Alright, as any good lawyer knows, everything must have rules. So, now for the rules of this endeavour...obviously we must complete 50 half marathons in each of the 50 states by the time I am 50, which gives us 10 years - actually under 10 years now:( Other than the rules inherent in that premise, the following are the governing rules that Michele and I came up with:

1) We must both do the same event at the same time (although we do not need to remain together during the race nor do we need to finish together);

2) Each of us must finish the race for it to count;

3) For every 2 races Missy selects, Michele gets to select 1 - and she is fully aware of why this is the case so direct all inquiries on this subject to her:);

4) For each race Michele selects, she must either make certain that audio devices are permitted OR she must stay with Missy for the entire race to entertain her;

5) We must do something cool/memorable at each race venue;

6) The race MUST have a finisher's medal;

7) We must race at least one theme race where we both must fully participate in the theme;

8) We must race at least one "Rock n Roll" race;

9) We must race at least one "green" race;

10) We must race at least one race that permits us to have our four legged babies run with us;

11) Bella gets to join us for at least one race;

12) Jessie gets to join us for at least one race;

13) Baby Clabaugh (currently 24 weeks in utero) gets to join us for one race after birth and
Michele and I will take turns pushing the baby jogger;

14) Regardless of who chooses the race, we must be able to have access to the race course description and elevation charts prior to registration;

15) We can choose to convert 1 half marathon per year to a full marathon by mutual agreement;

16) In the event of a half ironman, this will count toward a 1/2 marathon for that state a) if both of us complete the entire event or b) if one of us completes the entire event and the other relays at least the running portion of the event or c) if one of us completes the entire event and the event also has a separate half marathon that the other completes; AND FINALLY

17) If either of us qualifies for Boston or NY, the other must do everything in her power to qualify for Boston or NY and both then run that event - if the other does not qualify, she still must go with the one that did qualify and be support staff.

As if the challenge of 50 half marathons in 50 states in 10 years isn't challenging enough...this should really make it a challenge!!!

Gearing up for the first "race" taking place in 20 days...can't really call it a race for me since the doc won't allow the heart rate above 140 which puts me at about 4.6 miles per hour - I can only assume it will be slower by the time of the race as I will then be 27 weeks pregnant, but we shall see:)