"distance runners, including Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson and Olympian Molly Huddle, who each won four times, and Olympic bronze medalist Lynn Jennings, a six-time winner. Begun in 1977 as the Bonne Bell Mini Marathon, Tufts Health Plan became title sponsor in 1985 and supported the race for 33 years. In 2018, Reebok took up the sponsorship of the race. For several years it was the largest women-only 10K in the US, most recently in 2013. The race course starts on Beacon Street near the Boston Common, crosses the Charles River via the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge into Cambridge near"
"Joan Benoit Joan Benoit Samuelson (born May 16, 1957) is a retired American marathon runner who was the first-ever women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the Gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and thus setting the existing women’s American record in the Olympic Marathon. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985. Her time at the Boston Marathon was the fastest time by an American woman at that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame"
"Grete Waitz Grete Waitz (née Andersen, 1 October 1953 – 19 April 2011) was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. She won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history. She won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki. Her other marathon victories included winning the London Marathon in 1983 and 1986. She was"
"being an important role model. Waitz received the St. Olav's Medal in 1981 and Medal of St. Hallvard in 1989. Grete Waitz Grete Waitz (née Andersen, 1 October 1953 – 19 April 2011) was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. She won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history. She won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the"
"Rosa Mota Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, (; born June 29, 1958) is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes, being the first sportswoman from Portugal to win Olympic gold. Mota was the first woman to win multiple Olympic marathon medals as well as being the only woman to be the reigning European, World, and Olympic champion at the same time. On the 30th Anniversary Gala of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) she was distinguished as the greatest female marathon runner of all time. Born in Porto's downtown neighbourhood of Foz"
"Running Hall of Fame in 1998, the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000, the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2004 and the USATF Masters Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2017, a plaque honoring her was unveiled in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum’s Court of Honor. <br> Joan Benoit Joan Benoit Samuelson (born May 16, 1957) is a retired American marathon runner who was the first-ever women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the Gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and thus setting the existing women’s American record in the Olympic Marathon. She held"
"Fatuma Roba Fatuma Roba (; born 18 December 1973) is an Ethiopian long distance runner, best known for being the first African woman to win a gold medal in the women's Olympic marathon race at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics and for winning three successive Boston Marathons. Fatuma Roba was born on 18 December 1973 in Bekoji, Ethiopia. As Fatuma grew up, there were no female role models in long distance running within Ethiopia, only Abebe Bikila. While Fatuma was at school, she was not encouraged to run but decided to continue regardless. She was coached by Sentayehu Eshetu, who"
"in the build-up to the marathon, these reports did not follow up on her life after the race. It is not known whether she met Philimon or if she ever found a job. As Tarasouleas stated, ""Stamata Revithi was lost in the dust of history"". Violet Piercy, of the United Kingdom, was the first woman to complete an officially timed marathon race: she clocked a time of 3 hours and 40 minutes in a British race on 3 October 1926. Women were finally allowed to run the Olympic marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics, when American Joan Benoit won the"
"medal to all runners who finished the race in less than 4 hours. The distance of 40 km was chosen as it was the distance separating Marathon from Athens. The current distance of the race is 42.195 km, which the IAAF established in 1921 as the standard length of a marathon, following the 1908 Olympic race in London. This first race was won by Len Hurst from England who crossed the finishing line in 2 hours, 31 minutes and 30 seconds. His prize money was 200 francs. Although the International Association of Athletics Federations credits Violet Piercy as the first"
"Eusébio, Carlos Lopes and Luís Figo. Rosa Mota carried the Olympic Flame along the roads of Athens before the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece. Rosa Mota Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, (; born June 29, 1958) is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes, being the first sportswoman from Portugal to win Olympic gold. Mota was the first woman to win multiple Olympic marathon medals as well as being the only woman to be the reigning European, World, and Olympic champion at the same time. On the 30th Anniversary Gala of the Association of International"
"women's marathon at an Olympic Games. Fatuma also won three straight Boston Marathons from 1997–1999. The three-time Boston champion narrowly missed a fourth straight title in 2000, coming in third in the closest finish in race history. She later said ""Well, for me the greatest of all marathons is of course the Olympic Marathon, but second place is Boston."" Fatuma Roba Fatuma Roba (; born 18 December 1973) is an Ethiopian long distance runner, best known for being the first African woman to win a gold medal in the women's Olympic marathon race at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics and"
"Stamata Revithi, who ran the 1896 Olympic course a day after Louis, is the first woman to run the modern marathon. The IAAF credits Violet Piercy's 1926 performance as the first woman to race what is now the standard marathon distance; however, other sources report that the 1918 performance of Marie-Louise Ledru in the Tour de Paris set the initial mark for women. Other ""unofficial"" performances have also been reported to be world bests or world records over time. Although her performance is not recognized by the IAAF, Adrienne Beames from Australia is frequently credited as the first woman to"
"when Felix Kandie lowered the course record to 2 hours 10 minutes and 37 seconds. The women's marathon was introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics (Los Angeles, USA) and was won by Joan Benoit of the United States with a time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 52 seconds. It has become a tradition for the men's Olympic marathon to be the last event of the athletics calendar, on the final day of the Olympics. For many years the race finished inside the Olympic stadium; however, at the 2012 London Olympics, the start and finish were on The Mall, and"
"the beginning, and at every Olympic Games since. The first winner, in 1896, was Edwin Flack of Australia, who also won the first gold medal in the 800-metre race. The women's 1,500-metre race was first added to the Summer Olympics in 1972, and the winner of the first gold medal was Lyudmila Bragina of the Soviet Union. During the Olympic Games of 1972 through 2008, the women's 1,500-metre race has been won by three Soviets plus one Russian, one Italian, one Romanian, one Briton, one Kenyan, and two Algerians. The 2012 Olympic results are still undecided as a result of"
"woman to win Olympic athletics medals before and after the war. Her 1936 win also made her the first British woman to win an individual Olympic medal in athletics. Odam was also twice a gold medallist at the British Empire Games, winning at Sydney in 1938 and Auckland in 1950. In Sydney she was the only Englishwoman to win athletics gold, setting a Games record of 5 ft 3 in, which is the same as 1.60 meters. In 2012, she was the official starter for the London Marathon. She died on 25 September 2014 aged 94 following a long illness."
"Lina Radke Karoline ""Lina"" Radke-Batschauer (18 October 1903 – 14 February 1983) was a German runner. She was the first Olympic champion in the 800 m for women. Born as Lina Batschauer, she started competing in athletics at the age of 20. In those years sports such as running were considered far too exhausting for women. This vision was shared by many, including the originator of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin. In 1927, she married Georg Radke, who was her coach and a manager of her club ""SC Baden-Baden"". The couple moved to Georg's hometown of Breslau (now"
"at the US Olympic trials in 1984. Julie Isphording Mary Julie Isphording (born December 5, 1961 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a retired female long-distance runner from the United States. She competed for her native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. However, she did not reach the finish line there. Isphording set her personal best in the classic distance (2:30:54) in 1989. <br> Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon, sculpted the 12-inch bronze figurines of a pony-tailed girl running that were given as trophies to Joan Benoit Samuelson, Julie Brown (athlete),"
"1984 Olympics in the marathon, placing 36th. Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon, sculpted three 12-inch bronze figurines of a running pony-tailed girl that were given as trophies to Joan Benoit Samuelson, Julie Brown, and Julie Isphording, the top three women marathoners at the US Olympic trials in 1984. She entered the marathon at the inaugural 1983 World Championships in Athletics, but failed to finish the competition. Julie Brown (athlete) Julie Ann Brown (born February 4, 1955) is an American retired distance runner. She won the IAAF World Cross Country Championship in 1975 and"
"in Breslau and Torgau. Her husband took part in World War II and was held as a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union. Upon his release in 1950, the family moved to Karlsruhe. Lina Radke Karoline ""Lina"" Radke-Batschauer (18 October 1903 – 14 February 1983) was a German runner. She was the first Olympic champion in the 800 m for women. Born as Lina Batschauer, she started competing in athletics at the age of 20. In those years sports such as running were considered far too exhausting for women. This vision was shared by many, including the originator of"
"Derartu Tulu Derartu Tulu (Amharic: ደራርቱ ቱሉ; Afaan Oromo: Daraartuu Tulluu; born March 21, 1972) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who competed in track, cross country running, and road running up to the marathon distance. Derartu grew up tending cattle in the village of Bekoji in the highlands of Arsi Province, the same village as Kenenisa Bekele. Derartu is the first Ethiopian woman and the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal, which she won in the 10,000 m event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. The race, where she and Elana Meyer (South Africa) raced for"
"and ran in front of a van. Mary Lines Mary Lines (later ""Smith"", 3 December 1893 – December 1978) was a British athlete. She competed in the long jump and 60 m – 800 m running events at the 1921 Women's Olympiad, 1922 Women's Olympiad and the 1922 Women's World Games and won nine gold, two silver and one bronze medals. In 1924 she participated at the 1924 Women's Olympiad and won the gold medal in the 100 yards running and the long jump. In 1922 she participated at the Women's Olympiad in Paris and won the gold medal in"
"Julie Isphording Mary Julie Isphording (born December 5, 1961 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a retired female long-distance runner from the United States. She competed for her native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. However, she did not reach the finish line there. Isphording set her personal best in the classic distance (2:30:54) in 1989. <br> Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon, sculpted the 12-inch bronze figurines of a pony-tailed girl running that were given as trophies to Joan Benoit Samuelson, Julie Brown (athlete), and Isphording, the top three women marathoners"
"Miki Gorman Michiko Suwa ""Miki"" Gorman (August 9, 1935 – September 19, 2015) was an American marathoner of Japanese ancestry. Gorman did not begin running competitively until she was in her mid 30s, but rapidly emerged as one of the elite marathoning women of the mid-1970s. She is the only woman to win both the Boston and New York City marathons twice, and is the first of only two woman runners to win both marathons in the same year. Michiko Suwa was born to Japanese parents in Qingdao, China, grew up in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture during the post-war years, and"
"Velha, Rosa started participating in cross-country races while in high-school. In 1980 she met José Pedrosa, the man who would eventually be her personal trainer for her entire career. Rosa Mota's first marathon was at the European Championships of 1982, hosted by Athens, Greece - the first Women's Marathon ever. Mota was not one of the favourites for gold, but she easily beat Ingrid Kristiansen to win her first marathon. This success was typical of Rosa Mota's career, as she usually finished well in the prestigious marathons. She was awarded the bronze medal in the first Women's Olympic Marathon in"
"Catherine Ndereba Catherine Nyambura Ndereba (born 21 July 1972) is a Kenyan marathon runner. She has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008. She is also a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon. Ndereba broke the women's marathon world record in 2001, running 2:18:47 at the Chicago Marathon. In 2008, Ndereba was described by ""Chicago Tribune"" sportswriter Philip Hersh as the greatest women's marathoner of all time. Ndereba is from Gatunganga in Nyeri District, and went to Ngorano Secondary School where she pursued her"
"Bobbi Gibb Roberta Louise ""Bobbi"" Gibb (born November 2, 1942 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) is the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon (1966). She is recognized by the Boston Athletic Association as the pre-sanctioned era women’s winner in 1966, 1967, and 1968. At the Boston Marathon, the pre-sanctioned era comprised the years from 1966 through 1971, when women, who were banned from entering the Men's Division Race because of their gender, ran and finished the race. In 1996 the B.A.A. retroactively recognized as champions the women who finished first in the Pioneer Women's Division Marathon for the years"
"California International Marathon in 1983. She has also held Swiss national records in the 10,000 metres and the marathon. Gabriela Andersen-Schiess Gabriela ""Gaby"" Andersen-Schiess (born May 20, 1945 in Zürich) is a former Swiss long-distance runner who participated in the first women's Olympic marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Though living in Idaho and working as a ski instructor at the time, Andersen-Schiess represented Switzerland in the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Fourteen minutes into the 1984 Olympic marathon, Joan Benoit began to pull away from the rest of the pack. She went on to win in a time of 2"
"Arlene Pieper Arlene Pieper became the first woman to officially finish a marathon in the United States when she finished the Pikes Peak Marathon in Manitou Springs, Colorado, in 1959. Her daughter Kathie, 9, became the youngest competitor at that time to finish the race to the summit, but did not finish the whole marathon. Arlene also entered the Pikes Peak Marathon in 1958 but stopped at the summit, therefore being disqualified. In 1959 women had the choice of a race to the summit or the full marathon up to the summit and down. That year Katherine Heard was first"
"Gabriela Andersen-Schiess Gabriela ""Gaby"" Andersen-Schiess (born May 20, 1945 in Zürich) is a former Swiss long-distance runner who participated in the first women's Olympic marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Though living in Idaho and working as a ski instructor at the time, Andersen-Schiess represented Switzerland in the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Fourteen minutes into the 1984 Olympic marathon, Joan Benoit began to pull away from the rest of the pack. She went on to win in a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 52 seconds. Twenty minutes after Benoit finished, then 39-year-old Andersen-Schiess entered the stadium. With temperatures"
"won by Naoko Takahashi, the Japanese runner who took the Olympic gold medal in Sydney in 2000. Takahashi's remarkable win in 2001 in Berlin marked the first time in history that a woman ran sub-2:20, clocking in at 2 hours, 19 minutes and 46 seconds. Noguchi improved on Takahashi's time by more than half a minute, winning the 2005 Marathon in 2:19:12. Noguchi's time set three new records: the Berlin Marathon course record, the Japanese record, and the Asian record. After the victory, she declared: Mizuki Noguchi Initially starting out as a track and cross country athlete, her first major"
"Mary Rand Mary Denise Rand, MBE (née Bignal on 10 February 1940) is a former English track and field athlete. She won the long jump at the 1964 Summer Olympics by breaking the world record, the first British female to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field. She remains the only Great Britain female athlete to win three medals in a single Games. Mary Rand is the daughter of Eric and Hilda Bignal. She was born and grew up in Wells, Somerset, England. At 16, Millfield School offered her an athletics scholarship. She excelled in all sports and"
"Marise Chamberlain Marise Ann Millicent Chamberlain (born 5 December 1935) is a former New Zealand middle-distance runner. She is the only New Zealand woman to win an Olympic medal in track athletics (Lorraine Moller won a medal in the marathon). She set world records over 440 and 880 yards as well as 1 mile. At the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia she won a silver medal over 880 yards, behind Australian Dixie Willis. Two years later, at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, she won the bronze medal behind Ann Packer (gold) and Maryvonne Dupureur (silver), the"
"Nina Kuscsik Nina Kuscsik (born January 2, 1939) is a retired female long-distance runner from the United States. She was the first woman to officially win the Boston Marathon, 1972. Alongside Beth Bonner, Kuscsik became the second American woman to complete a marathon in under three hours, running a time of 2:56:04 at the 1971 New York City Marathon (Bonner did so in the same race with 2:55:22). Kuscsik is a former American women's record-holder for a 50-mile run, through her run of 6:35:53 in 1977 in Central Park, New York. She continued running into her later years and was"