Elizabeth Simon

Elizabeth Simon crossed the finish line on an 11-year journey to run 50 marathons in 50 states.

There was a time when she would have laughed off the idea of completing a marathon. Elizabeth, who is director of ethics and compliance for Cox Communications, said while training for 5K races over a decade ago, she remembers telling people she’d never run a marathon. But she soon got addicted to the race atmosphere.

“Everybody is there for the same purpose, and they’re all striving for the same goal,” said Elizabeth.

After she challenged herself to run a 5K a month for an entire year, she set a goal to complete a 10K every quarter the following year. The next year, she did two half-marathons, and finally tackled her first marathon in 2008. That’s when Elizabeth went looking for a new challenge. While researching marathons online, she discovered a 50-state marathon club. The rest, as they say, is history.

When she choo-chooed across the Chattanooga Marathon finish line on March 3, Elizabeth crossed the last state off her list. She also made headlines in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and Atlanta Journal-Constitution!

Work-Life Balance? Check.

Elizabeth’s accomplishment is even more inspiring considering all the demands on her time. She’s a married mother of four children ranging in age from 5 to 13, three of whom are siblings adopted from the foster care system in Nevada in 2017. In order to find time for training, she leaves the house at 5:30 a.m. on weekdays, and 6 a.m. on weekends.

Elizabeth credits her success with her very supportive husband, and to God for helping her stay healthy and injury-free. The Chattanooga race was a family affair, with her three older children running in the marathon relay and her husband running the last leg beside her to cheer her on.

Winning at Work

Elizabeth’s determination carries over from the race course to her job at Cox Communications, where she has worked for six years.

She manages the ethics hotline and acts as the records coordinator for CCI in Atlanta. She is currently traveling 90 percent of the time, rolling out a new records management system to all CCI locations.

“I’m a very goal-oriented person in general, so I bring that into my work,” said Elizabeth. “We have to set goals every year, so striving to finish them and figuring out what you need to do to get there definitely translates into the work environment.”

Wondering what’s next for this goal-getter? Elizabeth has set her sights on completing the six “majors” — the Boston, New York, Chicago, London, Berlin and Tokyo marathons. (She’s already done Boston and New York). 

Way to go, Elizabeth!

Want to read more articles like this one, view our open jobs or experience a day in the life at Cox?  Visit our Careers site to learn more.