Joan Benoit Samuelson will run in the New York City Marathon on its 40th anniversary, a quarter century after winning the first women’s Olympic marathon in Los Angeles.Samuelson, 52, a two-time Boston Marathon winner, will be competing in the five-borough New York race on Nov. 1 for the fifth time, the New York Road Runners, which organizes the event, said in a news release.
The former marathon world-record holder last ran the race in 2001, finishing in 2 hours, 42 minutes, 56 seconds, the second-fastest time in the 40-plus age division that year.
“Realizing that the 25th anniversary of my Olympic run coincides with the 40th edition of the ING New York City Marathon stirred my desire to run,” Samuelson said in the statement. “This will be more than a jog down memory lane. This is the incentive I needed to get out there one more time.”
Samuelson won the first women’s marathon gold medal 25 years ago today at the Los Angeles Olympics, finishing in 2:24:52 to beat her nearest competitor, nine-time New York winner Grete Waitz of Norway, by more than a minute.
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