Reaching for the Stars

For nearly two decades, Ina Rose has been racing across the country one marathon and state at a time.

The Mountain Lakes distance runner has proof in medals and proof in stars—each to represent a state where she crossed the finish line. As a member of the 50 States Marathon Club, she views the races as equal parts of the journey, as it is the destination.

‘I’ve got four left,” she says. “It’ll be over in April.”

A Passion for Running

The club operates as a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting health, fitness, and bringing together running enthusiasts who share a common interest in marathoning across the country.

Rose represents a growing number of later-in-life athletes, a trend confirmed by data from the industry association Running USA. According to their 2025 survey, the 45 to 54 demographic is the largest group increase in running participants. The Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township area seems to be home for older runners; last fall, Natalie Grabow, also of Mountain Lakes, claimed fame as the oldest woman to finish the Ironman competition.

Even the mayor of Mountain Lakes—Melissa Muilenburg—is in on the action and has accompanied Rose on many of her runs.

Much like Grabow, Rose’s own running start happened while adulting. She speaks to a black-sheep moment, having grown up in the company of six sports-minded siblings.

“I was the least athletic in the family,” she says. “I was never a runner.”

Her husband, Jeff, would change all that. An accomplished rower and biathlete, he competed frequently, and Rose would often accompany him to lend support from the curbside. One such race, and a pair of 70-something participants, would catapult her from sideline to starting line.

“I looked at them, and something clicked,” Rose says. “I wanted to be them.”

That was in the early 1990s. A bit of coaching from her spouse, and she was off and running. Trending on the much younger side of her septuagenarian influencers, Rose is well on her way and even beyond.

A 2008 business trip to San Francisco landed her unexpectedly in a race—“purely on a whim”—and she’s been on the move ever since—returning the next year to race the full marathon and yet another in November 2009 in Philadelphia. It was here that the 50 States Marathon Club came to her attention.

What sets these races apart from their distinguished New York City and Boston counterparts is the qualifying time required to enter. Instead, the club bases membership eligibility on the number of states run, with ten being the minimum number required to join.

The Joy of the Race

Now retired, Rose has more time for fundraising, and she selects charities that hold personal connections to her, such as breast and colon cancer organizations. Since her third “50-in-50” race in Las Vegas, she has raised a collective $100,000.

The charitable piece is an extension of her consulting firm, Passion 4 People, where purposeful giving is built into the business model. Since learning about the 50-in-50, she’s been equal parts racing and touring, packing in four states a year.

The esteemed New York and Boston marathons rank equally as her GOATs. “These are rockstar people,” she says. “The crowds are screaming and telling everyone that they’re amazing.”

Some other standout locales? The “Jack & Jill” in Seattle, which, true to the nursery rhyme, involved a rolling hill, but even more wow-worthy, a tunnel was part of the race too.

“We had these headlamps on and ran through this train tunnel,” she says. “We were completely inside a mountain, and all you could hear was the pounding of feet and panting. It was pitch black.” This gave new meaning to “the light at the end of the tunnel,’ Rose says. “There really is one!”

The city of Charlevoix, Michigan, resonated and may warrant a return trip just because. As a long-time distance runner, Rose has grown accustomed to the inevitability of inclement weather, and Alaska was just the place to deliver on that.

“We were in Cordova, and there were only 13 of us,” she says. “It was pouring sideways. The weather was so bad that it was funny. I passed this bald eagle getting drenched on a branch, and we just kind of looked at each other.” Wayward rain aside, Alaska ranks high on her list. Her entire family came—she has three adult children—and they elongated the trip by two weeks. Extended excursions are commonplace, especially when exploring 50 states’ worth of uncharted territory. Her recent marathon in Tokyo illustrates just that. She came for the race, but stayed for the skiing.

The Tokyo race may also check a box as an entry into another star-collectible racing series: The Abbott World Marathon. In addition to Tokyo, this globe-trotting jaunt includes Berlin, London, New York, and Chicago. “When you complete the sixth one, you get a star and your name on the wall of fame that travels to each one,” she said.

Well, having run New York, Chicago, and Tokyo, why stop now?

The races also often pave the way to short-term on-foot friendships, mostly by way of similarly-paced runners. “You run with someone for two hours, and you learn their life story,” Rose says.

When it comes to pace and time, Rose takes the metrics all in stride. “My average is about 4.5 hours,” she says.

On the training front, she uses a ladder system approach that increases in miles weekly over the course of 10 weeks. “Maybe I’ll start with ten miles, and then the next week it’s 11 and so on,” she says.

Rose also prefers to train outside, and Mountain Lakes delivers on trails, not to mention the Boulevard. She points to the woods surrounding Birchwood Lake. “There’s like ten miles of trails back there,” she says. She also works in the trail system in neighboring Tourne County Park.

In boosting her cadence, she is powered by playlists featuring Beastie Boys, Green Day, and a good number of audiobooks. “I still use an iPod mini,” she says. “I just strap it around my arm and go.”

The iPod mini serves as a security blanket of sorts, much like her purposeful selection of specific racing gear. “Runners are very superstitious,” she says.

There is comfort in the familiar, and even sustenance is subject to discretionary standards. This holds particularly true at mile 20 when Rose sprints toward her much-coveted Diet Pepsi hand-delivered by her husband. “It’s a happy moment,” she says. “I always say that the secret to the last 6 miles is caffeine. That’s when you hit the wall.”

In Motion

With almost two decades criss-crossing the country, Rose racks up just as many stories as she does in miles and stars. As a marathon jetsetter, she is almost always in constant motion, even at home and especially in the weeks leading up to the races.

“Training is the worst,” she grumbles.

But she has a cross-training system, one that counterbalances the running and injuries associated with repetitive movement. An outdoor enthusiast to the core, she turns to biking, pickleball, and paddleboarding. On the dietary front, she follows a fairly normal meal plan, maybe ramping up the carbs as race day approaches.

Food is fuel, and easy-access energy is essential to stay the course. Powered by oatmeal at the start, she turns to her stash of goo-gels to last her the duration. The Diet Pepsi delivery is standard operating procedure.

When it comes to the big finish, it never gets old. It only gets better.

“It’s the coolest feeling in the whole world,” she says. “You feel so happy and accomplished.”

With her 50 states drawing to a close, she is experiencing a bit of what now?

“It’s been such a big part of our lives,” she says.

She stares into the distance. “I have some traveling to do,” she says, weighing a newly announced nine-star racing series that includes Sydney, Shanghai, and Cape Town.

In the meantime, she’s got to see a state about a star. Nebraska’s up next.

Photographs by Antonietta Henry