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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, December 15, 2003

Woman finishes 50-state goal in Hawai'i

By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer

When marathoner Boonsom Hartman was a mile from the finish line of yesterday's Honolulu Marathon, she completed her ritual done in 49 other states and Washington D.C.

She put on her lipstick.

"I had to stop and ask a motorcycle cop to borrow his mirror," she said.

With the completion of the Honolulu Marathon in 5:04:11, Hartman, a 46-year-old homemaker from Oak Forest, Ill., has run in all 50 states and Washington D.C.

"It was a big goal for me," she said. "I've been working 11 years for this; this is so exciting."

To complete her goal, Hartman, who belongs to the 50 States Marathon Club and the 50&DC Marathon Group U.S.A., had to run in New Hampshire, Maine and Connecticut before coming to Honolulu.

So she ran them on Oct. 4, Oct. 5, and Oct. 11, respectively.

"We wanted Hawai'i to be the 50th state," she said, of the reason she packed three marathons into eight days.

"It was going to be a long trip, so we decided to make a big deal out of it," her husband, Scott, said. "It didn't seem right to finish it in South Dakota."

It was her 91st marathon overall, including 10 straight years running in the Chicago Marathon.

She said that even before completing this goal of running in all 50 states and Washington D.C., she already had her next goal in mind.

"I'm going to try to finish 100 marathons some time next year," she said.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.