The Rosy Wanderer

As if Dopey wasn’t enough, I cannot believe I am now officially a Marathon Maniac. Number 15950, to be exact!

What are you talking about now?

Marathon Maniacs is a club of people who like to run and do crazy numbers of marathons. When I was training for Chicago 2021, I learned about blogs and discovered many cool people and their running journeys. One that I really enjoyed is 50by25 where Laura shares her journey to be the youngest person to complete marathons in all 50 states by the time she is 25. She talks about her quest to join Marathon Maniacs and all of the connections that she has made through that club.

Her story is so interesting and motivational. When I read about this, I thought she was nuts and there was no way I could ever be part of that group. Well…this is why you should never think you CAN’T do something because, in all likelihood, you really can!

How do you join?

Marathon Maniacs has several different club levels. The lowest level (what I am), is their bronze level. You qualify for this if you complete 2 marathons in 2 weeks or 3 marathons in 90 days. I qualified during my Dopey 2023 training when I completed the City of Oaks Marathon (November), Kiawah Marathon (December), and Walt Disney Marathon (January).

When Coach Twiggs put 26+ mile training runs on my schedule, my initial reaction was to freak out. I couldn’t do it, but I kept telling myself to “trust the coach.” He knows more than I do, so I cannot question his advice. I am trying to improve and get better. Then I thought, I can’t do that distance without a medal, so I researched races. Raleigh and Kiawah were perfectly placed on my training schedule, so (even though I was still doubting my ability), I signed up for both.

A few weeks after finally registering, it occurred to me that those may qualify me for membership to Marathon Maniacs. Sure enough, that is 3 marathons within 90 days.

What’s next?

When I go to races, I now notice people in their Marathon Maniacs jerseys and shirts. Next time I’m at a race, I am going to introduce myself. During Kiawah, I ran with a lady for a while who had done over 100 marathons (I think) and was a high-ranking Maniac.

The club also offers discounts to races and even some meetups at races. As I work on completing a race in all 50 states, I think this could come in handy for states I don’t know much about.

And, I’ll just continue to be in awe of my accomplishment!