Woman completes 50 marathons in 50 states

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — An Atlanta woman completes her goal of 50 marathons in 50 states, with the Erlanger Chattanooga Marathon.

With family members in tow, Elizabeth Simon crossed the finish line at the Erlanger Chattanooga Marathon.

This is a big deal for her because this means she has completed 50 marathons in 50 states. It’s been a journey.

“My first race was in March of 2008, so it has been 11 years,” Simon said.

She’s had support along the way.

“My kids and my husband actually ran the rely with me. So I had one of my family members with me the whole time during my race. And then a whole bunch of people from work and then my running group, my siblings, my family are all here too,” Simon said.

She started this in the name of fitness.

“I am a very goal oriented person. I started doing 5ks and then 10ks and then half marathons and then finally a marathon. And then I wondered what was next and I found the fifty states marathon club online and decided that was going to be my next goal,” Simon said.

Whether it was their 50th or first marathon, the rain didn’t stop people from completing the race.

“We have some awesome runners we have a significant amount of runners running through our streets today, with the half and the full distance, Erlanger Chattanooga marathon and we are having fun,” said Tim Morgan, president of the Chattanooga Sports Committee.

This marathon was established in 2016.

“We obviously try to continuously improve on an annual basis, so I think we are achieving that,” Morgan said.

Simon’s message is if you work hard you can accomplish anything.

“I think it is just if you have a goal and then set your mind to it and make it happen,” she said.

Simon’s next goal is to finish the six majors. She has done New York and Boston, but needs to do Chicago, London, Berlin and Toky.