R and J in the USA

It would be accurate to say that Julie crossed the finish line of our Wyoming 5K both huffing and puffing (though not intending to blow any houses down). She had been committed to running a low heart rate race and had struggled so much to do so that she ended up run-walking the second mile. She figured the reason for this was her escalating heart rate issues thanks to the wear and tear of the trip and some overtraining in its early days. When she crossed the finish line, she was greeted by Ryan (who had gotten there a full 8 minutes earlier, capturing 4th overall in the race – read more about it in our 5Ks section), who was chatting with the race’s overall winner, a 59 year old wearing a 50 marathons in 50 states tank top. So, there was already a lot of 50 in 50 going on. 

As Ryan greeted Julie and brought her into the conversation, he told her, “Jerry here just told me we are at 6100 feet of elevation.”

Ooooohhh! Now that explains a heck of a lot. Ryan had also struggled through the race (but chose to push through it), so both Julie and Ryan were finding this a particularly useful puzzle piece.

Through the aforementioned huffing and puffing, Julie chimed in, “Now that makes sense. I’m sure Ryan told you, we are not from around here.”

As Jerry nodded in acknowledgement a voice from behind Julie chimed in to join in on common ground, “We are not from around here either!”

Julie turned around to see a fellow race finisher, also from out of town and also relieved to get the explanation for her race experience.

”Where are you from?” She asked Julie.

”New York.”

The woman’s eyes went wide.

Once we got as far as Michigan, we started to get wide eyes when we would say we are from New York. That’s about the distance where people feel you are a long enough way from home that it’s worth remarking on. Understandable. So, it’s been many states since we’ve become used to the widening eyes when we mention we are from New York, and it’s usually the beginning of a fun conversation.

This one was different though. Those wide eyes were thanks to another layer of camaraderie.

”Us too!” She said.

”Whoa!” Julie exclaimed. This was unexpected. 

“Are you from New York City?” Julie asked

”Yes.” She replied.

”Oh, we are from Rochester. But, wow. How neat. I love New York city and go as often as I can manage.” Julie carried on.

At this point, Ryan was still deep in a post-race runners conversation with Jerry while Julie turned to put her full attention into talking with Alla from New York City.

”So what brought you out here?” Alla asked with exactly the same level of curiosity Julie was feeling and winding up to point right back to Alla when her turn to inquire came around. Turns out, no need.

”We are doing a tour of all 50 states!” Julie shared with an undimmed enthusiasm after sharing about the trip countless times at this point. But her enthusiasm was about to go through the roof.

Alla’s eyes widened even more as she burst out, “Us too!”

What?!?! Now, we had thought running into a fellow Pittsfordite at Devil’s Tower was a coincidence (check out our blog post about that encounter in the People Along the Way section), but this was off the charts! Two 50 states tours, both originating in New York State, that not only both hit Wyoming at the same time, and the same place in Wyoming at the same time, but it turns out are ALSO doing races in every state and THEN pick the same small local 5K in Cheyenne in September to be their Wyoming race. What are the odds?

As you can imagine, we were both practically tripping over ourselves with questions to ask each other about each other’s trips. What state number are you on? When did you start? Why are you doing it? When did you come up with the idea? Before long, Alla’s husband, Stan, came over to join in on the conversation.

Somewhere in here a few minutes later, Ryan also came over to join in, having only caught certain words from his adjacent conversation with Jerry. 

When he came over, Julie exclaimed “You are not going to believe this, Babe!” and Ryan was all in on the bonding from there.

Not long into the back and forth, Ryan and Julie suspected these were people we would click with, since it takes a certain type of person to have it on their bucket list to visit all 50 states. But when they told us their trip had a catchy numbered name, our suspicions of kinship turned into certainty. They call their trip “50 States Before 50”. For us, it’s ”5Ks in 50 States”. 

For Alla and Stan, their approach is a little different. They started their 50 state adventure in 2019 trying to do seven states give or take per year. Wyoming was number 45 for them, while it was number 19 for us. They are both turning 50 next year (in July and October, respectively) and are planning their final state trip to Hawaii to be in May of 2025. They’ll hit their remaining four before then. Definitely a good state to end on. They are ALSO doing a race in each state. When they first mentioned that sometimes they do 5Ks and sometimes half marathons, Julie was at first agog, thinking about what a physical toll a simple 5K in each state is proving to be. It made more sense when they explained they spaced them out throughout the year.

We bonded over many things beyond just the drive to do it at all and the appeal of cutesy names. When Alla asked Julie the “why” question, Julie covered the quick and obvious reasons, of which they were all on board for – it’s a fun adventure, there are so many beautiful places and fun things to experience in our country, it’s a fun thing to check off of a list. Then Julie went into the deeper reasons.

”In all honesty, a big part of it is I really love this country, and lately I feel like there is so much distance and division and I wanted to feel a sense of connection with my fellow country people somewhere outside of YouTube comments, pundits, and news articles that just make me feel more distant. I just felt like the best way to do it is in a more personal and intimate way, of actually being in the places where people are living their lives. It’s really hard to understand people that are living in a place and a way that is so different from your own context if you never step out of your own context, and I feel that, if I really want to know our country and be a part of it, I need to make the effort if I can to actually show up, visit, say hello, and take it all in.”

Alla and Stan nodded enthusiastically throughout, not just in understanding, but in agreement and resonance as part of their reason for doing it too. This just added to that feeling of kinship. Julie didn’t expect others to be having a similar feeling, and one that was so similar that it would motivate such an undertaking.

Alla replied, ”We are originally from Ukraine and moved to the US well over thirty years ago, went to high school here and everything, so this is home. But whenever we thought of traveling, we thought of going to Europe or Asia or South America. Then, we realized, we don’t even really know the United States. There is so much beauty here and you realize so much about different people’s lives when you see where they are living.”

A few more commonalities came out. Julie gave Ryan his proper acknowledgement as the loving and supportive husband who enjoys living in our stationary house that has multiple separate rooms who was willing to commit to living in a one room glorified tin can on wheels for ten months to help Julie realize this dream. Stan nodded in what was clearly another personal recognition.

”I wouldn’t do this trip if it weren’t for her,” he said, acknowledging Alla’s drive.

After acknowledging Julie and Alla as the motors behind the locomotion of their respective trips, both Ryan and Stan jumped in with how much they are enjoying it. Stan mentioned how enriching such an experience is and how much he thinks everyone who can do it should do it. We were all grateful for our good fortune in being able to make this dream happen, each in our own particular ways that fit with our own particular lives and constraints.

We were all agreed on that point. Traveling to all 50 States is certainly fun-filled with experiences and adventures and is worth doing for that reason alone. But it is also something more. We are all one big country of lots of different people with different lives, different histories, different experiences, different values, and different perspectives. But we are one country nonetheless. To see this expansive land and get a little taste of the various kinds of life lived throughout can do something to you. Something good. It can change you a bit, enrich you, if you allow it to. We are so grateful we get to do it, and even more grateful we got to meet some like-minded folks along the way.

Happy travels to all!