Ellijay runner nears goal of a half marathon in all 50 states
Forty-nine states with a half marathon completed in each one. That’s the progress made over the last seven years by Ellijay’s Allison Fuller, who’s closing in on her goal to run a half marathon in all 50 states.
Fuller, 28, plans to reach that goal in June.
“Maine is the only one I have left,” she said.
Something to work toward
Allison’s dad, Jim Kroninger; father-in-law, Al Fuller and husband, James Fuller, all enjoyed running before she decided to give it a go.
“My dad has been running since he was in high school. He tried to get me into it when I was in high school, but I didn’t care for it then,” she said. “After I met James, he said ‘Hey you should try running, and I did. He said he wanted to run a half marathon someday and I was like, ‘I’ll be there to cheer you on, but I don’t think I want to.’ But then, after about a year of trying out running, I decided, ‘Yeah, I think I do want to run one.’”
James, who’s been running recreationally since he was a student in Gilmer County schools, has been in several half-marathons with his wife, but injuries have kept him from running in the most recent races.
“My dad always ran, so I would just run with him as a kid. Then I just kind of started running (myself),” he said. “When Allison first ran with me, she hated it. Then, one day, she said ‘Hey, do you want to run the Savannah half marathon?’ That was the first one we did together.”
Georgia was the first state to be checked off Fuller’s list with that 2015 race in Savannah. James remembers the coastal heat being punishing, even though it was November.
“It was like 90 degrees and about 95 percent humidity. We almost didn’t finish, but that was the (race) that got her hooked,” he said.
Fuller soon set her 50-state goal after running a half marathon in Knoxville, Tenn., where she grew up.
“I thought it would be cool to run one in every state. I’m a very goal-oriented person, so having something to work toward is motivating for me,” she said.
Last weekend, Fuller completed #49, the Stillwater Half Marathon in Stillwater, Minn. She expects to hit #50 with the Old Port Half-Marathon in Portland, Maine, this summer.
“That will be a nice one to finish it all off,” she said.
The differing terrain, weather and climates have made some of the runs more challenging than others, while some have been surprisingly not as challenging as expected, Fuller noted.
“I guess the summer races (are the most challenging). I don’t prefer to run in the heat. Hawaii was a really hot one. In Texas, the (race) was at night, which was nice. I ran one in Oregon and didn’t realize, when I signed up, part of it was on a trail. It was right after it rained, so the trail was really muddy. I threw my shoes out after it,” she said. “In Denver, I wasn’t sure how the elevation would affect me, but it was OK. We ran through a zoo and an active firehouse and by the state capitol, which made the miles go by faster.”
Each half marathon spans 13.1 miles, which means Fuller will have covered more than 650 total miles on foot when she crosses the finish line in Maine this summer.
She was gearing up to run a half marathon in Manhattan, N.Y., in March 2020, but the ensuing COVID-19 pandemic put a lengthly hold on her progress.
“There was about a 6-8 month gap (between races) because of COVID. Before that, we were averaging about 10 a year,” James said. “The Manhattan (race) is a huge deal and very hard to get into. The Tuesday before the race was when COVID hit, and it was like a wall came down.”
Although Fuller didn’t get to run that particular race, she did cross New York off the list with the Brooklyn Half-Marathon earlier this year.
The running life
Traveling to the races isn’t cheap, but the Fullers try to save as much as possible by using credit card points and Frequent Flyer Miles toward their travels.
“We started out driving to the ones close to Georgia, but as they got further away, we started to fly,” Fuller said. “I ran probably 11 last year, but some of them are short trips. We leave on Friday and come back on Sunday.”
James said he always tries to maximize the benefits of the Frequent Flyer Miles the two accumulate in order to get the most out of them.
“A comparison would be, do you want to use a 2 percent coupon or a 20 percent coupon?” he said.
With so much traveling, one might expect the running couple to have some airport horror stories to tell. Fortunately, that’s been not the case so far, Fuller confirmed.
“That is kind of surprising considering the amount of traveling we do,” she said. “There was one where we got delayed in Atlanta and missed our layover in Chicago. We ended up having to sit there a couple of hours. Thankfully they had (a flight) that night. If they hadn’t, we would’ve missed the race the next day.”
As for future goals, Fuller said she would like to eventually finish a half marathon in under two hours.
“My main goal (right now) is to finish. I’m in it for the fun, not necessarily the time,” she said. “We’ve talked about running in different countries, too. On our honeymoon, we ran the Berlin Half Marathon together.”
The race routes have provided numerous sights and landmarks for the couple to take in, including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps made famous in the movie “Rocky” and the Las Vegas Strip. James said that honeymoon race in Berlin, Germany, offered one of the most striking backdrops of all.
“Running through the Brandenburg Gate and past the Berlin Wall, that was surreal,” he said.
Fuller has brought back a medal for each half marathon she’s finished, which is adding up to a pretty nice and very special collection.
“All of them are very unique, so it’s a fun way to remember them all,” she said.
When asked if she has any tips for aspiring long-distance runners, Fuller said not really, but it helps to just keep running.
“I try to run as much as I can. In summer, I definitely enjoy having a treadmill inside,” she said.
After the 50-state trek is complete, Fuller plans to tackle full marathons, which are 26.2 miles. She’s already signed up to run her first full marathon in Chicago this fall.
“It will raise money for Paws Chicago, which is a no-kill animal shelter,” she said.