Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

Earlier this year, I gave myself a goal. To run a marathon or longer in all 50 states. Now for those that I have met in recent years, you would have guessed this is something that I would challenge myself to complete. But just a few years ago if you asked me if I would run a 5k, much less a marathon, I would have laughed in your face. Lets take a look at who I am, why I run, and what is this blog all about anyways (all these unanswered questions to clear up to get comfy)
My name is Jonathan and I currently live in Ohio with my wife Kaela. In 2010, I moved to Ohio from Florida and was looking for some hobbies to keep me busy and outdoors. I quickly found that golf was a whole lot more expensive here than in Florida and decided that maybe I'll start running for some exercise, as I hated just sitting in a gym. I had not ran since high school baseball and even then it was 2 miles, twice a week. And just that amount of running had me cursing my coaches under my breath. But I thought why not give it a shot as it seemed that’s what all the "cool kids" were doing.

In May 12, 2010 I ran 2 miles, at what seemed at the time a super speedy 11:05 average pace. From this I trained for my first 5k. After that the bug hit me and I did a few more 5k's. Then I decided to see how hard I could push it, next thing I knew I had finished a 4 miler, a 5 miler, and then a 10k. After my 10k, I realized that I was half way to a half marathon so why not register and see what happens. In October 2010, I ran my first half marathon and said that is as far as I'm going to push this running thing. Just a few weeks later, I found myself registering for my first full marathon. Within a year of starting to run I completed my first marathon. And that’s how this all started.

Now I said earlier, that I started running as something to keep me outdoors and busy. But just running didn’t seem enough and I wanted to start participating in events. I came to notice quickly that there were two main categories that I was able to put events in, those that supported a cause and those that put food on race directors tables. I decided early on that I was only going to participate in the first. If a race does not support a cause or charity, I just don’t do it. Simple as that. I decided to run for those who can't. I don’t mean that in a physical capacity, which it could also mean, I mean in the fact that I will endure the torture I put myself through in training and during events to make a difference in a cause or charity that I believe in. My life verse, Philippians 4:13 gives me confidence that I can do anything through Christ and with him I can overcome any obstacle. 

Alright, now with all that background information out of the way, it brings me to the reason that you are still even reading this post or even checked out this blog. I decided to challenge myself to run a marathon or longer in all 50 states. In making that decision I know I needed find a way to document the adventure and this blog seemed like the perfect idea. This blog will only have a total of 52 posts. This introduction post, a post from all 50 states as completed, and a post at the conclusion of this journey. My hope with this blog is not only to share my experiences of this journey and each step along the way, but also personally as a journal for me to document where I have been and what it has taken to get to where I am now.

Over the next month or two I will catch up with the 9 states that I have completed and then post a few weeks after each new race that is completed.

Thanks for checking out this blog in general and also for actually reading this entire post (unless you scrolled to bottom and if so go back up and get all the juicy details). I am excited to share this journey with whomever wants to read.