LAKE STEVENS — Robin Cain didn’t always follow through when starting a new hobby.
When she decided to start running in an attempt to keep up with coworkers who played basketball on their lunch break, her husband, Jeff Cain, cautioned her about spending $40 on a running coat.
“That was a lot of money back then,” Robin said. “He said ‘Are you sure you’re going to stick with it?’”
Suffice to say, it turned out to be a worthwhile purchase.
More than two decades later, Robin has completed the feat of running a marathon in every state. Only about 2,400 people are known to have achieved that, according to the 50 States Marathon Club, a nonprofit that tracks runners looking to complete the challenge.
In total, she’s run more than 60 marathons, including five Iron Man competitions — a triathlon race consisting of a 2-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon.
Robin ran her final marathon in Sacramento, California, in December 2024. It was the seventh she ran that year and the third she completed after turning 60 years old.
“That was the most I had done in the year because I really wanted to finish,” Robin said. She plans to keep running for as long as she can, but she’s retiring from doing any more 26-mile runs.
Robin born in Lake Stevens before moving to Boston for much of her adult life, started running in 1996. She said that she was so nervous to start that she would mark down every tenth of a mile on her route so she could know exactly how far she had gotten. By 1997, she had already completed her first marathon.
Over the years, Robin has run a marathon on the Great Wall of China and taken part in the world-famous Boston and New York City marathons, but one of her favorites was the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“They were on point,” Robin said. “There were pigs everywhere.”
Robin has remained relatively injury-free throughout her decades of marathons, she said, but she’s still sprained ankles, broken toes and lost tonails while running. Pairs of shoes only last her a couple of months before they have to be replaced.
A retired engineer, Robin does “a lot of data crunching” before her runs. She has to eat a significant amount of food in the days leading up to a race — running a marathon burns about 3,000 calories, she said — and goes through rigorous training to stay prepared before the day of a marathon.
“She’s the type where when she puts her mind to something, that’s it,” Jeff Cain said. “She was always going to finish 50.”
The most important thing for a runner, Robin said, is getting a good pair of shoes. For those looking to start running, she recommends using fitness apps to work your way up to longer runs and find a running club to connect with others looking to learn. After moving back to Lake Stevens a few years ago, Robin Cain started the Lake Stevens Running Club, which now has over 400 members.
“People want to run and exercise with other people,” she said. “I think that’s the biggest surprise, is the friends I’ve made.”
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; [email protected]; X: @willgeschke.
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