One of my Favorite Memories from the Beach to Beacon 10K

A few years ago when I started to run more seriously there was one race at the top of my goal list and even though it isn’t a distance I particularly like to race, there were several reasons this specific 10K was a special one for me. Joan Benoit Samuelson has always been a runner I’ve looked up to, not only because she’s from Maine but also because she did something pretty incredible exactly 31 years ago today. I remember it so well. It was 1984 and I was twelve years old. At the time I was running track with our town’s recreation program and even though my specialty was the 100-meter dash, I also ran the mile and 2-mile run at track meets, which is why I watched a great deal of the Summer Olympics that year. They were held in Los Angeles and for the first time ever there was to be a women’s marathon at the games. That’s pretty special all by itself, but even more cool is the fact that Joan Benoit was running for Team USA and also representing the State of Maine. I watched in awe as she ran at a pace I could only dream of and to this day I still get goosebumps when I watch the video and see her enter the Coliseum to the roar of a near-capacity crowd. And she’s all by herself as she runs one lap around the track before crossing the finish line. She won that marathon by a pretty big margin and has been one of my biggest running idols ever since. If you haven’t seen it, you should definitely look up the video on YouTube. It’s a real treat to watch and a huge inspiration for any runner.

I’m still going through all my memories from this past weekend of my first (but definitely not my last) Beach to Beacon 10k race experience, but I just have to share one of my absolute favorites with you right this very minute. I had a few different goals going into the race, including meeting Joanie at the finish line. I’d heard that she greets every runner who crosses the finish line and I was on a mission to meet her and if I was feeling not-to-freakishly-nervous, ask her to take a photo with me. Well I was definitely nervous and I’m pretty sure I sounded downright out-of-my-mind when I bee-lined over to her as soon as I crossed the finish line (which I’m totally blaming on feeling delirious from the heat), but you know what? She smiled and was calm to my crazy and gracious to my teary-eyed photo request and even though I wish my interaction with her wasn’t quite so obnoxious I hope she knows how much it meant to me and how much I’ll always treasure our finish line selfie. Thanks so much, Joanie, and I’ll see you next year!