xcskier66 wrote:
For my money, the greatest american distance runner ever.
1. Her times were ridiculously fast. Like insanely fast for her time. She is still #8 all time American and she ran that time before super shoes.
2. She won gold in the first ever olympic womens marathon. Won boston, chicago, new york.
3. She raced fast during a time period when many men honestly believed women would die from running. The sexism she faced is just unlike today. Kudos to her for running through all that.
4. She raced FAST into her 50's and won 2019 Boston AG in the 55-59 category. To me this part is underrated but she is the rare marathoner who raced to her potential and didn't break down her body. (PS. I've read her memoir and she never lost her period during her peak racing days. That means she's the rare elite womens distance runner that maintained a healthy body weight while going fast).
5. She did this all before current training methods. No GPS, no heart rate, no lactate, no super shoes, modern PT. She probably trained most of her career without a wrist watch!
6. She ran her best in an era when there just weren't womens running role models. She had no to to follow, she literally wrote the script for distance excellence. And that is so hard to to.
I think by 1984 there were not men who thought women would die from running (at least no more so that idiots thinking running, regardless of the sex, would kill you).
