At just 13, Bright resident Madison Rahschulte has seen about as much of the Hoosier state on-foot as anybody.
Madison Rahschulte (front in blue tank top) completed her 92 County Challenge on Saturday, June 16. Photo provided.
(Bright, Ind.) - A 13-year-old girl from Bright has done something pretty remarkable for runners of any age.
Madison Rahschulte has run an organized footrace in all 92 Indiana counties.
"Knowing that I've accomplished something like this, I think I can go into things with more confidence now. Since I met all these people along the way, I have so many friends from everywhere around the state," she says.
She ran in the Flora Hog Jog 10K in Carroll County, Indiana this past Saturday, completing the quest she embarked one four years ago as a nine-year-old. Friends and family joined her in Flora to celebrate the accomplishment.
Her parents motivated her to achieve the goal. The St. Lawrence School, Lawrenceburg, 8th grader is the daughter of Scott and Rebecca Rahschulte.
"We've been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support for Madison during her quest from the opportunity to meet Governor Holcomb, the chance to serve as a torchbearer for the state bicentennial, and the large number of strangers turned friends from all over the state that have been following Madison's journey. By visiting all of the counties, we have learned so much about the history of our state and kindness from others that is nothing more than true Hoosier hospitality!" said Rebecca.
Madison's first race was the Color Run 5K in Decatur County on June 14, 2014. Most of the following races were 5Ks. In many races, she was the first-place female runner and even finished first overall in at least eight races.
The 92 County Challenge idea started with a notion of running a race in every U.S. state, but Madison and her parents settled on something more achievable. However, Madison says, the family got well into the challenge before realizing there were 92 counties.
"Some counties were hard because they only had one race a year, so we had to make sure we got those into our schedule," she says.
As far as Madison knows, she believes she may be the only person to accomplish the 92 county feat.
Her favorite races were at Purdue University in West Lafayette and those located near national parks like Marengo Cave.
"We liked seeing the national parks," she says.
To complete the feat, Madison traveled more than 24,000 miles and about 400 hours in a car, according to Stuart Road Racing, which has been documenting her progress.
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