

Hawaii HI Honolulu – Maui Oceanfront in January high chance of whale sighting!
Idaho ID Boise – Coeur d’Alene in May? Another state up in the air
Illinois IL Chicago – Chicago Marathon in October,
Indiana IN Indianapolis – Monumental in Indianapolis in November maybe
Iowa IA Des Moines – Des Moines in October close to Chicago time or Marathon literally located in marathon, IA in June, with reviews of a boring medal.
Kansas KS Wichita – I prefer Garmin Marathon which is same weekend at Boston in April, might have to do Prairie marathon in Fall in Wichita instead.
Kentucky KY Louisville – Kentucky Derby at the end of April
Louisiana LA New Orleans – DONE in New Orleans! But would love to do Louisiana marathon

Maine ME Portland – Mount Desert Island in Bar Harbor in October 18th is a big to do
Maryland MD Baltimore – I feel like Baltimore marathon is up there on the to do, but I can change my mind
Massachusetts MA Boston DONE DONE DONE and will continue until Boston Marathon kicks me out. 2012, 2013, 2014 race recaps all available to ready on the race recap page.

Michigan MI Detroit – Detroit marathon in October or Kalamazoo done as a double with WI in May. Martian Marathon sounds like a cool theme too but same weekend as Boston. Booo!
Minnesota MN Minneapolis – Twin Cities in Start of October
Mississippi MS Jackson – Mississippi Blues Marathon in January in Jackson
Missouri MO Kansas City – Cowbell Marathon in October in St. Charles
Montana MT Billings – Missoula Mid July
Nebraska NE Omaha – Lincoln Marathon in start of May
Nevada NV Las Vegas – Thinking Red Rock Canyon marathon in January or Hoover Dam but not schedule announced yet as race owners changed.
New Hampshire NH Manchester – I’ve ran a 50K and a 45 miler in NH, but I want a road marathon to make it official. There’s lots of options and they’re close to home so I’ll pick one as they fit into my schedule. Clarence DelMar is big on the to do list for the Fall.
New Jersey NJ Newark – Eh Torn between NJ marathon at end of April or Oceanfront at end of March…
New Mexico NM Albuquerque – Bataan March in March sounds like a great experience. No medals as far as I can tell for collection. Turkey marathon has hand made turtle trinket and is in Roswell!
New York NY New York – I’m torn between using NYC marathon and Andirondack, but NYC Marathon will just have to win, because nothing can compete with the NYC state of mind.

North Carolina NC Charlotte – Tobacco in March or ASHEVILLE in same date I think in March?
North Dakota ND Fargo – Fargo is all set!
Ohio OH Columbus – Flying Pig in first week of May in Cincinnati
Oklahoma OK Oklahoma City – Route 66 Marathon November around my birthday!
Oregon OR Portland Columbia Gorge is October but it’s not a certified course. Second option is Portland cause I loved Portland also in October but at the start
Pennsylvania PA Philadelphia – Steamtown (Scranton, October) or Philly (November)
Rhode Island RI Providence Newport marathon Race report. I’ve done Providence twice in May and Newport in October. Check out Race Recaps for more. I like course in Newport more, but the Rhode Island medal is nicer. Either way both races are put on by the same organizers and thus are ran similarly.

South Carolina SC Columbia Charleston Marathon end of January
South Dakota SD Sioux Falls Brookings marathon start of May
Tennessee TN Memphis Memphis st jude marathon in December
Texas TX Houston – Houston Marathon January
Utah UT Salt Lake City DONE! – Salt Lake City Marathon

Vermont VT Burlington DONE! – Vermont City Marathon

Virginia[G] VA Virginia Beach Shamrock in Mid end March
Washington WA Seattle DONE! Capital City Marathon

West Virginia WV Charleston – Hatfiled-McCoy start of June
Wisconsin WI Milwaukee – Wisconsin Marathon

Wyoming WY Cheyenne – Jackson Hole September 5th

Washington D.C. – DONE! But would still love to run Marine Corps Marathon. My First Marathon, Rock N Roll USA (Suntrust Marathon)

Anyways this is my list and it’s an ever changing list so I would love to hear all feedback and comments from anyone’s two cents. Have you ran the course? Disagree with my pickings? All opinions welcomed! I’m not in a rush to hit all 50 States since it’s not the cheapest thing in the world to go after but it is a small dream of mine.