MARTINTON, Ill. (WCIA) — You could say Larry Burton has done a lot of running in his life.

The 65-year-old from Martinton in Iroquois County started running when he was a 12-year-old boy, following his father as he plowed the fields of the family farm. After running track and field in school, Burton turned to road races when he was 18. His first marathon was four years later in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Burton estimated he ran in 300 races before 2006, when he was struck by an idea.

“I was driving back from Jackson, Tennessee, of all places. I ran a marathon there,” Burton said. “And I was just cruising along, coming back in the car and it popped my mind: ‘Maybe I should do a marathon in every state.'”

Burton estimated he had run a marathon in 11 states by that point. Almost 20 years later, his journey took him to Alaska for his 60th marathon and the last state on his checklist. When he crossed the finish line last week, he had run 50 marathons in 50 states.

To put the distance into perspective, 50 marathons add up to 1,300 miles, about halfway between New York and Los Angeles.

In Illinois, Burton ran the Chicago Marathon in 1985 and the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon in 2011, the third edition of the event. But his favorite marathons have been elsewhere.

“Early in my running career, back in the 80s and early 90s, I ran Grandma’s Marathon around Duluth, Minnesota, for five years,” Burton said. “It just kind of hooked me. It starts along Lake Superior and runs back to town. It’s just beautiful scenery.”

Burton also highlighted the scenery of Hawaii and running in another one of the World Major Marathons besides Chicago: Boston.

“I have some friends I went to school with who live in Arizona around Phoenix, and they have a rock and roll marathon that runs through three cities in Arizona,” Burton added. “There were 16 bands set up to play along the course.”

Also in the southwest, Burton was able to visit a location where fellow, fictional runner Forrest Gump visited. In Monumental Valley, Utah, Burton ran down the road where Forrest ends his cross-country run in the movie.

“My wife took a video of me, and she shouted into her phone, ‘Run, Forrest, run!'” Burton said with a laugh. “That was really special.”

Burton’s pace picked up after the COVID-19 pandemic, as he ran four or five marathons per year between 2021 and 2024, all in different states. He scheduled his marathons through a group called Mainly Marathons, which takes runners to different regions of the nation to run marathons in several states, often back-to-back.

“A person can go from each of those states and maybe drive an hour to run a marathon,” Burton explained. “In 2024, my wife and I drove out and I did two states in New England. We drove back home; I flew out two days later and ran Vermont and New Hampshire back-to-back.”

The common philosophy used to be for runners to take a month between marathons, but Burton said that thought is “kind of out the door” now.

Earlier this month, with only Alaska left on his marathon checklist, Burton went to Juneau for a marathon Mainly scheduled for Aug. 8. That was the day when his goal of 20 years was finally accomplished.

“It was just a fantastic experience. This group I run with, [one of them] he welcomed me, said ‘Hi Larry. Hope you do well on your fiftieth state,'” Burton said. “It was just great community support as well as family support. It was just an exhilarating feeling to know that, ‘Hey, I got one more mile and it’s going to be all done.'”

Burton’s wife and son were both on hand with a poster and a specialized flag to congratulate him on finishing his goal. When he crossed the finish line, Burton thought, “It’s finally done.”

But Burton isn’t done marathoning. He’s already planning to run another marathon to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Some of his friends have even suggested running a marathon on every continent — even Antarctica — or in every country.

“I still love to run, and I’ll still be doing local races,” Burton said.

So what’s Burton’s secret to running 60 marathons in his life, and running into his 60s?

“Well, I think it’s part of my DNA because of running so long. I’m blessed with a good body to run, and I got instilled to me at an early age that physical fitness is important part of life.” Burton said. “Obviously helped me to be able to sustain my running for now in more than 50 years.”

Reflecting on his life of running, Burton summed it up with a quote from Forrest Gump.

“As Forrest says, I just wanted to run,” Burton said. “And that’s been my life.”