Medal Monday brings many stories of achievement for our members. Here are recent stories from the Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics, as told by you, as posted on the Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics Facebook pages.
Congratulations to all of our members who recently completed races
Heather Zeigler(MM3086) – I had a fantastic time pacing the 4:45 group at the Louisiana Marathon today!!! Congrats to Angel and Ann Marie for great races (they both got a sub4)!!! #311 for me!!! #louisianamarathon #marathonmaniacs #50statesmarathonclub
Sue Stevens(HF8593, DA2452, MM12891) – First double of the year completed. Had fun running Jill’s Birthday Half Marathon with Nancy Ziemba Patel this morning. Another very chilly but beautiful day with friends, fun (and a delicious carrot cupcake)!
Paul Carringer(MM3556) – Well…that’s a wrap. Finished my last run pacing job at the Barron Collier Companies Naples Half Marathon. After 26 years of pacing, it’s time to get out of the way and let the youngsters do it. Thanks to Jim Crist for today and all the years letting me be on the Marathonpacing.com teams! And thanks to Darris Blackford and Star for asking me to pace for their teams over the years including the outstanding The Columbus Marathon and the White Castle Striding Sliders! Thanks to my family for putting up with my global running escapades. Thanks to Marathoner in Training and every running friend I have met along the way. Keep moving forward!
Andrew Wetterer(MM1105, DA3286, HF17342) – It was a bit of a snowy/ icy half, but came in on time. 240 at indy yesterday, 3 hours in columbus today. Done
Sadie Smith(MM12709) – Today’s Mobile Marathon was perhaps the ugliest sub- 3:00 I have ever run. (Thank goodness this was a fast course, because I was on the struggle bus from about mile 6 on.) I’ve never been to this area of the country before; Mobile is a cool town that puts on a very nice race. I’m glad that I ran it, and I’m glad I don’t have to come back for a repeat! I ended up first female with a new course record with a by-the-skin-of-my-teeth 2:59:12(ish.) It was really nice to hang out with Elizabeth Arnott and Brandon and to see Glen Anderson for about two minutes.
I will say that I am grateful for every one of the 55 cruise ship treadmill miles I ran last week, even though it was the worst running of my life…. And also, a seven day cruise a week before a marathon is a terrible life choice.
Karen Johnson Derrick(MM12489, DA3640, HF18246) – Yesterday, I had the pleasure of participating in the Daufuskie Island marathon in South Carolina, and it was an outstanding experience. Bret joined me for a fantastic weekend! #199 Lifetime Marathon #4 marathon in SC
Dan Delino(MM4049, DA161, HF1058) – The Bermuda Triangle Challenge 2025. Friday 1 mile. Saturday 10k. Sunday Marathon. #medalmonday #marathonmaniacs #sandiegotrackclub #BermudaTriangleChallenge #pinoyrunnersUSA
Sandi Googs(HF9218) – Lifetime Half #158 at the Time Travel Half in Granville, Ohio. Trail conditions were awful but I didn’t break anything so I’ll call that a win. First place in my age group is a nice bonus too
Pascal Radley(MM2051)– Good news, I didn’t get lost in Bermuda Triangle fashion. But the hills during the marathon were relentless. Happy to have finished today’s marathon along with yesterday’s 10K and Friday’s 1 mile which completes the Bermuda Triangle challenge! Beautiful course but did i mention the hills?
Marathon country #20 and lifetime marathon #491 in the books
Kevin Gonzalez(MM6572, DA413, HF613) – MedalMonday Half Marathon #212 at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon
Susan Werner(HF4572) – Half #123
State #35
Time Tavel Dallas
The race is by the bodies race company. Lower cost back of the pack friendly out and back in a park. Great medal, nice shirt.. butt the course was on a paved trail in the park. Next to a creek. Omg dallas needs a clean up. It was soo much garbage. Just so much!!! Mostly flat. I would do another race of there’s. Small race only 116 people for the half.
Jennifer Clark (HF16743, DA3643, MM15623) – Running in Bayou country!
Half #321 Louisiana Marathon in Baton Rouge is in the books!
January 19th was the date of this year’s Louisiana Marathon. This is my favorite race in Louisiana and honestly, on my list of favorites anywhere. Baton Rouge has a little bit of New Orleans feel (it is just an hour away), a bit of Cajun, a bit upscale since it is the Capitol of Louisiana, but also distinctly southern. Being the home of LSU, the town is vibrant with lots of entertainment and young culture.
The race weekend offers a 5k on Saturday and the half and full marathon on Sunday. There also are kids’ races on Saturday. Packet pickup is easy and the expo has the usual race support and related vendors, publicity for other races, and merchandise for the weekend races.
Race morning was cold, cloudy and windy. Perfect running weather if you were visiting from up north, but a bit bone chilling for most of us Southerners!
After taking some club pictures it was time to head to the start area. The race was led off by a large contingent of Ainsley’s Angels, a national organization that promotes the inclusion of special needs individuals in running events through the use of runners who push rider-athletes. Then we started the race with a wave start.
I have run this half marathon several times and it was mostly the same course (with a small change to avoid some road construction.) It starts in front of the Louisiana state Capitol building, then goes through downtown, residential areas, the LSU campus, around University Lake with some very nice homes, and back downtown to finish where we started. One of the attractions is the LSU Tiger as you run through the campus. However, today the tiger was smarter than the runners. He stayed inside his enclosure.
Aid stations were about every mile and had water and Power-are. There were also quite a few interesting rougue stops which included several with Mimosas, Bloody Marys and beer, and several kinds of king cake. And, yes, there is even a Twerking stop put on yearly by a group of ladies in the neighborhood. And, of course, David had to twerk! (See the 10th or 11th picture) It is Carnival season, after all. The volunteers were awesome and many locals turned out to cheer everyone on.
The course was well marked and easy to follow. There were plenty of super polite police officers and volunteers making sure the roads were open only to runners.
The course has a lot of big old beautiful live oak trees, so lots of shade. The weather did improve some with the sunshine coming out! But the wind still made it very cool!
Louisiana Marathon is known for its after-party and great samples of Cajun dishes and beer. I enjoyed several bowls of gumbo and some Abita beer too. David also had the jambalaya!
Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon (in Biloxi in December) and the Louisiana Marathon are owned by the same company. If you do both races consecutively you get a Challenge Medal called Beach to Bayou. There are also challenge medals for doing the 5k and half or full during the weekend.
I’m already making plans to be at next year’s Louisiana Marathon. Come join me!!
Marathon Maniac/Half Fanatic Family Photo At the Louisiana Marathon/Half Marathon
Marathon Maniac/Half Fanatic Family Photo At the Austin International Half Marathon
Robert Manon(HF3646, DA431, MM6700) – I completed my 600th Lifetime Half Marathon this morning. It was a wonderful morning and great seeing friends this morning. Thank you to all my friends and to
CaliFlow Runs for making it a truly special day.
Amy Seagroves(HF18410, DA3652, MM15648) – Today I completed Half #161 Bermuda Half as part of the Bermuda Triangle Challenge. Bermuda is a a fun place to visit for a long weekend and a quick 2 hour flight from Boston. We went for a family trip. The Bermuda Triangle Challenge is the 1 miler Friday, 10K Saturday, and Half or Full Marathon Sunday. We went as a family trip and my mom walked the 1 miler with me Friday, my dad also did the 10K Saturday and my Aunt did the 5K Saturday. Overall it was a very fun weekend.
The Half Marathon had beautiful scenery and great crowd support for a small island. There were plenty of aid stations and course support. However both the Half Marathon and 10K were very hilly. While weather for the 10K was perfect, weather for the half was windy and humid which is a bad combo for me. I struggled a bit with the half but still had a good time because of the scenery and crowd support. My biggest issue with the race is the roads are narrow and there was traffic going one direction so you had to be careful otherwise it was a very good race and a fun weekend. The medals are awesome and you get a big medal for each race and an extra challenge medal and they all connect to form a giant medal. I would recommend this race especially to anyone from the Boston or NY area where Bermuda is the easiest island to fly to.
Patty Z Bishop(HF12218) – I was fortunate and privileged to share a milestone moment with Robert today. He finished his 600th Half Marathon in Long Beach, CA. Congratulations Sir, amazing job well done…
Carol Alvarez Brown (HF18859) – Well, I am super proud of myself! I did my 10th half marathon in 14 months, all since trying to get my half fanatics qualifications, then working towards leveling up. They say this a lot at the Disney Marathon Weekend “we get to be here today. We get to run today.” And I really felt that Sunday morning. How fortunate to be able to go out and join so many strangers with similar goals.
The Half was a bit congested but still fun. The Marathon was amazing. I had to weave through the crowd as I started from the last corral, my AirPods died at mile 12, and I just took off after mile 14. Each mile feeling like it was coming up quicker than expected. I was able to walk away from this race with minimal soreness. I was so proud of myself as I started week 4 for my current marathon training, with this Disney marathon. I don’t think think I will work towards double agent but do want to get the Full training done for this next marathon. I hope you all had a great race this weekend! Cheers to Napa Half Marathon and OKC Full Marathon coming up! #medalmonday
Stefanie Holliday-(MM14386, HF17442, DA3313) – Yesterday, I turned 55. Of course, my birthday request was another race today😂. Today, I ran the San Diego Trail Marathon outside Escondido in San Pasqual Valley. There were a couple of difficult climbs, but I met a lot of great people. Trail races are always my favorite! Hello, 55!
26.2-San Diego Trail Marathon
Half Fanatics Team Photo at the River Road Half Marathon in Comfort, Texas
Karen A Flynn(MM4024, DA158, HF1043) – MedalMonday #MotivationMonday from the
BermudaTriangleChallenge – #3races3days1beautifulisland – 1mile on Friday 01/17/25, 10K on Saturday 01/18/25 & a marathon on Sunday 01/19/25 earning 4 beautiful medals that fit together via magnets to a make a unique picture box of 2 iconic Bermudian scenes! What a way to celebrate my milestone birthday kicking it off with a podium finish! My 86th lifetime marathon is in the books!
RunBermuda #btc #GoToBermuda #Bermuda #TeamHylands #hylandspowered #marathonmaniacs #sweatybands #fellowflowers #bibboards #runningskirts #asicsrunning #SanDiegoTrackClub #runnersoffacebook #runnersofinstagram #runcation
Sir Michael Scarlett(MM16112) – After a 7-year break, I’m back with a PR at the Chevron Houston Marathon: 3:32:44! The 29-degree temps and wild winds couldn’t stop me from crossing the finish line feeling exhilarated. Shoutout to DWARP for the beer, whiskey, and laughs—onward to the next marathon!
Jun Ulama(MM12617) – Did a repeat race today in Las Cruces at the Land of the Enchantment. Both the full and half marathons have an out and back course, mostly on trails and shared roads. The medal is also the same for the full and the half, with an extra attachment for 50 Staters. It’s a no frills and small marathon but with enough aid stations and volunteers, and police support on the course and road crossings also.👍🏽
Also glad to see some of my speedy friends from the Marathon Maniacs and the 50 States Marathon Club.
2025 race no.1 ✅
State no. 37, round 4 ✅
Photo and Post Credit Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics Facebook Pages and the individual members listed above.
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