Benoit Samuelson racing in Toronto nearly two decades after win here

[rwilli1]

Benoit Samuelson racing in Toronto nearly two decades after win here



Fri Sep 25, 12:54 PM

By Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press


TORONTO - Joan Benoit Samuelson has never been known for doing things by the book.

The American distance star raced to victory in the first-ever Toronto Waterfront marathon in 1990, and is back this year as one of the event's "Legends." She couldn't say, though, if the course for this year's 42.195-kilometre race is the same one she sprinted along nearly 20 years ago.

"I'm notorious for not looking at courses before I run them because what I don't know won't hurt me," Benoit Samuelson said of her unorthodox approach. "Some people scour the course map, go over it with a fine-toothed comb.

"I tend to run a little bit faster just to see where the finish line is. . .whether it's around that next bend."

Benoit Samuelson, 52, will race the half-marathon Sunday as part of the 20th anniversary of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon & Half.

She's also among the event's special guests - or "Legends" - that include Canadian women's record-holder Sylvia Ruegger, who raced against Benoit at the 1984 Olympics, and Ed Whitlock of Milton, Ont., the only person over 70 to have run a sub-three hour marathon. Both Ruegger and Whitlock are also running the half-marathon.

Samuelson's weekend includes several speaking engagements, and her message is and has always been: the importance of lifelong fitness and the accessibility of running.

"Running is very accessible, running and walking and jogging, it's all about keeping healthy and keeping exercise regular," she said. "Most people can run from their home or their workplace, there's really no excuse. . .

"It's also important to set goals throughout your lifetime. With every finish line I've found a new opportunity or a new reason to set a new goal for myself, so that's what keeps me going along with my passion. In order to have success in running, you really need to be passionate about what it is you're doing and have patience and perseverance and persistence. . . the four Ps."

Benoit Samuelson, who also captured the '91 Toronto Waterfront Marathon title, originally took up running as part of her recovery from a broken leg suffered while skiing. Then in 1979, she entered the Boston Marathon as a relative unknown, and with her hair tucked up under a Boston Red Sox cap raced to victory while knocking a whopping eight minutes off the women's race record.

She went on to win the inaugural women's Olympic marathon in 1984 in Los Angeles, firmly affixing her position as a sporting hero, particularly among women.

Benoit Samuelson ran her "retirement marathon" at the 2008 Olympic trials, achieving her goal of a "sub-2:50 at 50." (Her time was two hours 49 minutes eight seconds).

But she never really retired. She raced the Bobby Crim 10-mile race last month in six-minute mile pace, and has a couple of races scheduled for next month. The former world-record holder will also race the New York City Marathon on Nov. 1, the 40th anniversary of the event.

Both her children run track and cross-country in university, daughter Abby for Bates College and son Anders for Bowdoin College, Benoit Samuelson's alma mater.

This year's Toronto Waterfront marathon boasts a fast field that includes defending champion Kenneth Mungara. A year ago he ran 2:11:01.

Fellow Kenyans Joseph Maregu, who ran 2:09:25 in his debut marathon in Vienna earlier this year, and Sammy Mwangi, who's making his marathon debut, could also contend for the $20,000 first-place prize, along with Gashaw Melese Asfaw of Ethiopia, who was seventh in the Beijing Olympic marathon.

The defending women's champion Mulu Seboka of Ethiopia is also back. Seboka ran a course record 2:29:06 last year.

"Both the men's and women's fields are the best we've had," said race director Alan Brookes. "Over the past five years, our event has improved dramatically - in both quantity and quality.

"And this year's fields are our deepest and best yet."

Seboka's stiffest challenge should come from Kenyan Lydia Cheromei and Ethiopia's Amane Gobena.

Lioudmila Kortchaguina of Thornhill, Ont., is among the top Canadian women in the field.