On a recent cold and rainy Seattle Sunday, 81-year-old Dan Evans -- former Washington governor, U.S. senator and UW regent -- took part in the Seattle Half Marathon to raise money for "Students First" scholarships.

The goal of his 13-plus-mile power walk was to raise at least $100,000, triggering a 50 percent UW match. He finished the walk in an amazing 3:24:44!

Update from Dan:

What a day!!!...Snow, rain and 14,000 eager, nutty people.

The volunteers were terrific, cheering contestants on and giving out water, Gatorade and GU (for the uninitiated, that's a small packet of high energy gel).

Once I got started the rain didn't matter since I had a great waterproof, breathable jacket from the UW Medical School. It really was a scenic course and I settled into my regular 15:30 time per mile. My son, Dan, caught up with me by bicycle on Lake Washington Boulevard, cheered me on and took many pictures.

My unofficial time was 3 hours 24 minutes and 40 seconds which was exactly the time by my watch, as well. Good news: I was 89th out of 203 walking the half marathon. Bad news: I was 3rd out of three in my age group-the over 80s. I think they ran part of the way, but, heck, anyone who can run when they're over 80, more power to them. I was not going to waste any one of the 26,132 steps I took by running. I am glad I did it, but think I will retire from competitive walking… at least in November.

The folks at the UW Foundation say that we have reached the $100,000 goal for gifts and pledges to the Students First Matching Challenge Fund! This is fantastic news. The university will add $50,000 to this endowment and guarantees to match all gifts and pledges to this fund on a 50% basis through the rest of Campaign UW: Creating Futures.

Thanks so much to all of you who made a gift or a pledge on my behalf. The outpouring of support has truly been heart-warming and will go a long way towards helping UW students.

You can still make a gift to Students First and it will be matched 50%. Make a gift online right now!