During the past few months of training for my first marathon, I’ve been surprised by how much even slow runners like myself have to learn from elite athletes. We are, after all, going the same distance. The elite runners are simply going much, much faster.
Next week, we’ll have the chance to learn from three marathon greats — Grete Waitz, Joan Benoit-Samuelson and Deena Kastor — who will be gathering at the Times Center in Manhattan for a Times Talk entitled “Legends of the Marathon.” I’m lucky enough to be moderating the discussion.
Grete Waitz won the New York City marathon a record nine times and was the first woman marathoner to break 2 hours, 30 minutes. She has also been an avid ambassador for the sport, urging new runners to “hurry slowly” in their training. She is the co-author of “Run Your First Marathon” and says the marathon should be the start, not the finish, of your fitness.
Joan Benoit Samuelson was a relative unknown when she won the Boston Marathon in 1979. She won the Olympic gold medal in the marathon in 1984, the first year women were allowed to take part. And she’s still breaking records. Last year, during the U.S. Olympic Trials, she ran a 2:49.08 marathon, giving her an American record for the women’s 50-54 age group.
Deena Kastor won a bronze medal at the Athens Olympics and became the first American woman to run under 2 hours 20 minutes, winning the 2006 Flora London Marathon in 2:19:36. Last year she won the U.S. Olympic marathon trials, but she was forced to drop out of the Beijing race after breaking her foot around the third mile. A few weeks ago, she placed sixth in the Chicago marathon, her first since breaking her foot.
The Times Talk event is a rare opportunity to have these three amazing athletes together on the same stage, so I hope you’ll join us at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29. To purchase tickets, go to the Times Talks Web site.
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