50 State Marathon Club picks Myrtle Beach for SC stop

Running the inaugural Myrtle Beach Marathon in 1998, David Bell of Colorado was pumped to participate in a marathon at the beach. It was during that race that he saw something even more exciting.

“At some point during the race, there goes someone with a shirt that said they had raced in all 50 states,” Bell said in a telephone interview from his home near Denver. “I said, ‘I need that shirt.’”

And he’s earned one of those shirts, a couple of times over. Since 1998, Bell has raced in 422 marathon/ultra-marathons, completing the 50 state circuit multiple times. He’ll be back in Myrtle Beach to run the marathon this weekend, and he’s bringing his friends from the 50 State Marathon Club with him for the group’s quarterly meeting.

“We are excited to get to hold the reunion in Myrtle Beach and check it off our list,” said Bell, the club’s vice president.

The 50 State Marathon Club is a nonprofit offshoot group of a former running organization that expanded its focus to include more social activity and camaraderie.

Incorporated in 2001, the club has 3,952 members who have run marathons in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 15 foreign countries (even the North and South Poles) for a total of243,000 marathons. To qualify as a club member, racers must have completed marathons in at least 10 states, submit documentation of their runs and pay a $10 annual membership fee.

Bell expects about 120 of the club’s members to attend the quarterly reunion in Myrtle Beach. A club meeting is set for 4 p.m. Friday in a room at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center, site of the HTC Runners Expo.

The unwritten goal of the club is to hold a reunion in all 50 states, and to date they have only six or seven left to visit. This year the roughly 30 South Carolina members who have raced in 1,526 marathons, get to claim the honor with the Myrtle Beach Marathon beating out more than 150 U.S. marathons scheduled during the first quarter of 2016.

Local runner and psychiatrist Murray Honick, 62, is a member of the Grand Strand Running Club and the 50 State Marathon Club. He requested the reunion be held here. Honick’s first marathon was in Myrtle Beach in 2008.

“I had been working the Rotary Club water station each year and freezing. I was impressed with the facial expressions of the people doing the half marathon. I decided to run the half marathon in 2006 and that was kind of an accomplishment,” Honick said. “After running several half marathons and watching people doing the full, it seemed they were expressing more emotions.”

Entering the 26.2 mile race in 2008, Honick got to feel what other marathoners had been feeling.

“I immediately felt awful and decided never to run another. Then three days later, I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon,” he said. “I got the bug.”

Honick then accomplished Marathon Maniac status completing three marathons in three months before he met a friend who encouraged him to go for the 50-state status. He completed his 50th state marathon in Hawaii in 2014 and moved to Titanium Maniac status completing marathons in 30 states in a year.

Honick set a goal of completing his 100th race in Myrtle Beach in February 2015 and his daughter was training to do that race with him when she died suddenly in November 2014.

Overcoming that set back, Honick has gone on to complete 107 races to date.

Explaining his philosophy, he said, “I look at life as a marathon not a sprint. So, I don’t get tied up in ups and downs. I’m in it for the long run. Slow down, don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Honick said his long-term goal is to set a record at age 101. For now, he is directing the Neon Night 5K race Friday night and pacing runners at the 5:30 pace in this Saturday’s race.

Other members who have registered to attend this week’s reunion are club founders Steve and Paula Boone as well as Larry Macon, 71, of Texas. Considered a top member of the club with more than 1,600 marathons under his feet, Macon set a Guinness World Record for running 239 marathons in one calendar year. He is the fourth person to run marathons in all 50 states in one calendar year (2005) and has completed 20 circuits of states, according to Bell.

Other club record holders include Ginny Turner of Oregon who set a Guinness World Record for the shortest overall time to complete a marathon on each of the seven continents and the North Pole by a woman. She did that in 324 days. Her previous record included shortest time to complete a marathon on all seven continents in 113 days with a finale run in the Antarctica Marathon.

There is no age or time limits for club participation although Bell estimates the average participant is in their 30s or early 40s. Members like Don McNelly of New York defy those average ages. He holds the North American record for most marathons completed after age 70 (323) and has completed 69 marathons since age 80. Now in his mid-90s, McNelly ran his last marathon at age 89, his lifetime totals include 627 marathons and 117 ultramarathons, according to an article in Runners World Magazine.

First time finish ages for club members range from 16 to 81 as runners usually accomplish the 50-state goal over an average of seven years to join the Century Club. Runners who want to take their experience to the next level become members of the Country Club when they have completed races in other countries.

Bell admits that running races in all 50 states and around the world is not inexpensive. But being a part of the group allows networking among members who become friends and often invite out of state runners to bunk in their homes.

Bell has some advice for anyone considering taking on the 50-state challenge--budget and plan your trips. He also advises that, “The No. 1 thing is to look at it as being a fun activity or a lifestyle, but not something that overwhelms your life. That is important especially for people with a family.”

Bell said many members work their races around family vacations, taking in national parks and museums along the way. “Wrap it around experiencing things that states have to offer,” he said.

“You get to experience different terrain, different climates and even different cultures. It is an awesome way to experience all those things and yet do something you enjoy.”

He added that runners get to see things while taking in 26.2 miles on foot that other tourists may miss, making their visit to each city more memorable.

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "50 State Marathon Club picks Myrtle Beach for SC stop."