Idaho

26.2 x 50: Steve Runs a Marathon in Every State

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Steve has always been a runner. He ran cross country in high school with his buddy Kent Ferris. He ran his first half marathon in the 80s while in college. But his greatest athletic accomplishment, running a full marathon of 26.2 miles in all 50 states, didn’t begin until he was in his 40s. 

Running for Blair High
Run the Alamo in San Antonio

In 2008 he joined his colleague and friend Steve Hogen for his first out of state marathon in Utah. Work and other commitments limited the time for training, so future races were few and far between. The majority of the 50 marathons were completed after he retired in 2016. 

The quest to run in every state led us on an adventure that was shared with our closest friends and family. In Colorado and Alaska, Sam was there to cheer him on.

Anchorage Mayors Marathon
Aspen Valley Marathon

Kent ran two marathons (Iowa and Illinois) beside Steve.

Des Moines Marathon
Starved Rock Marathon

Our friend Sheri joined us in Hawaii. Gary was there for the celebrations in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Massachusetts.

Honolulu Marathon
Omaha Marathon

Our RV buddies Gail and Jeff were at the finish line in Hartford.

Hartford Marathon
Cheering Steve on!

The Lawsons joined us in San Diego and San Antonio, where Tina and I did the half while Steve did the full.

Waiting for Steve at San Antonio Marathon
Waiting for Steve at Rock and Roll San Diego

My Dad cheered him on in Prescott for the end of the Whiskey Row Marathon.

Steve’s parents were there in Omaha and Kansas City, and Steve’s mom, cousins and I did the half at the Rock and Roll Arizona while Steve met us all at finish after the full. 

Omaha Marathon
Rock and Roll Arizona Marathon

Finally, our sweet girl Mia crossed the finish in Steve’s arms at the Cheyenne Marathon. Marathoning is indeed a team sport!

Steve finished his 50th 26.2 mile race in Cape Cod, Massachusetts on October 11, 2026. We celebrated with Gary, Mitch, Lauren, Caleb, and Will with a lobster dinner and plenty of toasts to our Superman. 

In Falmouth MA
Crossing the line for #50
Finish line chowder
Lobster celebration
Steve, Mitch & Will
Caleb, Lauren, me, Gary, Steve, Mitch & Will

We’ve polled friends as to what the next challenge should be. Steve doesn’t have any plans to continue racing but he is considering his options . His favorite idea so far is “visit a distillery in every state.”  Time will tell what’s next for our runner. 

Along the way, people have asked a lot of questions about this venture. Here are Steve’s response to the most frequently asked questions:

What was your favorite race? They are all unique but the New York Marathon, with over 50,000 participants and millions of spectators along the route, stands out as one of the most memorable. Fellow high school principal Greg Milbrandt joined Steve for this epic race.

New York Marathon
New York Marathon

What was the hardest race Right in our backyard, the Whiskey Row marathon was one of the most challenging. It has over 3,000 feet of climbing at elevations of 5,200 to over 7,000 feet. Steve has finished this race twice.

What was the most beautiful course? The Fly to Pie Marathon in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, run during peak leaf change season, couldn’t be beat. 

Were they all 26.2 miles? Actually, Steve’s rule was that the race had to be 26.2 miles or more. Three of the races he completed, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, were considered ultra-marathons, over 26.2 miles each. 

Mah Dah Hey Ultra Marathon
Winning his age group at MDH

You’ve really run 50 marathons? Well, he’s really run over 60 marathons. Those extras include multiple Arizona and Nebraska races, three international marathons (Greece, Iceland, and Cuba), and two races where he did not finish. 

Athens, Greece
Havana, Cuba

We have many race-related photos and will post many of them below, mostly so we can remember each experience more clearly. Steve says thanks to all the people who showed up to support him, who checked in when he struggled through injuries, and who cheered him on via Facebook. The accomplishment is even more sweet sharing it with all of you. 

Jackson, MS
Huntsville, AL
Louisville, KY
Indianapolis, IN
Gladstone, MI
Duluth, MN
Green Bay, WI
Seattle, WA
Portland, ME
New Orleans, LA
Prescott, AZ
Missoula, MT
Reykjavik, Iceland
Brookings, SD
Knoxville, TN
Asheville, NC
Ft Lauderdale, FL
Fayetteville, AR
Charleston, SC
Severna Park, MD
Coeur d’Alene, ID
Newport, RI
Keene, NH
Rehoboth Beach, DE
Jersey City, NJ
Cincinnati, OH
Tulsa, OK
Eugene, OR
Philadelphia, PA
Arlington, VA

Fun in Northern Idaho

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We’ve been to Idaho several times and each visit we fall more in love. This time we traveled from Grand Teton National Park in western Wyoming, through southern Idaho, with the goal of reaching Coeur d’Alene for a marathon in Steve’s 35th state.

First we met up with Steve’s cousin Tracy and her husband Mark, near Boise, for a lunch filled with catching up and reminiscing. We hadn’t seen Tracy in Y-E-A-R-S, so it was long overdue and super fun to see them. Traveling in the RV gives us these opportunities from time to time and for that we are grateful.

Marnie, Steve, Tracy, and Mark

From Boise we drove north another two hours to the resort town of McCall. This is a popular area for the city folk from Boise, and we quickly saw why. Surrounded by stunning mountains, roaring rivers, and sweeping views, McCall had us enthralled immediately. We explored the area on foot on the Goose Creek Falls trail, which took us down, down, down to the creek that roared below. It snowed a little bit along the way, but wasn’t enough to deter us.

Goose Creek bridge
Selfie at the Falls
Roaring Goose Creek

Even though it was still pretty chilly, we got out on the bikes a few times. First we rode on the awesome paved city trails to the nearby Ponderosa State Park. Filled with incredibly beautiful hiking and biking trails, the park is the jewel in McCall’s crown. It wraps around Payette Lake, which just adds to the beauty. The park was almost empty since it was still early in the season and the weather hadn’t yet warmed up. For us, that’s perfect!

Cold day at Ponderosa State Park
Biking in McCall
Biking along Payette Lake

On another day we rode the twenty miles around Payette Lake, which took us through enviable lakeside neighborhoods and then into the State Park again to travel just along the lake’s edge. My new e-bike allows me to keep up with Steve and makes these excursions so much fun!

Random waterfall near Lake Payette
At the northern section of Ponderosa State Park
Ponderosa State Park

In McCall we stayed at the McCall RV Resort and from there we could walk to the Broken Horn Brewery. This became our hangout, and one evening we even caught the weekly pickers circle, where local musicians gather and jam for the evenings.

Great local brewery in McCall
Weekly Jam Session at Broken Horn Brewing

After four nights in McCall, it was time to head north for a beautiful drive up Highway 95 to Coeur d’Alene (CDA). We were here a few years ago and happened upon the CDA marathon. That inspired us to return. Our site at Blackwell Island RV Park was very near the shores of the Spokane River and allowed us to easily get into town.

Ready to run #35

On a cold but clear morning, Steve finished his 26.2 mile run, mostly along the banks of Lake Coeur d’Alene, while I did the 10K. He has now completed a marathon in 35 states. 

Can you find Steve in the crowd at the start line?

We’re making our way to our new RV site in Traverse City, Michigan. On our first road day we stopped at one of the coolest National Park Service sites we’ve visited. Grant-Kohrs National Historic Site, about an hour southeast of Missoula, Montana, celebrates ranching in the west.

It took us about an hour to tour the 175 year old ranch, which was once the largest cattle operation in the country. It is still a working cattle operation, and we visited during calving season. I just kept thinking, “Dad would have loved this!”

Steve makes a friend
Belgian work horse at the ranch
Great setting for the chuckwagon
Cowboy and Park Ranger getting ready to feed
Feeding the heifers

We’re now settled in to our campground at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. As you may remember from previous posts, Lewis and Clark are Steve’s favorite explorers.

That’s us! The Trailer Twins on the Lewis and Clark Trail
Who are your favorite explorers?

Tomorrow we’ll take a tour of the caverns and visit a few other historic sites nearby. We’ll keep you up to date on all the fun in our next post.

Twin Falls: The Final Stop

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We’ve been on the road for almost 80 days and it’s been fantastic. However, there’s an end to every summer and ours was in Twin Falls, Idaho. We spent four nights in this south-central Idaho city at a local KOA. We sat right next to the highway and could hear (and smell) the cows nextdoor. It was one of our lowest rated campgrounds, but it gave us easy access to Twin Falls which was why we were there.

Our first day there was all business.  I got a new phone, Steve got the truck’s oil changed, and we did a Costco run. Once we were caught up on life we headed out to see the sights.

The big draws in Twin Falls all revolve around the Snake River Canyon. The IB Perrine Bridge spans the canyon and was at one time the tallest bridge in the world.

Now it draws base jumpers from across the world. These daredevils jump off the bridge with only a loose parachute with hopes of landing on the banks of the river hundreds of feet below. It’s quite a sight to watch!

We quickly found the Snake River Rim Trail, a ten mile trail that skirts the edge of the steep canyon edge. We rode it twice. The first time we made it to the Evel Knieval jump site, the place where in 1974 the daredevil attempted to jump the canyon in a rocket-like contraption.

His parachute engaged early and he plunged down to the river’s edge. The launch site is still there, a mini-mountain that Steve had to climb. 

The other day we rode we made it to Shoshone Falls, one of the prides of Twin Falls. Known as the “Niagra of the West,” the falls are pretty spectacular, even though the water levels were low this time of year. 

Riding along the rim provided spectacular views of the canyon and river below. 

Twin Falls and much of the region was hit with a strong “wind event” the night before we were set to leave. With wind gust of over 60mph, the RV rocked and shook for quite awhile. Luckily we didn’t have damage and it didn’t look like anyone else around us did either. Boy, what a mess.

As we drove south toward Salt Lake City it was clear that the storm was even stronger there. Along I-15 just north of Salt Lake we passed over 40 big rig trucks blown over along the side of the road. It was still pretty windy but we made it safely to our overnight stop, another Harvest Host, south of Salt Lake.

All good things come to an end and this trip is about over. We plan to be back home by the end of the week and ready to plan our next adventure!