#Project13by62

I am choosing to do something wild and crazy to celebrate the health I have, and to raise funds for aiding research into congenital heart defects ("CHD"). The plan is to complete a half-marathon distance (13.1 miles) in each of New York State's 62 counties. The goal is to raise funds for the Children's Heart Foundation!

For this challenge – should anyone wish to follow suit – there are three guidelines.

1. "Distance Rule": all runs [each 13.11mi+ in this case] must be in a continuous outdoor session
2. "Location Rule": the session must be completed fully within a county's borders
3. "Accountability Rule": there must be GPS data to accompany the run

These rules are inspired by those set forth by distance runner Nick Butter on his quest to run a full marathon distance within each country. He cronicles his journey in the book that has become my inspiration, "Running the World."

Thank you for your support – and I hope to see you on those NY trails sometime soon!

Counties Completed

#	Date	County	Links
01	05 APR 24	Putnam
02	06 APR 24	Rockland
03	11 APR 24	Orange
04	30 APR 24	Dutchess
05	04 MAY 24	Columbia
06	11 MAY 24	Kings
07	26 MAY 24	New York
08	29 MAY 24	Ulster
09	05 JUN 24	Greene
10	27 JUL 24	Queens
11	18 JUN 24	Suffolk
12	22 JUN 24	Albany
13	23 JUN 24	Schenectady
14	26 JUN 24	Oneida
15	27 JUN 24	Monroe
16	29 JUN 24	Onondaga
17	01 JUL 24	Westchester
18	04 JUL 24	Sullivan
19	23 JUL 24	Schoharie
20	24 JUL 24	Otsego
21	26 JUL 24	Herkimer
22	17 AUG 24	Rensselaer
23	31 AUG 24	Lewis
24	01 SEP 24	Jefferson
25	24 SEP 24	Chenango
26	25 SEP 24	Delaware
27	09 OCT 24	Nassau
28	13 OCT 24	Richmond
29	15 OCT 24	Washington
30	16 OCT 24	Warren
31	16 NOV 24	Saratoga
32	20 NOV 24	Cortland
33	21 NOV 24	Tompkins
34	23 NOV 24	Schuyler
35	31 DEC 24	Montgomery
36	01 JAN 25	Fulton

* Must be re-run or re-attempted; G = GPS, Y = video, I = images

I'm Mikey Tarts, an amateur distance runner from Westchester County, NY.

Running has become a hobby and passion of mine, helping me keep my head clear and body in fit form. Starting in late 2016 with a kitschy "cupcake 5k," I've since trained myself to run multiple marathons and half-marathons. It has not always been this way...

As a grade-schooler, my pediatrician heard a "tick" through his stethascope. He referred my parents and I to a cardiologist who uncovered a heart defect: bicuspid aortic valve ("BAV"). Restrictions were put in place to prevent me from stress: no weight lifting, no football, no insane thrill rides... no running. It was not until I was a mature adult when these restrictions were mostly lifted. (Today, I have annual cardiology checkups and MRI monitoring, and run with the doctor's approval.)

• Project 13 by 62 Donation Page
• The Children's Heart Foundation
• Google Maps Tracker, where you can see all the places and routes to which I'd gone
• "Running the World," by Nick Butter, the project inspiration