Joan Benoit Samuelson is an icon, a legend in women’s long distance running. Through her many decades in the sport, Joan has never stopped challenging herself with competitive goals, running with the same passion that gave her an Olympic gold medal in 1984 at the first women’s Olympic Marathon in Los Angeles.

In this interview, she starts in her early running days as she discovers her talent, then winning the 1979 Boston Marathon, running in college, and as a professional with Athletics West. She talks about the drama and uncertainty of the 1984 Olympic Trials, and later her win in the Olympic Games. Her story is both thrilling and inspirational.

And now, in her fifth decade as a runner, she continues to train and race in the sport she loves. We learn how she trained over the years. Her need from the beginning to find balance in her life in order to have success. The coaches that helped her along the way and the stories of her training and racing that brought her the greatest of successes, an Olympic gold medal. 

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The Women's Running Coaches Collective is a talented group of women coaches who have come together with the mission to change the landscape of coaching as Title IX changed the landscape for girls and women in sports. This grass roots organization was created to encourage and support women who want to become coaches, or women who are currently coaching. Our WRCC website includes interviews, articles, videos, "Ask A Coach", regional 'Chapter' communities and much more. The WRCC is a collective to support, unite, inform, inspire, encourage and empower women coaches at all levels of our sport. Come join us today and help change the landscape of women in coaching. Click www.womensrunningcoaches.org to join. It's free!