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.
Eric Tunquist(MM16044) – Added West Virginia – state #30 and marathon #81 – thanks to MainlyMarathons!
Featured Member Karen Murray MM #8075– My marathon journey began somewhat accidentally. Although I originally aimed for the NYC Marathon in 2013 through the local 9+1 program, life had other plans. In 2012, while training for my first half marathon, I connected with the NewRo run group in NY. Their enthusiasm and camaraderie were infectious, and soon, I found myself agreeing to join them for the Wineglass Marathon—even though I wasn’t fully prepared for a full marathon at that time. It was a group of 14 of us, a mixture of nerves and excitement, heading up together in a van. Post-race, as I limped around in agony, I swore off marathons forever. However, just two weeks later, that pain turned into a distant memory and I was signing up for the Philadelphia Marathon – “Never say, “Never.” LOL!
It was around this time I met Julia Garling, who introduced me to the enthralling world of the 50 State Club and Marathon Maniacs. Inspired, I made my “maniac” debut running Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia 2013- 3 in 90 days. Julia, not just content to be a running buddy, also asked me to be her ‘running bridesmaid’ at her wedding in Maui in January. This led to more races together, including Run for Donna in Jacksonville and Shamrock Marathon. In 2014, I attended my first 50 State reunion and was utterly amazed by the marathon tallies of fellow attendees. With 7 states under my belt and the clock ticking towards my 50th birthday, I set a lofty goal: finish a marathon in all 50 states in just three years while raising 3 kids and a full time job. Spoiler alert—I did it!
2014 was a banner year beyond just the races. At the Rehoboth Marathon, our group, self-dubbed “Team Fireball,” celebrated at the afterparty in true fiery spirit. There, fate stepped in when I met Glen Anderson. While we didn’t start dating until 2018, our paths were clearly meant to intertwine. We got married on the whimsically perfect date of 11/11/2020 at 11:11 a.m. Since tying the knot, we’ve continued our marathon journey together, hitting titanium each year throughout the pandemic — 5 years now.
Each marathon, each state, and each new friend along the way have stitched a rich tapestry of memories. My journey from marathon newbie to a seasoned 50-stater is more than just about the miles run; it’s about the moments that take your breath away, the people who run beside you, and the love that propels you forward. I can’t wait to see where my legs take me next, and I’m looking forward to sharing many more miles with all of you incredible Marathon Maniacs. Keep lacing up, let’s keep having fun and supporting one another —one marathon at a time!
Savin Rock Marathon 2025 picture at the start
Congratulations to Karen”Evil Twin” Vollan (MM2361, DA64, HF104) who finished another round of 50 States at the Mainly Marathons Appalachian Series in Etowah, North Carolina on March 24, 2025
This is Karen’s 2nd Round of 50 states.
Congratulations Karen!
Karen is also a
- 2021 Double Agent Hall of Fame Inductee
- 2018 Marathon Maniacs Hall of Fame Inductee
- 2020 Half Fanatics Hall of Fame Inductee
Maniacs & Fanatics Before the Mainly Marathons Gulf Coast Series Day 3
Congratulations to Jennifer Clark (HF16743, DA3643, MM15623) for being a 2025 inductee into the Half Fanatics Hall of Fame. Congratulations and welcome to the class of 2025!
the Half Fanatics Hall of Fame. Congratulations and welcome to the class of 2025!
She reached Hall of Fame Eligibility by completing 333 – Lifetime Half Marathons
The criteria to be eligible for the Hall of Fame can be found here
Maniacs & Fanatics Before the Mainly Marathons Appalachian Series Day 3
Marathon Maniac sighting at the San Diego Half Marathon
Karen A Flynn(MM4024, DA158, HF1043) & Dan Delino(MM4049, DA161, HF1058) – LA Marathon 2025
Joline Cox(MM15462) – Fort Smith Marathon 2025 in Fort Smith, Arkansas done. It was a great day. The weather was perfect. The race was well organized. There were plenty of volunteers and signage for all the turns. So pleased I gave this race a second chance. 2023 race was a nightmare. The new race director did a fabulous job. The new route made me happy. The route was not certified this year and a few of the mile markers were off quite a bit. My only complaint is there were no safety pins in the packet again this year. Lucky for me I had some in my car from past races. Oh and I got to run with Bob the second half. Thank you Fort Smith Marathon, Half Marathon & Relays for a great race.
Gina Forestieri(MM16172, DA3808, HF18136) – Two half marathons, Saturday and Sunday, fall city half and Seattle Cherry blossom half both in WA
Featured Club Member: Sue Stevens #8593– 20 years ago, if you’d told me I would be running Half Marathons virtually every weekend, I would have laughed my head off. I was definitely NOT an athletic child – I was the one who always dropped the ball and was the last one picked for any team. I didn’t mind going on short hikes with my parents and brother, but that was it as far as walking/running went.
Fast forward to 2010. My son was in kindergarten, and a friend and I would walk round the neighborhood whilst the boys were in school. One day she said that she needed a goal to work towards and suggested that we sign up to walk the Seattle Half Marathon. I thought that she was crazy – I mean, Seattle isn’t exactly known for its stellar November weather! But I love her, and I agreed. After all, I could do a long walk, right?!
11/28/10 arrived and there we were, walking the Seattle Half Marathon on a cold but mercifully dry day. The energy and Holiday vibes were fantastic, and I loved it, despite being oh so slow and barely able to move at the end! We decided to sign up for Mercer Island (I miss that race!), and when my friend couldn’t make it, I coopted 2 others to come with me. This was fun!
The race was a welcome distraction as the day after I had a breast biopsy, and this led to a diagnosis of DCIS breast cancer. I was lucky, it was caught early and was very treatable. I was even more determined to keep walking and running and signed up for a further 4 races that year, with friends and solo.
We made friends at events around WA, and in 2013 decided I’d go for a bucket list item and do a full Marathon. The feeling of crossing the finish line was incredible, but I thought I’d be one and done (haha).
Meanwhile I continued to sign up for more Half Marathons and kept seeing all these runners wearing Half Fanatics gear. They looked like they had such great camaraderie, and I eventually signed up in 2014. It was a fabulous way of making more friends, and many of these friends were also Marathon Maniacs. Well, I didn’t want to be left out so resolved to qualify. I’m lazy, so I picked 2 in 16 days and ran Tacoma and Capital City in 2016!
However, Halfs are my favorite, and I decided to go for the Sun and arrived there in 2019. My next goal was HOF, and I was inducted on July 11, 2023, the same day I became an American citizen!
My goals now are to hit 500 Half Marathons and to keep enjoying running for as long as possible. I’m looking forward to the London Marathon in April and making more HF and MM friends along the way!
My HF races – https://db.marathonmaniacs.com/fanatics/myraces
My MM races – https://db.marathonmaniacs.com/maniacs/myraces
Gysel Parajon(MM8995, DA3751, HF18751) – Happy Medal Monday!! I don’t even know where to begin. Yesterday I ran my 80th full marathon and my 14th LA Marathon in my hometown!!! It was the fastest I have run this course since they changed it after Covid and I’m still in disbelief!
The week leading up to the race was stressful as my car needed repairs, we had to wait for a snowstorm to pass to get on the road, and then we barely missed bib pickup before closing at 5p on Saturday. I then ended up sleeping only 4 hours before the race and not eating enough prior to it, but somehow everything I had been doing, strength training, speed work, intervals, and focusing on mindfulness helped me yesterday!
I felt really strong and kept looking at my watch because I was in disbelief even during the race as I was going faster than planned. I had programmed a run/walk ratio into my watch but didn’t follow it and completely ran on how I was feeling. It wasn’t until mile 20 where the bearing sun, and mind you it wasn’t hot, but it was warm for this type of excerption, that I started feeling nauseated, and my head started to hurt. I had to speed walk, repeatedly throw water on myself, and even consume beer along the last 6 miles, for the carbs, for the carbs, and undo my hair bun to feel better. And, in the last 3 miles I charged as best as I could trying to keep pace with the 13 minute pacer, and fighting through the bottleneck that spectators created, which by the way sucked. Please don’t do that people. I understand you’re excited for your runners but it is so unsafe for all runners. I was pretty upset about that, but I got through that and finished just a few minutes over my goal time of 6 hours!!!
Thank you to the volunteers, my friends, my family, especially my son for supporting me. Race directors @lamarathon please, please put more barricades leading up to the finish so that runners don’t get hurt.
Kristen Kinnear-Ohlmann (MM6013, DA340, HF2069) – I was probably standing in a porta-potty line and didn’t join the picture, I’m glad to know there were Maniacs at LA Marathon. It was a tough one! I didn’t take any pictures there because I needed to get back to my hotel and more chocolate milk but I posed my medal with some hometown ice cream today. #medalmonday
Maniacs & Fanatics Before the 2025 Big Island International Marathon.
April Hayes(MM9216)– It’s medal Monday, and I’ve made a return to marathon running yesterday at the L A. Marathon, after a 3.5 year break since the November 2021 L.A.M.
John Kern(MM2214)– Medal Monday! What do you do after completing all 50 States?
The 6 World Majors! From Boston in 2007 to Tokyo in 2025. It has been an amazing run!
An aside: I believe I am the first Alaskan to complete each and all the Majors as an Alaskan resident.
Gregory Rouson(MM12723, DA2354, HF8068) – Lifetime marathon #25 and
Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend Whale Challenge (8K and Marathon) #5…DONE!!! Not my best finish, but I did it. Onward. 👍🏾🏃🏿♂️☘️ #MarathonManiacs #MM12723 #shamrockmarathon #ShamRockOn #jandaracing #Roustance
Maniacs & Fanatics Before the Los Angeles Marathon
Maniacs & Fanatics Before the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend
Sivabalan Pandian(MM13150) – Dear Well Wishers
I happened to run THIRD TIME 24 HOURS STADIUM RUN ORGANIZED BY TUFFMAN AT CHANDIGARH ( INDIA ).
I always love to run stadium run of 24 hours at Chandigarh only because of cool weather conditions as well as excellent support from Tuffman Team .
The results of TUFFMAN’S 24 HOURS STADIUM RUN of all the three time is mentioned below.
01 March 2025 – 116.54
10 March 2024 – 115.68
13 Narch 2021 – 113.47
As I become older and older but surprisingly the distance covered in 2025 is higher 116.54 KM ( at the age of 66+ ) as compared to 2021and 2024.
ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME TO ACHIEVE MAXIMUM DISTANCE 116.54 KM COVERED IN A SINGLE EVENT OF MY MARATHON JOURNEY OF 885 ( FULL AND ULTRA ONLY) .
NOW ONLY 115 IS LEFT TO TOUCH 1000 MARATHONS ( FULL AND ULTRA ) BY AN INDIAN WHICH IS ULTIMATE GOAL .
Thanks once again for organizing such RUNNERS FRIENDLY energetic 24 hours stadium run by TUFFMAN .
Happy Running .
Dani Shown — (MM8045 HF4557 DA565) Had a amazing time in Tokyo this weekend. Lovely day for a marathon – maybe a bit warm at the end 😀. Such a well organized race and the people of Tokyo do not disappoint when it comes to course support. Japan is such a welcoming country and everything runs like clockwork. I hope it’s not my last Tokyo, but I doubt I will be lucky in the drawing 2 years in a row. I had the best support crew possible – 2 of my sons accompanied me again. My oldest speaks the language and was stationed in Japan for a while so he makes sure I get everywhere I need to be on time. And my youngest did Tokyo with me last year and made sure they saw me at least 3 times on course and provided whatever i needed – literally dragged around a bag of supplies all day for me – could not ask for a better support crew! So Sunday was sunny and almost 70 degrees F. Monday was 32 degrees and raining and snowing all day. Views from Tokyo Tower upper deck with snow falling were beautiful. Almost sad to go, but heading home. Farewell Japan!!!
Bryan Kitch(MM16220, DA3817, HF10983) – Tokyo two weeks ago and Virginia Beach 8k and marathon this weekend! As soon as I get home it’s time to sign up and become a double agent!
Carla Champ Marie Simon(MM14034, DA3133. HF13789) – I ran and finished the Shamrock Full Marathon today in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I completed it in 5 hours, 34 minutes, and 41 seconds, crossing off a new state in my journey to run full or half marathons—or sometimes both—in all 50 states. I have now run over 40 marathons and ultramarathons in my lifetime.
Sadie Smith(MM12709)– Rome Marathon!! 15th female, 1st American, and 3rd in my age group ❤️ Here are a couple of quick thoughts from a fairly fast runner participating in a fairly large international marathon:
- Runners who hit a certain time standard received yellow “TOP” bibs which allowed entry into a nice warm up and pre- race area as well as priority starting in the corrals. (We lined up with the handful of elite runners ahead of corral “A.”)
- After getting out of the starting chute, I did not see another woman on this course until mile 25.8 when I was passed by, coincidentally, the 2nd place finisher in my age group. (What are the chances??) That was a weird feeling in a race of 26,000.
- Rome is a BEAUTIFUL course and such a fun race, but holy cobblestone streets, Batman! It rained for maybe 15 minutes towards the end of my run, which caused me to slow down so my old ass didn’t slip and completely wipe out.
- I’ve only run Berlin and London as international races, but I’m wondering if a lack of aid stations in the first half is typical for Europe? Only 3 in the first 10 miles, but very plentiful in the back half. (And I learned my lesson from Berlin and packed my own electrolyte powder as I didn’t trust what would be on the course.)
- I’m so happy to have had such a strong run after getting virtually no sleep on our Friday night flight, and I can’t wait to kick off the Italian vacation with the family!
Amy Michele Lambert(MM12758) – Marathon or greater #193 for me. This is at the end of the Perennial 10 hour endurance event in Belmont, NC. Thankful most of this was in the shade, 75⁰ ish degrees made for some hot miles. The RD has not posted our offical miles but somewhere around 36.
Lawrence Allie(MM16034) – ChesCo Race Fest Marathon
Craig Smith(MM4430) – Completed the Save the Daylight 6 Hour Trail Race in Englewood, FL on Saturday. Snuck in a 3rd place finish in Men’s Division.
Natalie King Moreland(MM16119)– Germantown Half Marathon: nailed a PR and 1st overall Master’s female with a 1:35:11 at the exact half mark (1:35:40 on the full 13.18 course finish).
Lea Reyes(MM13731, DA2894, HF16015) – Griffith Park Marathon Los Angeles. Medal was stuck at port so I gave a thumbs up. &
ABWR Beach Dash half. Stayed in zone two today considering yesterday’s marathon. Taper this week for LA.
Photo and Post Credit Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics Facebook Pages and the individual members listed above.
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