Thanks to a Champion

A person never knows the impact that they are having on others. Well, sometimes they may have a clue of the possibility but never know for sure. In 1984, Joan Benoit Samuelson won the first ever Women’s Olympic Marathon. She did it handily, maintaining the lead for much of the race.

At the time I was a runner with two young children and a part time job. I had no idea of the way my life was going to unfold in the ensuing years as I met Tom Crum and became involved with aikido and mind/body work.

I do remember watching Joan, in her silver running outfit, outpacing the rest of the women and running alone, one step at a time, to a most wonderful victory in front of a ‘home-nation-packed’ stadium in Los Angeles. I think that my five-year-old daughter sat with me, at least part of the time, as I watched, tears streaming down my cheeks, as Joan ran into the history books.

I never forgot her strength and determination. It kept me going many times in the past 24 years when I had to reach deep inside myself to tap my own inner strength. I never forgot her steady, determined figure.

Last fall my daughter qualified to run the 2008 Boston Marathon and we immediately made plans to go watch her run. As the plot unfolded, I learned the Women’s Olympic Trials were to be held the day before in Boston and Joan would be running her last competitive marathon. Runner’s World magazine ran a story on Joan and the good compassionate life she had lived in her home state of Maine since that 1984 Olympics. I realized I had the opportunity to see this woman, who had symbolized strength and bravery and determination for me for all these years, as she ran her last marathon and, in my own way, stand in tribute and thanks to the inspiration she had given me as a gift so many years before.

So, today I stood on the sidelines as this dear woman with a neon gold hat ran her last competitive marathon. I knew her immediately. She is 50 now, her hair a little grey, and she no longer leads the pack. But there she was with the same recognizable gait I had watched for all those miles in 1984 and that same determination.

The crowd cheered for all the 160 plus women who had qualified for today’s trials. They had all run under 3 hour marathons and were each truly a champion and inspiration. They cheered for the leaders, the top three of whom will represent us in the Olympic marathon in China this summer. But, I was not the only one who later said, that there were times when the roar of the crowd was greatest when that small, slightly grey, woman with the gold hat ran by.

Joan said later the support along the course was unbelieveable. She had hoped for an under three hour finish. She set a record for the 50-54 age group with a 2:49 finish. She ran into the record books once more and those of us in the crowd were able to say thanks for the gift of inspiration she gave us so many years ago and upheld all these years.

Thank you, Joan.

Judy Warner