THE FAMILY THAT RUNS TOGETHER: Susan Hrabchak’s husband and four children have joined her on occasion as part of her 50 States Marathon Project. Pictured here at the finish line in Anchorage, Alaska are son Thomas; daughter Allie; Ms. Hrabchak and her husband, Rick; and sons Jimmy and Robert.

Comparing notes a few years ago about their experiences running marathons, Princeton residents Susan Hrabchak and Isabella de la Houssaye realized they could each claim credit to races in about 20 of the United States. From that calculation, the two friends came up with a challenge.

“We decided to make it a project to run marathons in every state in the country,” said Ms. Hrabchak, a genealogist and mother of four. “That was two-and-a-half years ago. I’m finished, and Isabella is almost there.” (Ms. de la Houssaye was running a race in Madagascar at the time of this interview).

The project has allowed Ms. Hrabchak, who is 55, to combine her love of travel with the high she gets from running. “I tried to change it up and do different things,” she said. “In Utah, we found a marathon race that was on snowshoes, up and down mountains. That was really fun. The country is so much more varied and beautiful than I imagined. Everybody should set foot in all of the states to appreciate it.”

If completing marathons in every state — even on snowshoes — sounds ambitious, consider some of Ms. Hrabchak’s other accomplishments: She ran a 100-mile race in Vermont in under 24 hours. When she was 18, she came in sixth in her age group in the New York Marathon. She and her husband, children, and extended family have done numerous runs together. In fact, they make it a regular practice. She created family trips out of her recent participation in marathons in Hawaii and Alaska.

“One of my nieces competed in Olympic trials, and her twin was a star runner, too,” Ms. Hrabchak said. “I noticed that the Guinness World Record for the largest family to do a marathon was eight. I knew we could beat it. So in 2014, we ran the Chasing the Unicorn marathon and set the record for the most family members to complete one, with 16. But since then, the record has been bettered by a huge family in Ireland with 30.”

Born and raised in Roseland, Ms. Hrabchak has four brothers. “I grew up in boy world, you could say,” she recalled. “I was always running, away from my brothers sometimes. I just liked to be on the move. I think I’m one of those people you could do a scientific study on. I get happy when I run. It’s the endorphins. I love the outdoors. I particularly love trail running. One of my favorite places in Princeton is the canal.”

As a teenager, Ms. Hrabchak liked to visit her oldest brother and his wife at their home in Manhattan, off Central Park. “I’d go in and run the 10k races around the park,” she recalled. “He’d meet me, and it was fun. Then, during the Bicentennial in 1976, the New York Marathon changed its course so that it would go through all five boroughs. And it really got on my radar. I was 15 at the time — too young to be part of it. When I was 18, I finally ran my first one and got my older brothers to run it, too.”

Ms. Hrabchak eventually added the Philadelphia marathon to her schedule, and took part in the Boston marathon a few times. Her husband, a fellow athlete and runner, has done the Boston event for the last 17 years.

From running marathons came Ironman competitions. Ms. Hrabchak relished the challenges. “The longer I ran, the more I enjoyed it,” she said. “Most people kind of wear out. But I found that the endurance piece was the piece I enjoyed most. So I started gravitating to longer ones. They’re called ultramarathons. There are 50k, 50-mile, and 100-mile races. There are even 150-milers, that are done over a few days.”

About that 100-miler in Vermont: “It starts at 5 a.m.,” Ms. Hrabchak said. “You run through covered bridges, past mountains and rivers. It’s just beautiful.” Asked how it was possible to run 100 miles in less than 24 hours, she responded: “They actually make you stop every 15 miles. They even weigh you. If you lose more than five percent of your body weight, you’re automatically disqualified. There’s a 30-hour limit, but if you do it under 24 hours, you get an award — a kind of cowboy buckle. I got it, and I was very proud.”

Over the years, Ms. Hrabchak has learned how to train properly. She admits to aches and pains, but none are severe enough to stop her. “I have been quite fortunate with all my running and triathlons over the years,” she said. “I’ve only dealt with relatively minor injuries and occasional setbacks. I credit much of this to regular yoga practice.” It is the fatigue at the end of a long race that is standard, “when mind and body say, ‘okay, that’s enough.’ No matter how many marathons I’ve run,” she added, “it’s still a challenge to work through that phase.”

Ms. Hrabchak has enjoyed meeting new friends and fellow runners over the years. “It’s actually a very easy way to make new friends. After awhile, you realize you are seeing the same people,” she said. “Now, just about any marathon I show up to, I can find someone I know. It’s almost like we’re on the circuit.”

So what’s next? Ms. Hrabchak hopes to run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington. She’d also like to add Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Samoa to her list of locations.

But first, there’s the next family adventure. “We’re going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro over Christmas break,” she said. “Just the six of us. It’ll be great.”