'I did it': D.C. woman comes to ABQ, completes goal of running marathons in all 50 states

Kelley Redbord was about a mile away from the Duke City Marathon finish line on Sunday when she caught up with her husband and fellow runner, Ari Redbord.

As they approached the finish line, Redbord said she wanted to hold her husband’s hand up in the air. “As we crossed,” she said that he told her, ‘No, it’s your day and you go ahead.’ And that’s why I was 0.2 seconds faster than him.”

Redbord then gave a fist bump and “the tears came,” she said.

The Washington, D.C., dermatologist has now completed a marathon in every state after finishing Sunday’s race in 4 hours, 16 minutes.

“Is this a dream or did I run a marathon in every state?” she asked. “I’ve been trying to do this for so long that it is hard to even say that I did it. I did it.”

Redbord, 50, said she was happy to complete her quest in Albuquerque after not being able to participate in the event a few years ago due to the pandemic.

“When the race was canceled in 2020, it felt unfinished,” she said. “We trained, we visualized the course, and then suddenly it was gone. Coming back now is about closing that loop — celebrating the miles, the city, and the community that make this race special. So proud to be finishing this journey in Albuquerque.”

‘Stay persistent and stay focused’

Redbord’s first marathon was in 1997 when she ran the Marine Corps Marathon in the Washington, D.C, area in about four hours, she said.

At the time, Redbord said she wasn’t planning to run marathons in all 50 states.

“That probably happened six marathons later, whatever,” she said. “I knew this wasn’t going to happen overnight. And, you know, a lot of people say, ‘I can’t do that.’ They just automatically say that when they can and if you think positively and you just stay persistent and stay focused, you can get it done.”

Redbord has participated in 56 marathons, including those in New York City and Boston where she said she ran her best time of 3:30.

“(The Boston Marathon) was really exciting because you felt like, you know, you accomplished something by qualifying for (that) marathon,” Redbord said.

She said she runs year-round to get ready for the competitions. This includes daily 3 to 5 mile runs. Adjusting to Albuquerque’s elevation, however, was a challenge, she said, “as I live and train at sea level.”

“(But) 26 miles is hard, no matter what the altitude is,” she said.

Ari Redbord said he is proud of his wife’s hard work and achievements.

“I met Kelley about 30 years ago and she’s been doing this for about 28 of those years, maybe even longer,” he said. “And it’s truly like this amazing thing to see this person set their mind to something so long ago and then accomplish it in this really extraordinary way in Albuquerque this weekend.”

Ari Redbord said her quest motivated him to follow in her footsteps. He has run in 39 marathons across 38 states including Sunday’s Duke City Marathon.

“It’s funny, I still think of myself as chasing her around all over America, but it’s really fun to know the journey that she’s taken,” Ari Redbord said. “And for our relationship, for our marriage, it’s been this really unique thing. A lot of couples have all kinds of hobbies they do together. This is a pretty unique one.”

The Redbords have two sons, 14 and 11, who have attended some of their marathons.

“There are not a lot of moms out there that two boys can look at and say, ‘Wow, she’s one of the best athletes that we know in the world,’” Ari Redbord said. “She’s also a skin cancer surgeon. So, this incredible combination of this woman who cures cancer and has run a marathon in every state ... she’s just an incredible role model to them.”

While the couple run marathons together, Kelley Redbord said they are not in competition with one another. Instead, “we are each other’s biggest fans,” she said.

“This has turned into way more than running,” she said. “It is something that we do together every minute of every mile. We have made it part of who we are as a couple and who we are as a family.”

She said she plans to continue running marathons, including those her husband participates in as he attempts to match his wife’s accomplishment.

“It is about supporting him for sure,” she said, “but (it is) also a way to continue this adventure.”