More than 26,000 steps: Evans walks half-marathon for Students First
The 81-year-old former governor, Dan Evans, ’48, ’49, waves as he walks 13 miles in the UW Medical Center Seattle Half Marathon on Nov. 26. He raised more than $100,000 for Students First scholarships. Photo courtesy of Dan Evans.
Daniel J. Evans, ’48, ’49, has won many races, including one for U.S. Senate and three for Washington state governor. He recently finished another successful race, and this time, students at the University of Washington are the real winners.
At age 81, Evans walked 13.1 miles in the UW Medical Center Seattle Half Marathon in November to raise money for a new student scholarship program at the University.
“I’d never tried anything like that,” says Evans, vice chair of the UW Foundation Board and a former UW regent. “I have two artificial knees and my doctor told me some time ago to quit jogging, but I thought I could do a half-marathon walk. I started to train and build up the miles each week. When Students First and Husky Promise came out, I thought, ‘If I’m going to do this, I might as well do it for a cause.’”
Students First is a new UW fund-raising initiative to create need-based scholarships for undergraduate, graduate and professional students. The University will provide a 50 percent match for all gifts over $100,000 directed toward a Students First endowment.
On a cold and rainy morning, Evans completed the Seattle Half Marathon in three hours and 24 minutes, raising more than $100,000 for Students First. “One of the things I have learned from my time on the Board of Regents and now on the UW Foundation Board is that there are an awful lot of very talented young people who don’t apply to the UW because they think they can’t afford it,” he says. “We have an opportunity for these young people to discover that the University really is affordable.”