A body in motion tends to stay in motion.

Sound familiar? It’s part of Sir Isaac Newton’s first law of motion.

Physics aside, it’s also a credo many runners live by.

“Running provides a sense of freedom—I find joy in it, and running has always been one of my coping mechanisms,” said Joe Church, 68, a longtime Harrisburg resident who now resides in Dover, York County.

And he knows a thing or two about staying in motion. Church typically runs 50 to 60 miles per week. He’s completed 103 marathons—at least one in each of the 50 states, on all seven continents and in 44 different countries. He also ran the marathon distance (26.2 miles) around a cruise ship deck. Not once—but 29 different times.

“Run On: Amid pandemic, many find therapy on the run,” TheBurg, July 2020