Washington Township's Chris Rozewicz runs 5K in every state

Chris Rozewicz set out to run a 5K in every U.S. state, looking to complete the task before he would be beyond able to finish.

“As I aged, the body was not what it used to be with arthritis and that type of thing,” said Rozewicz, 68, of Washington Township. “That’s why I set my sights on getting it done in five or six years, before I got too far along.”

When asked her thoughts on her husband’s goal to complete all these 5Ks in six years, Mary Lynn Rozewicz was quickly cut off by her husband.

“She thought I was crazy,” chuckled Chris.

“No, I know you’re crazy,” replied Mary Lynn with a laugh.

All kidding aside, Mary Lynn is glad her husband was able to fulfill his goal of running a 5K in 50 states.

“I’m truly proud of the dedication and self-discipline it took,” Mary Lynn said. “It’s so cool that he made it through all 50 states. I’m happy to see him achieve his goal, his dream.”

Chris’ journey started 10 years ago when his oldest daughter showed him an app called Couch to 5K.

“I don’t want to plug any app, but it’s an amazing app for anyone who’s never run,” Chris said. “It starts out with a minute run, and walk a minute, then run another minute, run for 30 minutes, and it keeps increasing to where you’re running for 30 minutes within eight weeks.”

His first 5K was the annual Turkeytrot in Pittsburgh in 2014.

Chris’ first foray into his quest for a 5K in every state began after he retired from working as a bridge mechanic for Conrail and Norfolk Southern for 39 and a half years and was wondering what to do next.

Inspiration hit when he had a discussion with one of his wife’s co-worker’s husbands at a local fish fry.

“He had asked me what I was doing in retirement,” Chris recalled. “He mentioned that when he retired, he wanted to run a 5K in every state. So I thought, ‘Wow, what a good idea.’ ”

Chris started in the spring of 2017 with a race in California.

“When I decided to commit to the 5K in every state, I was at Coachella, Calif., during the Run with the Los Muertos, a Day of the Dead themed event,” Chris said.

From there, Chris planned how he would complete his goal in six years’ time.

He used a website called Running in the USA, which made it easier for him to pick which states he wanted to run in on specific dates.

“You can pick the type of race you want, the dates and different options as to where you want to go,” Chris said. “That’s where I got the majority of my race ideas.”

Chris used the website to better plan his trips to other states and make his travels more economical.

“The planning was the hardest part,” Chris said. “Once you got to the race location, that was easy. Finding the flights, the hotels, making sure you were in a close enough distance to the race to arrive in time, that took work. There was a lot to it.”

For local states such as Ohio and New York, Chris could drive to a race and be back in the same day. But once he got further out, he needed to plan for multiple races in one trip.

“Once the distance got further, I would look to see if I could get two to three races completed in a weekend, Friday to Sunday, between two to three different states,” he said.

Chris was doing well in his first three years of his journey, racing in 10 to 12 states in the first couple of years. But as the races got further away from Pennsylvania, he was completing six to nine in a year.

The only time Chris slowed down was during the pandemic year when he ran one race, a virtual 5K in Washington, D.C.

“They set me up with their own app, so when you started running it would stop at 3.1 miles,” Chris said. “I ran from Georgetown to the (National) Mall and finished at the Washington Monument.”

Keeping his body in peak shape between races was no issue for Chris.

“I’m an active person,” he said. “The only thing that stopped me from being out was high wind in cold weather. Other than that, the cold air never bothered me.”

On average, Chris was able to complete his 5Ks in the 30- to 32-minute range. At a 5K in Fort Smith, Ark., he set a personal best with a time of 27 minutes, 9 seconds.

“I questioned the race coordinator about the distance of that race, whether it was a true 5K, and they said it was,” Chris said. “I don’t know what got into me that day.”

Chris’ journey, which his wife was able to attend as a spectator and support at the finish line once she retired, took them to areas with wonderful scenery and others without stunning scenery but with smaller charms.

“Alaska and Hawaii were my favorite states to go to,” Mary Lynn said. “They’re always a big deal to go to when you’re not trying to achieve a goal or be involved in a race. They’re just cool places that are a little harder to get to.”

In all the places they’ve been to and seen, Chris and Mary Lynn said the one thing that made it all special were the people they met along the way.

“Some of the races were local charity races that were run through the small towns or neighborhoods, so they weren’t really that exciting as far as scenery,” Chris said. “However, the various people you’d meet always added to the enjoyment of the race.”

“The people that organize and run those events work so hard. It is a super-positive atmosphere,” Mary Lynn said. “It was a lot of fun being around them.”

Chris finished his journey on St. Patrick’s Day with a 5K in Hawaii. A month before, Chris wasn’t sure if he would be able to finish out his last race and accomplish his goal of six years.

“In the middle of February, I developed an issue with my left calf, and I was worrying about whether I was going to be able to finish this quest,” he said. “But I managed to get it healed up and finish.”

The final race was a special event, as the Rozewicz family used the trip as a family vacation, so he had a lot of support behind him.

“My oldest daughter who got me started was there at the finish line, and my granddaughter ran the race with me. They were both so excited,” Chris said.

All told, Chris ran a total of 158.1 miles in his quest and has a few more 5Ks he has committed to before he truly winds it down.

“I have one in Acme, Pa., at the Stone Villa winery and another in the New River Gorge National Park, where we’ll run under the bridge in the evening during the summer solstice in June.”

After those races, Chris has an idea for one more big journey, and this time Mary Lynn will join him as a participant.

“We would like to do the Great Passage from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., on bicycles. That might be something we do in the near future,” Chris said.

Of course, Chris already has planned it out and has a goal in mind.

“We don’t bike particularly hard, so it would take some training to get up to the probably 50 to 60 miles a day to be done in a five- or six-day period.”