HAMLET — A longtime participant in the Seaboard Festival 5K was honored with a memorial scholarship following Saturday’s race.
Lee Watson, who was known as “Iceman,” was one of the first runners participating in the 5K which began 39 years ago.
Chris Carpenter — member of the Mangum Track Club and president of Seaboard Festival Day, Inc., the volunteer group that organizes the festival — announced the creation of the Lee “Iceman” Watson Memorial Scholarship in cooperation with Richmond Community College.
Race Director Mechelle Preslar said that several of Watson’s classmates came to her wanting to do something special to acknowledge him in connection with the 5K. After careful consideration, she decided a scholarship in Watson’s name would be the perfect thing to do.
REV Federal Credit Union, title sponsor of the Seaboard Festival for the past two years, kicked off the scholarship with a check for $2,000. Carpenter said the goal is to raise $20,000 to make the scholarship endowed.
Watson ran every Seaboard Festival race until a few years ago when he developed a rare form of blood cancer which caused him to lose his left leg below the knee. While temporarily disabled from running, his determination didn’t stop him from continuing to try.
“He was told by his doctor that the treatment would be painful,” Carpenter recalled. “Watson’s response was, ‘I’m an ultra-runner; I train for pain.’”
Watson was fitted for a running blade just a couple of months before the Seaboard’s 5K would take place; he was determined and had signed up to run.
Unfortunately, Watson got sick and passed away on Sept. 18 — less than two months before the race.
Watson served in the U.S. Marine Corps where he earned the rank of corporal; he also served in the National Guard and was a master carpenter.
Preslar said she never had the opportunity to run with Watson, but knew him through his father, Riley Watson.
“One of the best memories I have of Riley and Lee is when Riley would come to me often and take me to the Seaboard 5K exhibit in the Visitor’s Center where we have an article on Lee, medals, shirt and bibs; he would tell me, ‘That’s my son.’”
Presler said when she finally met Watson, he talked about his love of running and how the sport changed his life.
“He talked to me like we had always been friends; I knew immediately why Riley was so proud of his son,” Preslar said. “I’m glad that I was fortunate to have known Riley and Lee; I just hate that it was such a short time that I got to spend with him.”
Toward the end of the ceremony, Carpenter announced that they were retiring Watson’s bib number: 1.
Watson’s family was presented with a shadow box that included a race shirt from this year, bib, medal and a plaque on the bottom reading: “In Memory of Lee “Iceman” Watson, A Seaboard Race Legend, I’m an Ultra Runner; I Train for Pain.”
Carpenter then mentioned the Seaboard Festival’s 5K brick garden located at the Depot. The garden holds the bricks engraved of the 5K winners as well as past race directors.
“We are going to take this plaque and engrave it on a granite piece and put it at the top center of the bricks.
The event was then turned over to Cole Auditorium Director Joey Bennett who announced the winners of the 5K.
This year’s race featured a record 317 participants.
Overall first-place winner as well as top male finisher was 26-year-old Dylan Carpenter of Monroe, with a time of 18.54; top female finisher as well as overall fourth-place finisher was 44-year-old Jade Ado from Cameron, with a time of 20.24.
You can follow the 5K on the Facebook page,Seaboard Festival 5K. Also, If you are interested in participating in the Seaboard Festival 5K in 2024, you can log onto https://runsignup.com and sign up now.
If you would like to contribute to the Lee “Iceman” Watson Scholarship fund, you can mail a check to: RichmondCC Foundation Attn: Hal Shuler, PO Box 1189 Hamlet, NC 28345.
