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Boston Marathon: Joan Samuelson, 53, Adds Boston to Her Race Schedule
On March 23, Joan Samuelson tweeted, "Made it to Chamonix, France in good shape and good time. Spending the next week skiing the Haute Route with great friends." Her next tweet, on April 7, was a photo taken on a snowy mountain with the message, "Hanging on the Haute Route, trying to decide about Boston." (See story at bottom of page by David Monti, RRW, for details on her training during recent months.)From the Boston Marathon
April 11, 2011
Boston, MA
The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) announced one week before race day that 1984 Olympic Gold medalist and two-time Boston Marathon champion Joan Samuelson will compete in the 115th running of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 18. The 53-year-old Maine native will run the Boston Marathon for the first time since 1993. Samuelson will start either among the Elite Women at 9:32 a.m. ET or in the mass start (see story below by David Monti, RRW); this year's field will include approximately 67 of the race’s top female marathoners, including Americans Kara Goucher and Desiree Davila.
Samuelson won the 1979 Boston Marathon in an American Record time of 2:35:15, and she established a world record at the 1983 Boston Marathon in 2:22:43. Her performance from 1983 remains the fourth fastest time in Boston Marathon history.
“Joan is a running legend and perhaps the greatest marathoner the United States has ever produced,” said B.A.A. Executive Director Tom Grilk. “Any time she races, she adds to her legacy. We are pleased that spectators along the course, those watching on television, and those following online will have an additional element of attraction.”
Note: Joan Samuelson completed the 2011 Boston Marathon in 2:51:29. See the story below by David Monti, Race Results Weekly, for further details on Joan Samuelson's entry into the 2011 Boston Marathon.
Last October, Joan Benoit-Samuelson finished the Bank of America Chicago Marathon (photo at left by www.photorun.net) in 2:47:50, successfully completing her marathon triple of sub-2:50 races after age 50 (2008 Olympic Trials Marathon in Boston, 2009 ING New York City Marathon). She was named Athlete of the Week by USATF (10/13/10) for setting a pending American (women 50-54) age-group record.“Boston is special race for me,” commented Samuelson. “The crowds know and appreciate the athletes competing and their accomplishments, and they never disappoint with their encouragement and enthusiasm. I look forward to experiencing their energy and excitement on Patriots’ Day.”
When she won in 1979, she was 21-year-old student Joan Benoit from Bowdoin College. She went on to win the inaugural gold medal in the women’s Olympic Marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Over time and following her Olympic victory, she became an icon of the sport and one of its most recognizable names.
Joan Samuelson is one of only four Boston Marathon champions to have also won gold in the Olympic Marathon. Gelindo Bordin of Italy, Rosa Mota of Portugal, and Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia are the others.
Also, four-time champion Bill Rodgers--another marathon legend--will serve as the grand marshal of the 2011 Boston Marathon. He will ride in a Nissan pace car ahead of the lead runners, and the car will be identified with his name and accomplishments. The B.A.A. has reserved the grand marshal role as a position of recognition and honor. Spectators gather early along the 26.2 mile route to greet the grand marshal as the vehicle makes its way from Hopkinton to Boston, heralding that thousands of running will soon be coming. Rodgers won the Boston Marathon in 1975, and in three consecutive years from 1978 through 1980. He last ran the Boston Marathon in 2009, completing the course in 4:06:49 at age 61.
Joan Samuelson and Bill Rodgers are members of the John Hancock Elite Athlete Program, part of John Hancock’s principal sponsorship of the Boston Marathon which is now in its 26th year.
In addition, champions Ron Hill of Great Britain (1970), Alvaro Mejia of Colombia (1971), Rob de Castella of Australia (1986), and Jean Driscoll of the USA (1990-96, 2000) will be honored at the annual Champions’ Breakfast on Saturday, April 16 and throughout the weekend.
Samuelson Returns to Boston After 18 Year Hiatus
By David Monti (c) 2011 Race Results Weekly.Used with permission.
(12-Apr)--The first-ever Olympic Marathon gold medallist for women, Joan Samuelson, announced yesterday that she will run her first Boston Marathon in 18 years on Monday. The 53 year-old mother from Freeport, ME has competed at Boston six times, winning in 1979 and 1983. Photo at left courtesy of RRW: Joan (left) and daughter Abby Samuelson after the 2010 Freihofer's Run for Women"This is something I was thinking about from the beginning of the year," Samuelson told reporters on a conference call hosted by the Boston Athletic Association yesterday. "I did a lot of 20-mile runs during our long Maine winter." She added: "It's been a long winter."
Ironically, Samuelson found inspiration to train from the weather. New England was particularly cold and snowy this year, but Samuelson embraced the snow, adding more Nordic skiing to her routine. She recently completed a grueling six-day ski-trekking trip from Chamonix, France, to Zermatt, Switzerland, with husband, Scott, sleeping rough in huts and using ropes, crampons and an ice axe to assist her. She realized after that trip she was strong enough to take on the Hopkinton to Boston course.
"I'll say it's been an unorthodox training period for me," Samuelson explained. She continued: "It wasn't an easy trip. The first day we had to belay. . . It was very treacherous."
At last October's Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Samuelson clocked 2:47:50, one minute and 50 seconds outside of the USA Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time of 2:46:00. Samuelson ran the Trials in 2008--that competition was held in Boston but was not part of the Boston Marathon--but tried to tamp down speculation that she'll try for that qualifying time on Monday. Indeed, she and race organizers haven't yet decided if she will run in the all-women's professional race or the mass (mixed-gender) race. Samuelson said she prefers the latter where her 23 year-old daughter, Abby, will also be running.
"I'm leaning towards starting with the masses," she said. "I always run better in the pack...I think that's probably where I'll wind up."
Clocking 2:22:43 in 1983 at Boston, Samuelson recorded a world best time. She would run Boston three times after that, finishing 9th in 1989, 4th in 1991 and 6th in 1993. At the Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston in 2008, Samuelson ran 2:49:08 at age 50, setting an American age-group record for the distance and finishing 90th out of 124 finishers. She completed the race wearing a Boston Red Sox cap and received enthusiastic support from the crowds.
"It's home," Samuelson said of Boston's hilly course. "I feel grounded there."