Posted: May 18, 2004

Athletics: Coming Full Circle - America’s Past and Present Distance Stars to Meet at Circle of Friends New York Mini 10K

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

New York, May 18, 2004 – The past and present of American long distance running will meet when Joan Benoit Samuelson joins Deena Kastor on the starting line of the 2004 Circle of Friends New York Mini 10K, a New York Road Runners event, on June 12 in Central Park. It will be their first competitive meeting since Kastor set an American marathon record of 2:21:16 in London in 2003, breaking Benoit Samuelson’s 17-year-old mark. Benoit Samuelson won the gold medal in the inaugural women’s Olympic marathon, in Los Angeles in 1984.

“Having Joan and Deena in the same race truly brings full circle the past and present of American women’s distance running,” said Allan Steinfeld, president and CEO of New York Road Runners. “Twenty years later I still get chills watching the tape of Joan’s Olympic medal-winning performance. Watching these two greats compete in the same race now will be equally memorable and thrilling.”

Kastor, 31, of Mammoth Lakes, California, holds American road race records at 5K (14:54), 15K (47:15), and the marathon, as well as the U.S. track record for 10,000 meters (30:50.32). She will represent the United States this summer at the women’s Olympic marathon in Athens, where she will be the first serious American Olympic medal contender at that distance since Benoit Samuelson.

Benoit Samuelson, 47, of Freeport, Maine, is regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time. After winning the Olympic gold medal in 1984 with a gutsy front-running performance, she set an American marathon record of 2:21:21 in 1985, which she held until Kastor broke it last year.

The pair ran together in the 2001 New York City Marathon, when Benoit Samuelson saw Kastor’s potential after Kastor finished seventh in her marathon debut. “I went on the record at the New York City Marathon in 2001 to say she’d be the next one, and I have a lot of respect for her and her training,” said Benoit Samuelson, who finished 21st in that race, her last competitive appearance in New York.

When Kastor eclipsed Benoit Samuelson’s record in 2003 she acknowledged her as an inspiration. “She’s still an idol and an icon in this sport. She held that record for so many years, and still continues to give back to the sport in so many ways that she continues to be an inspiration to me. She’s an Olympic gold medalist. She’s just an amazing woman,” Kastor said.

Kastor and Benoit Samuelson are part of an all-American professional field at this year’s Mini, the world’s original women-only road race. With an American-only prize purse worth $31,000, plus time bonuses, the race salutes the country’s top female distance runners in this Olympic year. Colleen De Reuck and Jen Rhines, Kastor’s Olympic marathon teammates, were previously announced as Mini entrants.

New York Road Runners welcomes Circle of Friends as the Mini’s title sponsor. Circle of Friends is a national initiative of the American Legacy Foundation dedicated to raising awareness that support can make a difference to people who are trying to quit smoking.

About New York Road Runners
Founded in 1958 with a membership of 47, New York Road Runners (NYRR) is one of the world’s foremost running organizations. NYRR is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the sport of running and walking for health, recreation, and competition, and provides full professional services related to all aspects of racing. The organization has a full-time staff of more than 60 employees, supplemented by a network of thousands of volunteers, serving 40,000 members from every U.S. state and more than 100 countries.

About the American Legacy Foundation and Circle of Friends
The American Legacy Foundation is the national, independent public health foundation established as a result of the 1998 tobacco settlement. The foundation is dedicated to reducing tobacco use in the United States with major initiatives reaching youth, women, and priority populations through grants, research, marketing and communications programs, training, and strategic partnerships. Circle of Friends: Uniting to Be Smoke-Free is a national grassroots movement from the American Legacy Foundation to show support for women struggling to quit smoking, and to highlight the toll of tobacco-related disease on American women, their families and communities. Visit www.join-the-circle.org or www.americanlegacy.org for more information.

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