For many people, just the thought of running a half marathon is enough to make us physically exhausted. But one Auburn grad has run 50 half marathons in the past five years – one in each state in the nation.
Ashley Ahner completed her 50th half marathon this past weekend at Auburn’s “Finish on the 50” race – the culmination of five years of work, planning, and lots of running.
The 28-year-old Auburn alumna started working towards this goal before she ever even realized it. She ran her first half marathon in high school in her home state of Missouri, but her second race didn’t come until college. One day some of her sorority sisters at Auburn invited her to run a half marathon with them in Orlando, Florida. Ahner ran that race and immediately needed to run again.
“With half marathons you either get the bug really bad or you do one and you never want to do it again,” she told OA News. “It’s like the most fun and the most torment to your body that you never want to do again, but some people just can’t help but continue to sign up for them.”
Ahner quickly racked up races in New Orleans, Nashville, and Atlanta. With five states behind her, she officially set her goal to run a half marathon in every state.
After graduating from Auburn with a finance degree and a master’s of business administration in 2011, Ahner found a full-time job in Atlanta. Traveling to 45 states while working was going to be a challenge, but Ahner made it work.
Using her company’s “alternate travel” program, she was able to complete seven more races in 2012. The more half marathons she completed, the harder scheduling and planning became.
“I wanted to fit them all in, but at the same time again, had to think about, ‘OK, I have to run in Maine, that needs to be in the summer because I’m not going to go up there in December or February when it’s freezing cold,’” Ahner explained. “It really did become like a big travel agent puzzle and trying to figure out economically what made the most sense and schedule-wise what made the most sense.”
Even with a backlog of 50 different races, a few stand out to her more than others. Some races had a unique twist, like Boise, Idaho passing out baked potatoes at the finish line. Others, like Maui, Hawaii, are memorable for their beautiful scenery and surreal emotions.
Ahner always wanted to end her journey in Auburn. Like most alumni, the school holds a special place in her heart, and it’s where she began seriously working toward this goal. She even dedicated her 43rd race to the Philip Lutzenkirchen Foundation.
Coming across the finish line in Jordan-Hare stadium this past Saturday, Ahner said, “It has meant a lot to me to finish out the big goal somewhere that is home to me.”
So what’s next? Ahner joins an elite group of runners to complete such a lofty goal, but she is already looking toward the future. She is currently training for a Half Iron Man, and she’s looked into some even bigger goals – like running a half marathon on every continent.
You can read about Ashley Ahner’s journey from the beginning on her blog, #DreamBig
