Maryland #2: I Don’t Give a 5K

April 27, 2025

As we neared the finish line of our 50^th state, we had several make-up items to tackle to round out our trip. We had a list of things we’d aimed to complete 50 for 50 and for various reasons and technicalities, there were a few straggling items that needed revisiting if, as the purists we are, we could really lay claim to the full accomplishments we sought.

One was to get a picture of a ‘Welcome to Connecticut’ sign, two others were to tour the Connecticut and New Jersey state capitol buildings, and another was for Julie to swim in New Jersey. With those items checked off the list, one loose thread remained as we rolled into the DC area for the epilogue of our long adventure: run a 5K in Maryland.

We did run a race in Maryland, the second state in our 50 states tour, when we were there last June. And that is why we felt we could celebrate our NY 5K as our 50th state race and the finish line of finish lines…because it was. However, when we arrived for our Maryland race back in June, we didn’t realize until we showed up that the race was actually a 3-miler and not a full 5K. Splitting hairs? Maybe. But we said we were going to run 5Ks in 50 states, and when we said it, we meant it. So, as a result, we had not truly run a 5K in every state on this trip. Since we are purists and didn’t want to spend the rest of our lives post-trip with a small disclaimer, we needed to remedy the situation, which is why we landed in College Park, Maryland, on a sunny Sunday morning for the third annual I Don’t Give a 5K.

The race was run in memory of Rene Haley and supports the Rene G. Haley Initiative, whose mission is to support recreational, sporting, and educational opportunities for young people. The RGH Initiative provides support to community-based organizations and groups for alternative sporting activities such as swimming, skateboarding, snowboarding, flag football, and others.

The goal of the race was to raise $10K or more to support community programs such as the RGHI Annual Holiday Toy Drive, Fall School Coat Drive, The Huddle, educational workshops for young adults, and the RGHI college scholarship fund. The RGH Initiative’s ultimate goal is to give back to the community in remembrance of Rene G. Haley, an avid sportsman who participated in swimming, snowboarding, basketball, skateboarding, and flag football events – everything but running, as his mother told us after the race. Actually, Rene despised running and that’s exactly why his friends came up with idea as a fun way to remember and rib their dear friend at the same time.

This was a nice race to round out our 5ks in 50 states. It was small and low key. Most of the 67 participants seemed to be connected to Rene somehow, and they were a fun group, a tight-knit community of people who came together for a cause and did so with positivity and enthusiasm. We’ve been to a number of races where there was a short warm-up and dynamic stretching session that was led before the race. This is the first one we’ve been to where everyone was participating and doing it with exuberance and laughter and fun. This warm community welcomed us into the fold and made us feel right at home.

The course was a scenic out-and-back with a loop along a flat asphalt recreation path. We curled around the end of the runway of the College Park Airport, a small airport for small planes, then looped counterclockwise around Lake Artemesia, a small lake in the Lake Artemesia Natural area, all the while surrounded by trees and grass in the green bloom of a Maryland spring under sunny, blue skies.

At our 50th state race in New York that we invited our friends and family from home to come celebrate with us, after the race, Julie was enjoying chatting with her 13 year-old nephew, Harley. “You should have crossed the finish line together.” He had commented. Julie realized he was absolutely right and it was a missed opportunity. When we finalized our decision to run one more race to make our 5Ks in 50 States claim official, we decided to take his wise counsel. What better way to cross the finish line of the last race of our trip?

We ran the course side-by-side and ended hand in hand across the finish line. Though we finished together, we ended up in different places. Julie was the top female finisher and placed 7^th overall. Ryan finished 6^th overall, edging out Julie by a whopping 0.05 seconds. He was 6^th among males and 2^nd in his age group.

Full results here.

Our 5Ks in 50 states now officially complete, we walked back to our van and drove back to our campsite for the rest of our Sunday.