16 of 50 states in the #50in50 done:

• NEW YORK 11/4/18: @nycmarathon
  
• NEVADA 11/11/18: @runrocknroll Vegas
  
• PENNSYLVANIA 11/18/18: @Philly_Marathon
  
• WASHINGTON 11/25/18: @seattlemarathon
  
• TENNESSEE 12/1/18: @stjude Memphis
  
• ALABAMA 12/8/18: @irunrocketcity
  
• FLORIDA 1/13/19: @rundisney #wdwmarathon
  
• LOUISIANA 1/20/19: @thelamarathon
  
• MISSISSIPPI 1/26/19: Mississippi blues Marathon
  
• ARIZONA 2/9/19: Mesa-Phoenix Marathon @phxmarathon
  
• TEXAS 2/17/19: Austin marathon @austinmarathon
  
• MASSACHUSETTS 2/24/19: Hyannis Marathon @hyannismarathon
  
• SOUTH CAROLINA 3/2/19: Myrtle Beach marathon @runmbm
  
• ARKANSAS 3/3/19: Little Rock marathon @lrmarathon
  
• NORTH CAROLINA 3/9/19: Wrightsville Beach marathon @wbmarathon
• GEORGIA 3/17/19: Publix Atlanta marathon @atlantatrackclub

I woke early at the Crown Plaza midtown and took a lyft to meet Ferd at the start line in Olympic park. We were in wave B. We had agreed the day before that we would run at 4:15 since I have 3 marathons coming up the following week in NM, OK and KS.

There was a 4:00 and 4:30 pace group, but not a 4:15, so we decided to pace ourselves. This has been a challenge for us in the past as we tend to get excited and run ahead of our planned pace. During this race, however, we were able to keep to our plan. We seem to have learned a bit after running 5 marathons together.

This was a pretty hilly course and we knew it going into the race, so there were no surprises. For most of the races I’ve run on the #50in50, I didn’t look at the course before I ran it unless I heard it was a particularly fast from one of my friends or through someone who’s run it.

I got Invisalign braces a few days ago, and this was the first race that I had run with them on. I tried to read online about what other marathon runners with Invisalign do. I decided that I was going to do go nutrition packets followed immediately by swishing water. I also decided to skip sports drinks altogether, because of the coloring, and use salt tablets instead. It seemed to work and I finished the race without staining or anything stuck in my braces.

The amazing CNN/HLN piece on Weekend Express that I taped the other day with Coy Wise aired today. I’m so honored they helped me tell Gweneviere’s and our story.

Here are our splits:

And the medal is one of my favorites. It’s in the shape of a four leaf clover (it was St. Patrick’s Day) and it spins!

Overall a great race.

Brian Reynolds, a double amputee and one of Coach Cane’s athletes stayed in my Manhattan apartment on Saturday since he NYC Half Marathon on Sunday (same day that I was running Atlanta). That’s him on the right with my friend Barrett on the left.

Brian set a new PR of 1:19:43 at the race and a new world record. Congrats to Brian and Coach Cane’s team.  I’m honored to have hosted him. What’s crazy is that before he ran the WR that day, he actually ran 4 miles to start because his Uber couldn’t get close enough to start. What an amazing athlete!

Next marathons/states on the schedule:

• 3/21 NM (Clayton)

• 3/22 OK (Guymon)

• 3/24 KS (Wichita)

Join me on the #50in50 for the Gweneviere Mann Foundation, with many ways to get involved.

PLEASE DOWNLOAD GWENEVIERE’S SONG

She was excited about releasing an album that she had just finished, but she passed before she could realize that dream, so we just recently released a single "What I Can Be" off of her album for her so that we could fulfill that dream for her. Download it here

Together we will save lives through early detection programs for lung cancer and brain tumors.

I ❤️ you Gwen.

-Yasir