Friday, April 6, 2012

That First Olympic Marathon For Women

People sometimes forget that the very first Women's Olympic Marathon wasn't that long ago.  Joan Benoit underwent meniscus surgery in her knee just 17 days before the Trials, which were held in Olympia, Washington.



When looking over the 1984 Trials Race, I was blown away by the depth of the field and the competitiveness of dozens of women.  Group friend and UVA grad Martha White (Collins) ended up 8th in that initial trials race, within 1:43 of an Olympic berth (2:34:09). Despite faster trials since then, no trials race has had the overall depth of that initial year. Martha now lives near the 1/2 way mark of the Boston Marathon.  PSU Coach Jane Welzel was 14th in the race at 2:35:53.

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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 6, 2012 at 12:55 PM

    Dave, 2012 had the most depth of any womens trials race.
    1984-10th place 2:34:29/ 2012-10th place 2:33:42
    1984 - 31 runners under 2:40/ 2012 - 41 runners under 2:40
    1984 -50 runners under 2:43:01/ 2012 - 61 runners under 2:43
    1984 - 100th place ran 2:49:17/ 2012 100th place ran 2:47:21

    and so on...It's close but 2012 had the most depth...
    Artie

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  2. skwilliApril 6, 2012 at 1:17 PM

    Thanks for the info. I did not have the latest race to compare, just the other ones. Women's marathoning is certainly leading the rebirth of d istance running in America, like the Men's Mile also seems to be. It's been a long time coming.

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  3. George mcwilliamsApril 6, 2012 at 8:56 PM

    I wonder how those times equate when measured against other1984 & 2012 performances.

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  4. skwilliApril 7, 2012 at 10:49 AM

    Since being smacked down so effectively by Artie, I'm afraid to do the analysis! Seems like too much work for this lazy blogger. hee hee hee

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  5. AnonymousApril 10, 2012 at 9:54 AM

    After her surgery, Joan stayed with Dan Dillon (former Providence All America), Mary Angelico (AW’s office manager) and me at our house in Eugene while she rehabbed. She couldn’t run and could only do limited work on the bike so she was understandably hyper! She ended up making jam one day and when I got back from a run, the kitchen was covered with jam and sugar….even on the phone! Mary still keeps in touch with Joan and we still laugh about that time. Larry

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