MADISON TOWNSHIP — Matt Wade traveled tens of thousands of miles, spent thousands of dollars and devoted countless hours to a sport he never liked.
Every step, cent and second was worth it.
Wade, Madison’s cross country coach, completed a quest several years in the making when he and daughter Audrey crossed the finish line of the RePlay for Kids Halloween Run in Medina late last October.
The goal: To run a race of some sort in all 88 Ohio counties.
Mission accomplished.
“A friend of mine who I worked with at Crestline had a goal to run a race in every state in the country. I thought that sounded kind of cool,” Wade said. “I was looking at how much it would cost and what my teaching salary was and I realized it wasn’t feasible.
“That’s when the idea to run a race in every county in Ohio was born.”
The 40-year-old Wade didn’t take up running until he was in his late-20s. The Mansfield Senior graduate played football and baseball in high school, and was the long-snapper for Ashland University’s playoff football teams in 2007 and 2008.
“I hated running. I always tried to get out of running,” Wade said with a laugh. “I was done playing (football) and I had put on a little weight and I wanted to get a little healthier.
“A friend of mine said, ‘You should run a half-marathon with me.’ At the time I thought that was the worst idea I had ever heard in my life.
“I thought maybe I could do it. Then the first time I went out for a run, it was a mile-and-a-half and it was horrible.”
Running slowly became more palatable. Short training runs soon turned into five-milers.
“One of the biggest reasons I run is for my mental health. I can get out and collect my thoughts as I run,” Wade said. “Now it’s something I enjoy doing.”
The mission to check off every county in Ohio really began to take shape earlier this decade. Wade had run half-marathons in Columbus (Franklin County) and Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) and had completed shorter races in Richland and surrounding counties.
“I was 14 counties in when I did Auglaize County in June or July of 2021,” Wade said. “I finished with Medina in October of 2024.”
There were memorable stops along the way.
“There was one I did on New Year’s Eve of 2021. It was in Wood County (near Toledo) and started at 11:45 p.m.,” Wade said. “The theme of the race was it will take you two years to finish this 5K unless you’re going sub-15 minute. That was a fun one.
“Then the very next day I traveled to Mahoning County and ran a 5K there.”
That was nothing compared to that hectic Saturday in May of 2024.
“I ran Paulding County in northwest Ohio in the morning and Gallia County (on the Ohio River in extreme southern Ohio) at 9 p.m. the same night,” Wade said. “I drove a rental car that day.
“I estimated I’ve driven over 17,000 miles doing this.”
Like her father, 7-year-old Audrey has been bitten by the running bug. Audrey has completed a race in 22 counties with her dad. Wade’s wife, Katie, has gotten in on the act, too.
“In Meigs County, there was a track meet that benefitted an alum who passed away. My wife and daughter went down,” Wade said. “I ran the 1,600 and the 800 and we did the 4×400 as a family. I ran the first and the last leg. That was a lot of fun.”
None was more fun than the final race in Medina.
“I’ve got to say Medina was my favorite race,” Wade said. “I got to do it with my daughter and we had a lot of family and friends at it.”
So what’s next?
“I don’t know,” Wade said. “Last year Katie and Audrey were downtown cheering for me during the Shawshank Hustle and after the race Audrey said she wanted to do it. Right now we’re training for that.
“Beyond that, our schedule is wide open.”