KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, IND. ? Joan Benoit Samuelson, one of the greatest women marathoners in the history of the sport will be the guest speaker at the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championship banquet on Saturday at the Hulman Center, it was announced today by Geoff Wayton, Indiana State Meet Director for the Cross Country Championships.
Samuelson will be the guest at the Community Run which will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The event is being sponsored by the Wabash Valley Road Runners. She will also be in attendance at the NCAA Committee Reception tonight at the Heritage Ballroom in Tirey Hall on the campus of Indiana State, and assist with the presentation of awards following the NCAA Championships on Monday.
“We are so proud to have Joan Benoit-Samuelson visit Cross Country Town USA for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships,” Wayton said. “Joan's collegiate career was nothing short of spectacular. She was a four-time All-American and set the U.S. record for 10,000 meters while still competing for Bowdoin.
“Joanie's incredible career is very much still alive,” Wayton said. “She just recently set the American 50-54 record of 2:47.50 at the Chicago Marathon (Oct. 10), an incredible 31 years after her first marathon, a 2:35.15 clocking in 1979 at Boston.”
Samuelson became the first ever women's Olympic marathon champion when she won gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She won the Boston Marathon in 1979 and again in 1983 while finishing third in 1981. Her 1983 winning time of 2:22:43 was not broken for 11 years. She also won the 1985 Chicago Marathon in an American record time of 2:21:21, a mark that lasted 18 years.
She recently announced her intention to compete in the 2010 Chicago Marathon which will be run on Oct. 10 with hopes of qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Trials. Samuelson competed in the 2008 Olympic trials in Boston, finishing in 2:49:08 which set an American record for the 50-54 age group but did not make the Olympic team.
Born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Samuelson began long distance running to recover from a broken leg suffered while slaloming. She excelled as a collegian at Bowdoin College and received the 1985 James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.
She has experienced success not only in marathons but also in shorter distances. She won the prestigious Falmouth Road Race (7.1 miles) in Cape Cod, Mass., six times (1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1985) while breaking the course record on four of those occasions. She last ran the event in 2008, finishing as the 28th woman and first in her age group.
Her first gold medal came at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas where she won the 3,000 meters.
Samuelson was the world record holder in the women's marathon from 1983-1985 and held the women's half-marathon world record twice, from 1981-1982 and again from 1983-1989.
Samuelson has written several books including “Running Tide” and “Running for Women”, is a motivational speaker and sports commentator, and a coach to women's cross country and long distance runners. She founded the Beacon 10K (6.1 mile) Road Race that is held in Cape Elizabeth each August and attracts some of the elite runners.
