It all started with a love of running! 5 years ago, I found myself sad, depressed and generally questioning if I had accomplished anything significant in my life, so I decide to sign up for a half marathon. Three miles was the most I’d run at the time, but I committed to a training plan and conquered my first race. It was the most amazing experience and I was immediately hooked!

23 half marathons and 1 full marathon later, I still find love, peace and connectiveness while running but needed a new challenge and bigger purpose for my life. One day I met a fellow runner who shared her goal of running a half marathon in all 50 states. I loved the challenge the idea represented and immediately started to plan vacations around races. Runcations were great but I now had a new problem. I had run so many races but struggled to keep up with them. I had the medals but didn’t have any way to display and to be honest, show off all the states I’d run in! And there you have it… I Run The States was born…. but the story doesn’t end there.

All of us at I Run The States believe we all have a responsibility to make our planet, community and world a better place. During my period of self-discovery, I met a young man who builds wells in rural areas in West Africa. My heart broke listening to some of the stories he shared. I couldn’t’ get them out of my mind. I did some researched and was shocked to realize that approximately 35% of the world population lack access to clean drinking water. As a runner, I understood how important proper hydration was for my runs, but for millions of people around the world, access to clean drinking water was literally life or death. I knew I had to do something to help. I Run The States was created not just as a way to track the states you’ve run in, but more importantly, as a way to positivity impact the lives of someone else. A percentage of each map sold goes to support our mission of providing clean drinking water to improvised people around the world because, water is life! We hope you join us on this journey!