Get to know avid marathon runner, Coeur d’Alene resident Scott Mayfield

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — Having just completed a marathon in my 32nd state in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on August 28th this year, I can say that this has been a journey. A journey not necessarily measured in distance or miles logged but in human connection.

This is a quest in it’s accumulation of stories, because each runner who sets a course to run a marathon in all 50 States has plenty to tell.

If you’re bold enough to call yourself an endurance athlete then you have to be willing to endure all of it: the travel, the training, the injuries, the expense, the weather as well as the proud moment you cross a finish line to check off another state and marathon.

I first set the goal of running in another state after I ran the Boston Marathon in 2018. After you cross Boston off your list and you still feel you have more running left in you, you ask “What’s next?”

I coincidently just retired as a teacher and coach from the Anchorage School District with plans to move my family to Colorado. Being near Denver made the goal of running marathons in different states logistically feasible as it’s a major hub that can transport you many directions; this would have been a much more difficult goal had I stayed in Alaska.

Now I did have a bit of a head start on this goal with Massachusetts being my 7th state having already completed marathons in Alaska’s Humpy’s Marathon, Rock and Roll San Diego (BQ) California, the NYC Marathon, Newport Oregon Marathon, the Chicago Marathon (BQ), Marine Corp Marathon.

After I moved to Colorado I started 2019 to 2020 running 11 states in 12 months.

Before I set out I met a group of veterans who represented a charity called Team RWB. This charity reaches veterans who are in that often dangerous transition time from a Military life to civilian life. This charity spoke to me because I served in the Marines and I struggled once honorably discharged. So I’ve been running with a red Team RWB shirt ever since to bring awareness and fundraising to this charity.

The pandemic shut down most races for about 10 months. Once 2021 started I ran 12 marathons in a span of 17 months but after completing the Sugarloaf Marathon in Maine in the month of May my body was starting to tell me that I needed a break. The expense of travel was starting to be a factor on my budget too.

I now have 18 states remaining as well as the District of Columbia. My goal is to finish in Hawaii December 2024 as well as run the Abbott Major Marathons I have remaining. I qualified for the 2023 London Marathon as well as 2023 Boston. I plan to run Tokyo and Berlin somewhere in that time frame.

If you’re looking for a good start on your own running journey, come on in and visit us at Fleet Feet Coeur d’Alene or look me up as a Chi Running Instructor in the area. If you feel like donating to Team RWB this charity is always looking for ways to support our veterans.

Scott Mayfield
USMC
Fleet Feet Outfitter
Chi Running Instructor

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