Now, at 42, she still runs every day and last fall qualified for the 2000 U.S. And having met her, and having talked to her, and seeing what an incredible person she is, it’s really going to help me run my absolute best tomorrow.Joan Benoit Samuelson is a soccer mom these days, more interested in her kids' games than in running marathons.įifteen years ago, she won the gold medal in Los Angeles in the first women's Olympic marathon. Meeting her in person, it was a dream come true. So for that to actually happen this time makes me incredibly happy. “I’ve always thought to myself, over all the years, that some day if I get the chance, I’ll go run the Boston Marathon and if I’m really lucky, maybe I’ll get to meet Joan Benoit Samuelson there. “She’s the marathon runner who I admire the most,” Yugeta continued. “So that’s really going to help me tomorrow. “Shaking hands, I got some of her spirit,” Yugeta said.

No matter the result, she’ll be buoyed by her meeting with the woman she has idolized for 38 years. “I’m aware the course has a lot of ups downs, it’s not the easiest course to run fast, but hopefully there will be a lot of people around me and that will help me at least go sub-3:00.” “My weak point is cold weather, so as it has turned colder, I’m a little bit nervous about how that’s going to go tomorrow,” she said through a translator, Brett Larner. Yugeta runs Boston on April 18, and she’s hoping for a time around 2:55. A translator stood by, and the pair talked about the inspiration they provide each other. Yugeta’s eyes filled with tears at finally meeting her idol. The two shook hands, while cameras flashed. On April 17, at a stage set up just beyond the Boston Marathon finish line, Yugeta met Benoit Samuelson.

“She’s in another world from me, but I think we’d have a lot to talk about.” “If I run Boston I hope that I have the chance to introduce myself to Joan,” she said in the profile. In a Runner’s World profile after that effort, Yugeta said she hoped to run the Boston Marathon for the first time. Joanie Crushes Goal With 3:04 Boston Marathon.Meet the First Woman Over 60 to Run Sub-3 Marathon.

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