Goals, Tools and Missions - Peninsula TNT Summer Team Week 1

When we started this blog, "Marathoning for Life" was a goal. We want to race as long as we are physically able and still have passion for the sport. The title also came to reflect how we use marathoning as a tool to keep us healthier.  

Last week I was reminded that the title is also a mission. The reason we started marathoning was to raise money for Team in Training. Marathoning for us was literally saving lives.

Our Summer season kicked off for the Peninsula team last Wednesday. Our first regional training on Saturday was a quick 30 minute out and back on the Oracle Bay Trail where we got to know the dozen participants we have training for the Tinkerbell Half marathon and Rock n Roll Seattle half and full. 

Training Captain Cathy had an early start marking mileage.

Pre-training words from our team manager, Guy.

I chatted with each of the team members on the trail. Hal was a long time TNT veteran whose goal is to improve on his PR for the Seattle full. Nick has done a couple of half marathons and is recovering from a torn hip flexor, so he'll be staying on the flatter course at Tink. Lauren has done a few 5K's and her mother was a TNT alum who had a great season and recommended that Lauren join. Yuli, another first timer, told me he'd never run more than 1.5K in his life. Saturday's training was officially the longest he'd ever run! We have a few teammates coming back after a few years off like Robin, Andrea and Vickie and some recent alum like Kelly, Valerie and Paul. I hope to get to chat more with them as the season goes on. 

Our honoree speaker was Minnie. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 diffuse large B Cell lymphoma when she was six months pregnant. MRI's confirmed several tumors throughout her body. In the past, if the cancer was caught in the first trimester, the diagnosis would have leaned toward aborting the pregnancy, but medicine had matured in the last 20 years thanks in part to LLS funds. Minnie underwent a modified chemotherapy and she delivered a healthy son, Keiron. Shortly after his birth, doctors found tumors in her kidneys and brain, prompting radiation and more chemotherapy.

Minnie's story has a happy ending. She came through with some short-term memory loss, but has now been in remission for six years with an amazing outlook on life. Read more about her recovery on this article at the Stanford Medicine site.

We had our gear clinic at Road Runner Sports in San Carlos and a went for a post-training breakfast at Hobee's. This season's team is smaller than I'm used to, but so far with the new coaching team things are running pretty smoothly. I'm looking forward to our next track workout Wednesday where we'll start working on technique.

~//~

News from the Road:

The Z Adventures - Cruise Marathons group finished another multi-stop event this weekend. About 30 participants ran races in 7 countries at the full, half, 10k and 5k distances. The medals were wedge-shaped and together formed a larger circle. Reviews so far have been positive. White Continent/Punta Arenas alum Tee, Brent and Kamika checked off more countries on their long list of races. 

Also concluding this week was the Marathon Expedition Caribbean Running Cruise. Congrats to Jennifer and Blair, and to John and Jenny for another successful event. Other races for your bucket list this weekend include the Daytona Half Marathon (thanks Tawni for the cool video from the track!) and the 20th anniversary of the Surf City Half and Full marathon (congrats to Stephanie, Melinda, Leah, Jessica, Adrian, Kevin and Jennifer).

100 Half Marathon Club president Jenipher finished her 100th Half Marathon at the Go Hard or Go Home Half in Prospect Park, New York. Congratulations, Jenipher!

We're a month into 2016 and working on two challenges. Susan and I joined Kara Goucher's Run The Year 2016 challenge, targeting 2,016 miles in the year. I'm counting miles from walking around at work (incidental mileage too) so to be safe, I'm shooting for about 2700 miles for the year to clear a 2 mile/day baseline. With a bit over 279 miles through February 7th, things are looking good.

Al, Lisa Marie, Tawni and I are also doing the VIP Joe Challenge in honor of our friend Joe Harris. He underwent surgery after RNR San Antonio and is back on the roads prepping for RNR New Orleans. Joe is the all-time leader for Rock n Roll races completed at 116. The four of use are shooting to finish 116 miles each in February, one for each race Joe has completed. I'm only counting "intentional" workout miles for this one. I'm just over 24 miles for February, so I'll need to step it up a bit.

When I Grow Up, I Want to be Just Like Nancy

Our friend/mentor/captain, Nancy, celebrates her 80^th birthday this year. Friends and family convened to celebrate this milestone and more importantly, a transition into a new age group! Watch out runners, this endurance athlete walker is going to give you some new competition.

In anticipation for her birthday party, she posted, “Oh I'm getting worried. Tomorrow my two families are going to meet! My children are going to meet the people with whom I act like I'm a youngster. Gonna be some shocked people, I'm thinking!” We ALL love you Nancy just the way you are! Walking in the door at the birthday party, I complimented Nancy on the new hairdo. “I like the tufts of purple, Nancy!” 

“It’s actually raspberry. Purple is for old ladies.” 

Nancy with her first TNT Mentor, Tim

That in a nutshell sums up Nancy. She may have been the oldest person at her own birthday party but her spirit and positive attitude toward life makes her seem younger than everyone around her.

Nancy and her three children, Cindy, Bob and Boyd. When their family gets together and someone asks 'who's the youngest?', they all point to their mom.

Ron met Nancy at Clorox 16 years ago where she was working as an on-site nurse. They were both members of Diamond Toastmasters and Nancy gave a speech to the club about fundraising for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society (LLS) through Team in Training (TNT). In exchange for raising several thousand dollars, TNT coaches train you to complete a half or full marathon. 

Nancy signed up for TNT when she turned 65. Tim was Nancy’s mentor her first season with TNT in 2001. Nancy was Ron’s mentor his first season with TNT in 2005. Ron was Susan’s mentor her first season with TNT in 2006. We affectionately call Tim our great-grandmentor (he hates the term but I’m sure he appreciates the legacy).

Four Generations of Team in Training Participants

Tim Yagle, Nancy Ryder, Ron Carino, Susan Carino (from left to right)

Clorox has a generous charity matching, making it easier and less intimidating to fundraise. Her first marathon event was the Mayor’s Midnight Sun marathon and since then she’s made 6 trips to Anchorage, Alaska, finishing five full and one half marathon. That season they were headed to Anchorage again. Ron, always happy to help a worthy cause, joined the Team. I laughed at him, being the oh so supportive wife that I am. I told him that there was no way he could complete a marathon with his bad knees. Here’s the catch – Nancy was a mentor on the marathon Walk Team. Ron decided he would walk a marathon, help a worthy cause, and check off 'eating a meal in all 50 states' at the same time. We’ve both come such a long way since then. 

This was taken during a race in Anchorage in either 2005 or 2006. We've all lost track.

Nancy quickly adopted me even though I chose not to fundraise for TNT that season. I occasionally came to trainings as an observer with my friend Wendy. She and I had decided to train for the half marathon in Anchorage because we were only half crazy. However, once we reached 13 miles it seemed too easy so we kept training for the full 26.2 miles.

Fast forward six months, on June 17, 2005 Ron and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary with Nancy and Wendy with breakfast (a meal in Alaska) at Safeway in Seward before going on a most memorable cruise seeing whales and getting dive-bombed by puffins. The marathon was more challenging than we expected. It was cold, wet, and windy. Yet, all of us on the team completed the event forging lifelong friendships along the way. We have several memorable trips including RNR Savannah 2010 and a full marathon at Mount Desert Island (Bar Harbor, Maine) with our friend Michelle.

Michelle passed away in 2010, but not before we got her to finish her first full marathon.

I no longer laugh at Ron for wanting to do a marathon and we’re planning to complete half marathons in all 50 states someday. Well, I guess Ron will also end up eating a meal in all 50 states again but at least this time he’ll have earned the calories.

So what makes Nancy so special to us? Besides being someone who we admire, respect, and are in awe of for who she is as a person. Even Nancy’s doctor is jealous of her and how strong her heart is. She puts new meaning into being young at heart.

Personalities can be broken down into the four elements – Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. Nancy is the WATER personality type. Not just because she fondly gives out epsom salts to all her TNT mentees for the ice bath after the race. Symbolically though her heart is her guide in everything she does, and she is very attuned to other people’s experiences. Nancy doesn’t dwell on the past. She doesn’t live with regrets. She doesn’t focus on the negative things in life. Instead, she focuses on the future and how she can help others. True to her profession as a nurse, she puts others ahead of herself.

Take for example, a race in Monterey, CA a few years back. People often ask me what my favorite local race is and I always recommend the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay in November. The course is flat, scenic along the ocean, and the hand crafted medal is unique, though fragile. Nancy and I raced together several times and one year, Nancy was having a particularly difficult race. We finished together beyond the 3.5 hour cut off after the finish line had been torn down. It wasn’t until she told me that she had given blood the day before to the event that we realized why she was struggling. (Note to the readers, don’t give blood at least a week prior or a week after an endurance event.) You need all your blood for strength to endure and recover! But true to Nancy’s character, she was giving to others first before thinking of herself.

Fellow TNTer Roz put together the Nancy Quiz at the birthday party - 20 questions about Nancy’s life. All of us struggled with the answers (except maybe her daughter Cindy and two sons Bob and Boyd). Of course they debated a few of the answers but we let Nancy be the final authority about her own life. Even after spending hours walking with her, we learned a lot more that we never even knew about!

During the Quiz we learned that 50 of the 52 weekends in 2015, she was either participating in a race, volunteering at a race, or out actively training. Nancy was the first person we knew who broke an unspoken TNT training rule: you need three to four months to train for a half marathon and at least six months to adequate train for a full marathon. We stuck to this schedule for the first two years, completing each event six months apart. 

Rebel Nancy however was known to do more than one race every few months. If fact, she often did more than one race in a weekend. Her reputation raised a few eyebrows among TNT coaches but it opened our eyes to another approach to marathoning. Instead of training every weekend and completing long miles either alone without support, in a small mentoring group, or with the full team, you can get your mileage in at a race. The caveat is that you treat the race like a training event rather than another opportunity for a personal record (PR). Striving for a PR every six months or so is still good advice. Nancy broke the mold and is living proof that you can be active and healthy into your 80’s.

Nancy is young at heart and living proof that attitude is everything. 

We want to be like Nancy when we grow up.

~//~

If Nancy inspires you as much as she inspired us, please consider a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for support of research and financial assistance of patients at her web page (http://pages.teamintraining.org/gba/anchor16/nryder). She'll be headed to Alaska this June for a second half marathon, her seventh race there and an well more than 100 since turning 65. 

Inspired by Greatness. Humbled by Humility - National Black Marathoners Association Induction Celebration

On December 12, 2015 the National Black Marathoners Association (NBMA) inducted nine marathoners and ultramathoners as 2015 Hall of Fame Honorees – three of whom we have the privilege to know. The official annual summit and hall of fame banquet took place in Dallas, TX and several of our friends flew to Dallas for the event. A committee of eight led by two highly dedicated individuals, Rudy and Laura, coordinated a local celebration at the Lake Merritt Boat House on January 24, 2016 so that the rest of us could honor their accomplishments.

Founded in 2004, the NBMA is a not-for-profit organization that encourages Black Americans to pursue a healthy lifestyle through running and walking. The National Black Distance Runner Hall of Fame honors athletes in three categories. The Trail Blazer and Distance Runner awards recognize lifetime runners who have demonstrated not only athletic performance but have also made an overall contribution of the sport of long distance running.  The third Hall of Fame category is the Running Community Service Award. This award recognizes lifetime volunteer service over a period of at least fifteen years to the running community. Community involvement includes financial donations, scholarship programs, youth programs, volunteer support, and developing relationships that benefit the mission of the club.

Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi

(Photo credit National Black Marathoners Association’s Newsletter #20)

Meb received the silver medal in the 2008 Olympic Marathon and won the 2009 New York City Marathon and the 2014 Boston Marathon. A tribute to his character, Meb carried the names of the victims of the 2013 Boston marathon bombings with him during the 2014 race. Meb became the first American citizen to win the race in over 30 years and at 38 years old, the oldest individual to win the race since 1931. Read more at  Rock n Roll's site here.

We have crossed paths with Meb on the Rock ‘n’ Roll circuit in his role as the VP of Running for Competitor Group, Inc. Not only is he an inspirational motivational speaker he has made himself quite accessible to those around him. We were on the same Southwest plane with Meb in 2014 headed to San Antonio, TX. I built up enough courage to ask him for a photo in the airport which he graciously posed for with us.

This year in San Antonio, during the 10k RNR race on Saturday, December 5, Meb doubled back to personally encourage the runners behind him. He was also waiting near the finish line at the half and full marathon the next day cheering on the finishers.  What a great ambassador for not only the RNR series but for running in general.

Lisa Felder

(Photo credit National Black Marathoners Association’s Newsletter #20)

This NBMA trailblazer has completed over 300 marathons and 111 ultramarathons. Mama Lisa coached the East Bay Team in Training (TNT) run team for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) from 1998 through 2009. She launched the first ever TNT Ultra Team in 2009.

Coach Lisa earned the nickname Mama Lisa from a TNT participant who after assessing the spread of clothes, shoes, gear, food, etc. that she laid out for the team, he explained, “You’re more than our coach! You’re our mama!” The name stuck and that’s what we all affectionately call her.

Her story begins as a 238 lb mother who started walking around the soccer field to keep warm while watching her son play soccer. The first race she ever participated in was the Bay to Breakers. She completed her first marathon in just over three hours at the San Francisco marathon. Her personal passion for running, especially ultrarunning, is highly infectious. She has single handedly inspired almost all of the ultrarunners on the East Bay and became the most knowledgeable coach we’ve ever known to diagnose aggravations and address running injuries. She gives herself tirelessly to the cause. The story highlighting her dedication was begging people to break her out of the hospital while she was receiving treatments for stage 4 breast cancer because she desperately wanted to be out on the course with her participants at the Oakland marathon. Mama Lisa was always the last Coach out on the course, ringing her cow bell, and making sure every last runner and walker made it back from a long training. Our affection for Mama Lisa runs deep. She is living proof that you can do anything you want to do if you dedicate yourself to it.

As fate would have it, NBMA did the great honor of also inducting Mama Lisa’s husband, Alphonzo Jackson, into the Hall of Fame the very same year. Coach Al and Mama Lisa are a power couple and a force to be reckoned with. They have set an amazing example for others and are our inspiration for all that we do together on the marathoning circuit.

Alphonzo Jackson

(Photo credit National Black Marathoners Association’s Newsletter #20)

Al was ranked third in the world in the 5k (16:28) and half marathon (1:15:28) in his age division in 1996 at 50 years old. He has completed 38 marathons, 7 duathlons, several triathlons, hundreds of 5Ks and 10Ks. His marathon personal record (PR) at the Los Angeles Marathon was 2:38:40.

He originally viewed himself as an elite athlete and the day finally came when he had to choose between continuing to pursue his own personal records or focusing his time and energy on helping others.  As a I remember the story, he discussed this fork in the road in his career with Mama Lisa who wisely said, “Where do you derive the greatest inspiration from? Your own personal achievements or the achievements of others?” The rest is history since Coach Al has served as the Head Coach for Team in Training's East Bay Run Team for 20 years. It wasn’t an easy transition from being an elite runner to figuring out how to coach people off the coach to complete a half or full marathon. Humbly, Coach Al openly shares his story how he underestimated how difficult it is to run a full marathon. So difficult in fact that he failed to complete his first two attempts. He made it to mile 24 the first time around before dropping out and then only made it to mile 22 the second time around. He had to learn that marathoning wasn’t about running fast enough to qualify for Boston, it was about mental toughness.

Knowing how hard it can be to complete a marathon, Coach Al did everything in his power to help his participants complete the event. My favorite Coach Al story was during the full marathon in Rome, Italy. I was with a fellow TNTer who as struggling toward the end of the race. I tried everything I could think of to help her continue to put one foot in front of the other. Coach Al ran up and took a completely different approach. He asked her, “What flavor?” She and I looked at each other quizzically. He repeated, “What flavor gelato do you want?” Not being able to think clearly she said, “Vanilla.” Coach Al was gone in a flash. Later I heard about how he ran to the closest gelato shop, cut in line, ordered a vanilla gelato cone, and ran back out on the course to find us. My fellow TNTer inhaled that gelato and took off running toward the finish line. Now that’s a coach who is truly willing to do anything to help his participants and someone who knows exactly the right thing to say and do at the right time.

From 2000 to 2010 (until funding ran out), Coach Al was also the Athletic Director/Coach for Students Run Oakland. This was his way of giving back something to his neighborhood and training leaders for the future. He believed that training these kids to be disciplined enough to complete a marathon, would help prepare them for the rest of their lives.

Being present with Coach Al is seeing charisma in action. He believes in you before you believe in yourself. His training mantras are well rehearsed and proclaimed loudly by all of his current and past participants. “If you don’t mind, it don’t matter” and “Just do the damn thing.”

One of his TNT participants was so inspired by Coach Al, that they wrote a letter to the Olympic committee and nominated him to carry the Olympic Torch for the United States in 2002. He describes this as one of the most memorable highlights of his life.

If the day finally comes that we hang up our racing shoes and retire, we'll look back on a lot of races and medals. But the things that we'll remember most are the people we met, especially the ones who inspired us to take the path that we travelled and continue to inspire generations by their example. 

Thank you, Meb, Coach Al and Mama Lisa. Because of you, we're marathoners for Life.

A Long Road Behind. An Open Road Ahead.

Deal with the past. Practice forgiveness and gratitude.

Be optimistic about the future. Let go of worry and fear.

When you can do that, you can truly celebrate the present. 

I'm a bit of a statistics geek. When I get a bucket of numbers or lists and I have free time (like I do during a slow Thanksgiving week), I like to look at the past to see what I can learn.  With our 100th half marathon coming up next week in San Antonio, it was nice to take a trip through the first 99.

We started in 2005. When we were racing with Team in Training, the idea of doing more than a half marathon every 12 weeks or a full more than twice a year was not within the realm of possibility. We didn't even speak about it. I think the idea was that our participants, many first time marathoners, should concentrate on their event so it's the highlight of the season. Pre-event tune up races detracted from the big one. I get that. And that's how we trained for the first four years. Most of the races we did for the first 5 years were with TNT.

That changed in 2009. Our tenure as TNT mentors and coaches went to an every other year basis and the teams in the Bay Area got smaller, probably due to competition from other training organizations. We added a few of the short hop destination races like Rock n Roll Vegas (with a day-time Run Through Wedding) and a local race featuring a Walk Division (Eye-Q Twin Cities Fresno).

Rock n Roll Las Vegas 2009. Our first vow renewal, photobombed by Elvis.

In 2010, we also found out about the bonus Heavy Medals offered by Rock n Roll. That year, we had 3 halfs and a full to get the Grand Slam. We also met a Marathon Maniac, Kamika Smith. That meeting on the Seattle causeway led us to join the Half Fanatics and eventually the Marathon Maniacs.

This was one instance where Susan and I did different races. Susan did the full in Seattle because I had done one extra full in Anchorage. I did the half 5 months after reconstructive knee surgery (and PRed).
Kamika finished his 100th full on the day we met. I never thought we'd come anywhere close to that total for races.

2011 was a step change. We were on a Southwest flight for RNR Arizona and somehow we had an unscheduled layover in San Diego. We were sitting in the aisle/window in row 2 when a perky blonde lady from the C group asked if she could sit with us. She ended up chatting with Susan for the hour long flight to Phoenix and it turns out she knew all about Rock n Roll. She even mentioned that they were adding a few inaugural races in Providence, Rhode Island; Savannah, Georgia and Miami Beach. By the time we got off the plane we were so excited we registered for another 5 races that year.  Turns out that young lady was Ann Wessling, the striped-socked, high-fiving announcer for the Rock n Roll races. We ended the year with 10 races (9 half marathons) and our first (inaugural) Rock Idol Heavy Medal. Garret Schmidt saved us a second medal for our picture on the shores of Rock n Roll Miami Beach (ours was in the mail).

We hit another inaugural in RNR Pasadena in 2012. I'm not sure where it got into our heads that we would do another 10 races, but the schedule filled up quickly. We met Dan and Jackie Evans, contestants from The Biggest Loser season 5.  They were in the early stages of setting up The Biggest Loser RunWalk race series. We signed up to raise money for Team Future, the Chicago area charity they were supporting, and they were gracious enough to treat us with VIP passes for Rock n Roll Chicago. That was the race we met Beth Deloria and Jim Austin. Beth is the director of social outreach for Allard and the GetBackUp Today movement. She runs with a special brace on her left foot because her ankle was paralyzed from a spinal surgery, but it hasn't slowed her down. She's a Boston qualifier and she and Jim are among our closest friends. By the end of the year, we bought memberships to the Half Fanatics group (#1731 and #1732) as Christmas presents to each other.

In 2013, things took a turn for the ridiculous. We had become good friends with Al and had dinners and post race celebrations with him and Caryn since RNR San Jose 2012, but when Competitor Group had a scheduling overlap putting Rock n Roll San Antonio and Rock n Roll Las Vegas on the same day, Al called me saying 'you know, it might be possible to do both'. We'd done full marathons before that, obviously, but even this was a step up. That was the year Double Live / SA2LV happened. We also added the inaugural Berkeley Half Marathon the following weekend to moon up to Earth level as Half Fanatics with 3 halfs in 3 states in 10 days. That split double gave us a good start for the Brazen New Years Eve/New Years Day double, just a month before we did full marathons 4 days apart on Antarctica and South America.

A second vow renewal, this time with a larger party on an emotional weekend.

The finish line at Vegas with a warm welcome from Ann.

2014 was our busiest year with 47 half marathons between us. Susan had the extra race that year at the Zooma Women's marathon in Napa, California. I didn't race in it, but was there in full support in an electric blue tutu. We also added the 50th Anniversary Mustang Half, a once in a lifetime chance to race on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We were able to walk in The Biggest Loser RunWalk races in Casper, Wyoming and Panama City Beach, Florida. It was also the year we did our first Disney races, starting with the Dumbo Double Dare in September and Disney Avengers in November (as the first half of the Avengers/RNR Vegas Double Live 2). We were even part of George Melichar's moving art museum at Rock n Roll Chicago. At Rock n Roll San Antonio, we hit our 15th RNR race, putting us on the first ever Heavy Medal Hall of Fame for CGI.

2015 saw another pair of Disney races and two The Biggest Loser RunWalk races.  We went back to where we did our first full marathon in Anchorage, Alaska to mark 10 years since our first race. The celebration was also our 20 year wedding anniversary.  With the inaugural Rock n Roll Brooklyn Half, we checked off the 25th state for half marathons. After this year's Disney Avengers/Rock n Roll Las Vegas double, we also finished our 15th RNR for another entry into the Hall of Fame. 

Messing with Darth

Dan and Jackie. The Biggest Winners in our book.

More than anything, we'll remember our first 99 races with our friends. We cheered for Joe for his 100th finishing his Rock n Roll race in DC. 

In the rain at DC for Joe's 100th Rock n Roll

We prayed for Beth as she underwent major surgery in March and recovered quickly enough to race again in May.

Pre-race at Rock n Roll Raleigh. Beth was just a few weeks out of abdominal surgery and came out to cheer us on. We all wore bibs in her honor.

We came together for Erin Zeman. Joe, Kevin and I wore her husband, Jake's bib from the day he passed away at Rock n Roll Savannah 2013.

Rock n Roll San Antonio will be our 16th RNR each for this year and our 45th half for 2015 combined. And it'll be a race where a lot of our best friends are hitting the 15 race Hall of Fame for the year as well. I want to see how many people I can fit into a group selfie of all the friends we've made over the years and the ones we hope to see for years to come.

I am grateful for every time I post a picture of my suitcase and the dozen or so luggage tags from the races we've done that year.

I'm glad that our bodies have forgiven us for the miles that we put on them.

I'm looking forward to the finishing in San Antonio on Sunday. It'll be the last of our first 100 half marathons.

At that time, and always, we'll celebrate the present.

~//~

I found this way of displaying our race history a little surprising. It didn't really dawn on me that we have been racing nearly every other weekend for almost three years now, most of them out of state. It does make me wonder if we've found a sweet spot or we're just taking a quick pause before going to the next level.

By the numbers, the 100 Half Marathon breakdown and stats.

Top Race Companies: 
- Rock n Roll Marathon (67 and 68 halfs, 5 and 4 fulls)
- runDisney (4) 
- The Biggest Loser RunWalk (4)

Most Frequented Races: 
RNR San Diego (6)
RNR Chicago (6)
RNR Seattle (5)
RNR Arizona (5)
RNR Las Vegas (5)
We've also done Nike San Francisco 10 times, but 8 of those were in support and we did the full marathon as pacers.

States with completed Halfs: 25
In order of completion: California, Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Illinois, Texas, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Virginia, Florida, District of Colombia (yes we'll count it), Oregon, Colorado, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Michigan, New York.

Canadian Provinces: 2
Quebec, British Columbia

Legacy Races: 
RNR Portland (4 years). We haven't seen this on the 2016 RNR schedule yet.
RNR San Francisco (3)
If you count these: Disney Avengers (2) and RNR Raleigh (2). 

Fastest halfs: 
Walking: Ron 2:22:28 RNR San Diego 2015, Susan 2:29:23 RNR San Diego 2014
Run/Walking: Ron 2:55:54 (yeah, go figure) RNR Chicago 2014, Susan 2:30:03 RNR Cleveland 2013

Best Age graded performances:  
Ron 63.27%, Susan 65.63%

Best Overall Finishes:
Ron: 1st place - TBL Casper 2014, TBL Las Vegas 2015, 3rd Place - TBL Panama City Beach 2014, American River Parkway 2014
Susan: 2nd place - TBL Casper 2014, 3rd place - TBL Las Vegas 2015.

Age grade awards:
Ron:  1st Place - Eye Q Fresno, 3rd Place - Eye Q Fresno
Susan: 1st Place - Eye Q Fresno, 1st Place American River Parkway (twice)

Favorites - random categories, because people always ask the question:
Ron: 
Favorite overall - Kauai. Tunnel of Trees and the most beautiful finish chute starting at mile 11.
Favorite Urban - RNR Chicago. I can do without the bridges, but the city is awesome.
Favorite For Speed - RNR San Diego. 4 PRs in 4 years (one in the 5K)
Most memorable: RNR San Antonio/RNR Las Vegas 2013. For many reasons.

Susan: 
Favorite Rock n Roll race - Vancouver. The last 3 miles smell like fresh cut Christmas trees.
Race with the most to look forward to at the finish: Diva San Francisco (Tiaras, Feather Boas, Champagne)
Most Scenic: Maui, Monterey