Travel and running are two of our favorite things here at Run Ink, so we love when runners combine them and take on this challenge!. 

Here are a few tips and resources to help you on this epic journey. 

1. Register with 50 States Half Marathon Club for race discounts, meets ups, room shares, access to the member forum and more. 

2. How are you going to pick what races you are going to do? First, you may want to create a budget - that can give you an idea of how many races you can do a year. Now that you have that number start filling in your dream marathon list!

Here are some good race listicles and tools to get your brain going:

- 7 Island Half Marathons in the USA
- USA's Most Scenic Half Marathons
- Half Marathons in the USA Worth Traveling For
- New England Runner has a great calendar of Half Marathons in New England
- Running USA has a VERY extensive calendar of Half Marathons by State and Month
- Here is a round up of the Best 50 Half Marathons in the USA
- Runner's World has a great post on their favorite marathons for 2019. They also have a race calendar search tool. 

3. Need more time? Here is a list of races - one per state - that have longer time limits, some up to 7 hours. As we tell people when they order Marathoner Maps, you moved your body for "X" amount of time, regardless of what that number is - it is something to be proud of. 

4. You're going to need a medal holder. Feeling crafty? You could make this really cute medal holder with one hook for each state and a fill in map. Rather have it made for you? This handmade medal holder is similar and available on Etsy.

5. Want to show off your hard work? Use our USA Map Race Sticker Chart. We have sheets of stickers for 13.1, 26.2 and Spartan as well as a few for PR and BQ. Each state has an area to write in your personalized race stats.