We are fortunate to have running royalty as this week's guest of The Just Athletics podcast. A true hero in Joan Benoit Samuelson.

Joan, of course, is the 1984 Olympic Champion in the marathon, the first time the distance was ever contested for women at the Olympic Games. She was also a two-time winner of the Boston Marathon and a winner of the Chicago Marathon in 1985 in an American Record time of 2:21:21, which stood for 18 years. Certainly one of the greatest runners of all-time and an amazing talent, another remarkable aspect of Joan's runner career is her longevity and ability to continue to run fast. She has continued to run very fast into the 21st century, most notably running 2:49:08 at the 2008 Olympic Trials at the age of 50.

Joan has also made it a big goal to give back in many ways to the sport. She founded the Beach to Beacon 10k road race in 1998, which has become one of the premier road races in the United States. She has authored two books, "Running Tide" and "Running for Women".  She continues to inspire generation after generation of runners, women and men alike.

This is an amazing pod and Joan is certainly an amazing person on a lot of levels. Thanks so much Joan!!

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