RALEIGH, N.C. — Running a marathon is no easy task, but a Raleigh woman took on a marathon in her 50th state on Monday.
Bristol Hartlage competed in the Boston Marathon. She said she's now completed her goal of running in every state. She’s already run a marathon on every continent.
A lot of training goes into making these goals happen: Waking up around 3 a.m. to begin a workout is just part of it. Hartlage will do all sorts of workouts, whether it’s hot yoga, spinning classes or running outside. One of the places she runs at is PNC Arena.
Getting up to train so early takes dedication and commitment, but believe it or not, Hartlage wasn’t always into running but got into it more after college.
“I had already joined the Navy, and the only thing that I knew for sure that I would have on our ship is a treadmill. I had not liked running before that, not distance at least,” Hartlage said. “I started and forced myself to go and at some point, I realized I kind of enjoyed it, so I’ve been ever since early 2000s, 2003 maybe.”
As her passion for running grew, Hartlage said she only ever intended to run one marathon. She accomplished that goal in 2009 in southern California.
“Oh, I was in so much pain. I did not think I would do it again,” Hartlage said.
But she did, and soon after she was back at it.
“After the first, the second, I learned about the seven continents club, I learned about the 50 states club, so putting those on my goal list has just kept me pursuing them,” Hartlage said.
Hartlage added being able to do marathons in every state and continent is an amazing way to see the world.
“It’s a fantastic vehicle through which to travel to new places,” Hartlage said. “I think just committing to your health especially, but a long-term-goal and the planning of it, the meeting of new, wonderful people who have become some of my best friends, it’s just been a really life-fulfilling journey.”
The Wisconsin native said when it came to her goal of doing a marathon in all 50 states, she put a lot of thought into where she wanted her last one to be.
“I wanted it to be kind of meaningful. I’ve also been working on the majors, and the only major I haven’t done is Boston. The last state is Massachusetts, so it just felt like a wonderful bookend,” Hartlage said.
When Spectrum News 1 talked to Hartlage before the race on how she might feel after, she said she's expecting it to feel like a sense of accomplishment of finishing her goals.
“I’m so thrilled that I have some friends coming to support me, which just warms my heart,” Hartlage said.
She said her next goals are doing more triathlons and pursuing her captain’s license for sailing.
Hartlage is one of the 17 runners who represented the organization, Good Sports, in this year’s marathon. Good Sports supports kids in high-need communities, helping them get involved in sports and physical activity. Hartlage said she and the other runners have raised almost $190,000 this year for the organization.
Another special part about Hartlage’s story is that in February 2019, she took a brief break from running to donate her kidney to a 14-year-old girl. She was back running a race in Montana in May.