What are your goals?

Recently, a friend asked me a very good question about my marathons: "So, what exactly are your goals, now? You've done all the majors? You've got a World Record. So, what's next? 7 Continents? 50 States? Something else?"

Damn good question. I didn't have a huge list of bucket list locations to run: Athens (the original marathon -- of course!), and Great Wall of China (not likely to go there while China is run the way it is). Sure, there are other places I'll want to run, but huge desire?

Two things I definitely plan on doing more: pacing. Currently, there are two groups/companies that I doing a small amount of pacing for. I would definitely like to do some more, and gladly rack up a few more states in the process. So far, I only have 18 states (+DC) and 5 foreign countries on 4 continents (missing Africa, South America, and Antarctica - the last of which I don't have any desire to ever run on). In addition to pacing for those groups, I have also sent some initial inquiries to Achilles International about being one of the guides for their disabled athletes. I'm not yet sure how I can do this for races since I am not close enough to the local chapter to go on training runs, but maybe it will be by being a "blocker" keeping the Achilles athlete safe from all the other runners on the course. We'll see.

So, what am I looking at? In the near-term, I have one last race for 2023 that I signed up for shortly after NYC... Dismal Swamp in Chesapeake, VA next month. It is my last chance this year to have an acceptable qualifying time for New York City 2024. (Though apparently with their new system, it actually won't guarantee me an entry.) And if I can manage that, it will serve double-duty as a guaranteed sufficient BQ time for Boston (since NYC's qualifying time is 11 minutes faster than my BQ time).

Beyond that, there are several items that are largely on my calendar:

• Houston (my "A" race to get a BQ time if Dismal Swamp doesn't get me at least a BQ-8:00 (3:17)), but which I can drop if Dismal Swamp works for me.
• Boston
• London (not currently registered, but have an opportunity to be a pacer -- fingers crossed I'm selected)
• Paris (the mass participation event after the men's marathon in the Olympics)
• MCM (I need to decide whether I'll be pacing the marathon or the 50k)

Other races I'm considering offering up as a pacer:

Miami (FL), Pocatello (ID), and Wineglass (NY) -- only 1 new state in those

Do I sign up for Toronto again for another GWR? I can't this year if I plan to run MCM 2024, since they are the same date.

One highly amusing option is the Boston Marathon UK, if I wind up as a London pacer to try this. That would give me Boston (MA), followed 6 days later by London, and then 1 week later in Boston (UK). There's a fun symmetry there, and a triple that I think very few people ever do.

Other options include some races in Spain, Iceland, Brazil, Norway, and Easter Island, in addition to several more states (which would add 4-5 new states to the list).

No, I will not be doing ALL of these, but all of them (save, likely, Toronto) are in play. I plan to keep my roster of races in a given year to 6-10 total. (And at that rate, it will take me 3-5 more years to hit 100 marathons - a now-realistic goal.)