Erica Litschke Schramm ’00 ran her first marathon in January of 2001, not long after graduating from the College of Saint Benedict.
And, at the time, she didn’t think she’d run another.
“It was a horrible experience,” she recalls. “I vowed I’d never do it again. I didn’t know how to train. I was an 800-meter runner (in track and field at CSB). So I went out too hard and I was just miserable.”
Schramm eventually had a change of heart, signing up for the Twin Cities Marathon.
“That went equally as badly,” she said with a chuckle. “It wasn’t until my third marathon – the St. George Marathon in Utah – that I figured out how to do this.
And she hasn’t stopped since. Schramm – a Social Worker for UnitedHealthcare who resides in Las Vegas with her husband and twin son and daughter – completed her latest marathon last month.
That competition – the Des Moines (Iowa) Marathon on Oct. 20 – marked the completion of a goal the Cannon Falls High School graduate set for herself back in 2012 – running a marathon in all 50 states.
“A friend of ours had just finished doing one in all 50 states, and he told us about this club where you try to break four hours in a marathon in every state,” Schramm said. “It sounded like a lot of fun, so we decided to give it a whirl.
“By that point, I’d already completed one in eight states. But then I got pregnant, so it really didn’t become a serious pursuit until around 2014. My husband started doing them with me, but he’s 10 years older than I am, and eventually he had to stop at 18 because of injuries.
“But I’ve been lucky enough to be able to keep going.”
Yet Schramm – who has been running about five or six marathons each year – almost didn’t make her race in Iowa. She was injured while competing in the Clarence DeMar Marathon in Keene, New Hampshire, less than a month earlier.
“Iowa was funny because I was supposed to do Des Moines in 2015, but right before I was scheduled to leave, a dog bit my daughter and I couldn’t go,” she said. “Then COVID hit a few years later, and my husband suggested I leave it for last because it was so close to where I grew up (in Minnesota) and my family and friends would be able to come.
“Fast forward to the race in New Hampshire on Sept. 29, and I hurt my hip. I should have gone to the chiropractor, but I was scared he’d tell me I shouldn’t run. So I decided to tough it out, and it ended up being one of my slowest marathons.
“But I wasn’t going to miss it. For anything.”
Not with numerous supporters on hand to cheer her on. That group included CSB cross country and track-and-field coach Robin Balder-Lanoue ’91, who coached Schramm in college and has gone on to become her teammate on the Baba Yaga relay team, which is made up of CSB running alumnae and has competed annually at long-distance running competitions in the Pacific Northwest.
“She’s really fallen in love with running even more after college,” Balder-Lanoue said. “As a coach, your biggest goal is to have athletes love running even more than they do when they first get here so that they’ll continue with it for the rest of their lives.
“You want them to embrace the sport and have their passion continue to grow. So it’s been so fun to see that happen with her.”
Schramm’s 50-state journey has included big-name marathons like Boston, New York and Chicago, as well as lesser-known events like the Mayor’s Midnight Sun Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska.
She’s finished in the top three in 15 marathons and has won seven including a couple that weren’t exactly her favorites.
“Wherever there’s been heat and humidity, those have been the tough ones,” she said. “So Hawaii and Florida, those have maybe been the least fun. The course in Florida (in Cocoa Beach) was beautiful. I saw dolphins jumping. But I don’t enjoy running in those conditions.”
But no matter what the conditions have been, Schramm has continued to run strong. Her 50-state average time is three hours and 12 minutes, including a personal-best 2:54.
She failed to finish in under 3:30 in just three states – Nebraska, Vermont and, most recently, Iowa.
“I may go back and try to do those three again,” she said.
Another future goal is completing what are considered the World Majors. She’s already crossed Boston, New York and Chicago off that list. But she still needs Berlin, Tokyo and London.
“That would be great,” she said. “I entered the lottery for Berlin, but that’s a really hard race to get into. So we’ll see what happens. If I can get in, that might be a goal I pursue.”
Yet no matter what the future holds, Schramm has already been able to visit many interesting places and meet many interesting people.
“I didn’t even really think of it this way, but I’ve now been in all 50 states,” she said. “I have friends who say they want to do that. They just don’t want to do the running.
“But I’ve gotten to know so many great people. As I’ve gotten older and less competitive, I chit-chat more during races, and I’ve made so many new Strava (an exercise app) friends. That’s the part that has really made this so much fun.”