Runners, after completing their first road race, often get the bug to run another, and another. But there is a group in Connecticut called the Run 169 Towns Society which has taken this a step - many steps, actually - farther than the average runner.Run 169 Towns Society website Visit the

The Run 169 Towns Society, which also refers to itself as DEBTICONN, an acronym for Do Every Blessed Town In Connecticut, is a group of running enthusiasts who strive to complete a road race in each of Connecticut's 169 towns/cities. The club was established in 2012, and has grown from just a handful of participants to about 1,500 members, including Newtown's Sandhya Sridhar.

"I started three years ago with Sandy Hook and I got hooked," said Sridhar, 40, referring to the Sandy Hook Road Race.

Sridhar has run in more than 40 towns and has run in her hometown several times, but aspires to reach the 169 mark when she can. This process takes some time since there are races in multiple towns on the same days.

"I keep repeating Newtown because I live here and I love to support my town," Sridhar added after completing the Rooster Run at Fairfield Hills in June.

Newtown's John Gonski picked up running three years ago and joined the group only a year and a half ago, but had already reached 35 towns by early July.

"I just started running for health reasons maybe three years ago. I wanted to get back into shape," said Gonski, 44, adding that he saw runners wearing Run 169 shirts, inquired, and has since run about 50 races, repeating several of the towns.

Gonski enjoys supporting various charities through his participation, as well as seeing different towns around the state.

"That's one of the biggest benefits of it, to see these other communities I might not otherwise see," Gonski said.

With the goal of getting to all 169 towns by the time he's 50 years old, and happy to return to some of the same races multiple times, Gonski plans to continue running a couple races each month - year round. That means running in conditions ranging from summer heat to winter chill, and sometimes in the rain, and snow.

What's more, this had become a Gonski family activity with his children, Jake and Jenna, recently joining the club making for quality time exploring the state together, Gonski said.

As the calendar turned to July, seven club members had already reached the milestone, and several others are on the verge of reaching their goal with just one or a few more races. In the case of Monroe's Brian Walker, who also ran the Rooster Run, there is just one race to go, although he will have to wait until September, to put a checkmark next to Ashford.

Among the races he has completed is one in Willimantic, which is held each February.

"I drove two hours in the snow and ice to get there, run 15 minutes, then turned around and drove two hours home," Walker said.

These dedicated individuals may put themselves through a lot to accomplish a very unusual all the while impressive goal, but they love doing it.

"It's actually a lot of fun. You get to see new towns and you get to meet some awesome people," said Sridhar, adding that the participants are very supportive of each other.

So supportive, in fact, that they'll even wear a tutu - woman or man - in recognition of a fellow club member, when the time calls for it. When could the time possibly call for wearing a tutu during a race, one might ask?

When club members reaches number 100 on his or her list of towns. For a race in which one participant reaches the century mark, he or she wears a tutu and fellow Run 169 Towns Society members who had already run in 100 or more towns may do the same.

"It looks better on some of us than on others," said Walker, who wore a yellow tutu in recognition of club member Bruno Pasqualucci, of Beacon Falls, when Newtown became his 100th town.

Another example of the camaraderie that exists is that each club member is finishing the effort for a man who passed away short of achieving the goal. They do so by having a different member complete a race in each of the towns he didn't get to.

To join the club is free, and runners may include the towns they've completed prior to officially signing up.

Not every town in Connecticut had a road race, but they all do now thanks, in part, to Run 169 Towns Society members who have organized races in a handful of towns throughout the years.

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