My name is Mario Wiggins. I’m doing a half-marathon in the 50 United States of America and Washington, DC.
My first half-marathon was on August 12, 2007. It was part of my weight loss journey, and I lost 55 pounds—going from 225 pounds (11/01/2006) to 170 pounds (07/31/2007) in 10 months.
I continued to run for 3.5 years (11/01/2006 to 05/01/2010) before deciding to take on a greater goal to complete a half-marathon in each state. I officially started that journey on May 1, 2010, with OHIO being my 2nd state.
In September of 2010, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. Five states had been completed at that point, and five more were already pre-scheduled and paid through March 2, 2011. While I was away completing state 6, my wife was rushed to the emergency, and I was far from home in South Carolina. I worried the entire night, ran state six the next morning, then flew back home with intentions of ending my half-marathon journey.
The chemo treatments continued, and so did I. I completed states 7, 8, 9, and 10 before her last chemo treatment, which took place in May of 2011. She has been cancer-free since then.
I completed three more half-marathons before I gave up on my goal to spend more time with my family. State 13 was completed on August 17, 2013 in Madison Wisconsin.
We fought her Breast Cancer – together. After her final treatment, the oncologist told us to live life fully, so that is precisely what we are currently doing – living life fully.
Almost 12 years later, in early April 2024, my wife asked me about my half-marathon goal. I told her, I quit the goal because she mattered more to me. She encouraged me to restart my goal and I did. I restarted on 04/27/2024 with state 14. From 04/27/24 to 08/03/25, I completed 29 states in 15 months and 7 days.
What a journey.
ALREADY COMPLETED THESE STATES
[01] 08/12/07: ILLINOIS (Chicago)
[02] 05/01/10: OHIO (Columbus)
[03] 06/27/10: MASSACHUSETTS (Boston)
[04] 08/22/10: MINNESOTA (Minneapolis)
[05] 09/19/10: PENNSYLVANIA (Philadelphia)
[06] 10/24/10: SOUTH CAROLINA (Myrtle Beach)
[07] 12/05/10: NEVADA (Las Vegas)
[08] 01/08/11: FLORIDA (Orlando)
[09] 02/13/11: LOUISIANA (New Orleans)
[10] 03/20/11: GEORGIA (Atlanta)
[11] 01/21/12: ARIZONA (Phoenix)
[12] 05/05/12: INDIANA (Indianapolis)
[13] 08/17/13: WISCONSIN (Madison)
RESTARTED THIS HALF-MARATHON JOURNEY
[14] 04/27/24: MISSOURI (St. Louis)
[15] 06/02/24: WYOMING (Casper)
[16] 06/22/24: IDAHO (Boise)
[17] 07/14/24: SOUTH DAKOTA (Rapid City)
[18] 07/28/24: WASHINGTON (Redmond)
[19] 08/25/24: MICHIGAN (Grand Rapids)
[20] 09/28/24: NEW JERSEY (Jersey City)
[21] 10/06/24: NEW MEXICO (Albuquerque)
[22] 10/12/24: IOWA (Cedar Rapids)
[23] 10/19/24: MARYLAND (Baltimore)
[24] 11/02/24: KANSAS (Salina)
[25] 11/10/24: OKLAHOMA (Oklahoma City)
[26] 11/16/24: NORTH CAROLINA (Charlotte)
[27] 11/30/24: CALIFORNIA (San Diego)
[28] 12/07/24: DELAWARE (Rehoboth Beach)
[29] 12/15/24: MISSISSIPPI (Biloxi)
[30] 01/19/25: TEXAS (Houston)
[31] 02/23/25: ALABAMA (Auburn)
[32] 03/02/25: VIRGINIA (Newport News)
[33] 04/05/25: NEW HAMPSHIRE (Derry)
[34] 04/12/25: VERMONT (Burlington)
[35] 04/13/25: COLORADO (Englewood)
[36] 04/26/25: TENNESSEE (Nashville)
[37] 04/27/25: NEW YORK (Brooklyn)
[38] 05/18/25: RHODE ISLAND (Providence)
[39] 05/30/25: NORTH DAKOTA (Fargo)
[40] 06/07/25: MAINE (Portland)
[41] 06/29/25: MONTANA (Missoula)
[42] 08/03/25: OREGON (Portland)
MY NEXT STATES by [Sequence] Date: STATE (City)
[43] 08/17/25: ALASKA
[44] 09/07/25: NEBRASKA
[45] 09/13/25: UTAH
[46] 10/11/25: CONNECTICUT
[47] 10/18/25: KENTUCKY
[48] 11/02/25: WEST VIRGINIA
[00] 11/09/25: MASSACHUSETTS
[49] 03/02/26: ARKANSAS
[00] 03/21/26: WASHINGTON DC
[50] 04/12/26: HAWAII
==========
Sincerely,
Mario Wiggins
