Seventeen down, 33 to go for this group of female half marathoners

Seventeen down, 33 to go.

Four women from Lafayette, La., marked off the 17th state Saturday in their quest to run half marathons in all 50 states.

The women are Toria Burrell, Veronica Williams, Mandolia Jean Batiste and April Briscoe.

They have been running together for 13 years and began their mission about four years ago. They are trying to knock off about four states per year, and have also run races in Canada and Jamaica.

“We’re doing it just to see different sceneries and visit the states,” Williams said. “We call them run-cations. We get to run and we get to see a different place at the same time.”

They enjoyed the Myrtle Beach course, but judged it to be the second windiest race they have run.

“The wind would pick you up,” Williams said. “It was like you were running and not moving. You’d turn a corner and it would come from any direction.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2018 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Seventeen down, 33 to go for this group of female half marathoners."