2 min readFor the past 28 years, Gina Woiak has endured a grueling schedule that she says prepared her for running marathons. Woiak is a public school chemistry teacher.
“Teaching can be an endurance sport as well. You got to have a plan,” the Catonsville High School teacher told 11 News Baltimore.
Woiak says she began running marathons after a student died on the athletic field at one of her previous schools.
“It inspired me to think about what things he probably had as goals in his life and was not able to meet those. So, I thought about something I always had wanted to do but maybe have not been confident enough to try, and for some reason, running a marathon came to my head, and that’s how it started,” Woiak told the station.
Of course, after running her first marathon, she was hooked. Woiak said soon after that she planned to chalk off every state in the U.S. to complete 50 marathons.
“It’s crazy,” Woiak said. “First of all, I never thought I would visit every state in the country, so that’s been incredible. Every one of them has kind of had a different feeling at the end, but it’s always a good feeling.”
During her quest, Woiak has run the Boston Marathon and even placed second in a marathon in Maui but saved her local marathon for last—she will run the Baltimore Marathon this Saturday.
“I literally get chills thinking about it,” said Woiak. “It’s been such a journey. When I cross the finish line, it’s going to be a little bit of relief (to) think that I actually made it, and I think it’s going to be an incredible celebration. We are having a big party, finish line party, and then back-at-the-house party.”
It goes without saying that 50 marathons won’t be enough for Woiak to call it quits. Once she completes the Baltimore Marathon, she has her sights on the World Marathon Majors. She plans to run Boston, Chicago, New York, London, Tokyo, and Berlin and is already on her way. She qualified to run the Boston Marathon for a second time in 2024.
Woiak isn’t alone in wanting to tackle the every-state challenge; this father-daughter team did it earlier this year, and Woiak isn’t the first teacher to attempt the feat, either.
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Condé Nast Traveler and was most recently the senior editorial director at TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
