Local runner Evelyn Watkins checks states off marathon list

Published 11:05 pm Wednesday, June 6, 2018

When Evelyn Watkins checks Alaska off her list of states later this month, the Meridian resident will have run marathons in more than three dozen states. 

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Watkins began running at 25 years old as a way to deal with regulating her health. Today, she has completed marathons in 46 states, and on June 23 when she runs in the Anchorage Mayor’s Marathon, she will have just three states to go to round out all 50.

“I’m going to finish in September,” Watkins said. “I’m going to Alaska in a couple of weeks, and we’re going to go to Oregon in August and then my last one will be Montana.”

Watkins will run in the Crater Lake, Oregon, Rim Run on Aug. 11, and the Bozeman Marathon on September 9. 

Although she has three states left on her checklist, Watkins, who is the fitness director at the Sonny Montgomery Fitness Center at Naval Air Station Meridian, has already begun planning to commemorate her 50-state accomplishment.

“My mom and dad, my husband and my brother and his girlfriend, and some friends from Washington and some other folks, we’re all going to go Montana together and spend the week there,” Watkins said. “We’re going to go a couple days before the race, and then I’ll run the race and then we’ll spend the rest of that week in that area. We’re going to Bozeman, so, we’re going to go to Yellowstone and explore that area.”

Watkins estimates she’s run in almost 10 states over the last year. And while each marathon and location is unique, she listed a few among her favorites.

“My favorite one in terms of scenery would be the Avenue of the Giants in California,” Watkins said. “We ran through the Redwood National Forest in Humboldt Redwoods State Park — the beautiful, huge trees that are 1,000-, 2,000-year-old trees that are bigger around than my house. It’s just unbelievable to see them because they’re three- and four-hundred feet tall, first off, and they’re so big around that you can drive a car through.”

Races in New England and Michigan also landed on her list.

“In Maine, I ran the Mount Desert Island Marathon last October, and its beautiful islands right on the coast of Maine,” she said. “We were there the weekend of the height of fall foliage; it was beautiful. That was a good one, too. Another one would be the Grand Island Trail Marathon, which was in Michigan. This little island is off the north upper peninsula, so it’s in Lake Superior — just a tiny little island in a national park recreation area. It’s really small, there are no houses, no inhabitants. The whole island is a national recreation area.”

While Watkins began running as a way to better manage her health, it has also allowed her to forge a new career path. Before she set out on her trek for a healthier lifestyle, Watkins was a media professional with years of experience that included stints at WTOK, and television stations in Birmingham, Ala., and Charleston, S.C. The emotional fatigue of negative news stories, coupled with her newfound vigor for an active, healthy lifestyle, was the catalyst needed to make the change.

“I decided I didn’t want to work in TV anymore, so I went back to school and chose exercise science,” Watkins said. 

With every marathon in every state that Watkins completes, it only validates her decision to pursue running and a new path. She offered the following advice to those who might currently find themselves in the same position she was once in. 

“If you make that sacrifice and you find a career path that you’re more passionate about, make it something that you feel overly passionate about… make it something that you really enjoy, that you can see yourself doing for a long period of time,” Watkins said. “Just take that leap of faith and jump into it.”