Joan Benoit Samuelson is a legend in our sport. The first-ever Olympic women’s marathon champion, two-time Boston Marathon champion (1979 & 1983), 1985 Chicago Marathon champion and former American record holder is still running and inspiring at 66 years old. In March, she finally received her Abbott World Marathon Major six star medal after completing the Tokyo Marathon in 3:38:37.

Before the pandemic, Benoit Samuelson was looking to extend her sub-three hour marathon streak across six decades. She ran 3:02:21 at the 2019 Berlin Marathon and then underwent a partial right knee replacement surgery in 2020. Two years ago, she ran 3:20:20 at the London Marathon and won her respective age group.

I had the pleasure of catching her for a bit while in Boston, where she was on-site as an ambassador for Abbott. In this conversation, we talk about how she continues to utilize running as storytelling, her mark on the sport, how she’s inspired so many women and a little bit about what’s next after completing all six World Marathon Majors.

The following interview excerpt has been edited lightly for clarity. You can listen to the full interview with Joan Benoit Samuelson on the CITIUS MAG Podcast – available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows.

CITIUS MAG: How do you find the motivation to train?

Joan Benoit: It's through storytelling that I keep myself going… I've been blessed to be able to stick with it all these years. I had a partial knee replacement in the middle of COVID and we waited until I found a surgeon who told me that I'd run again… When you set your sights on something, it's hard to let go. I always try to finish what I start. I was on that six-star journey and I wanted to complete it.

CITIUS MAG: What's the story that you want to start writing now that the six stars are accomplished?

Joan Benoit: I think I'd like to start writing the story about the importance of involving young children – girls especially – in sport. Yesterday I spent time with Girls on the Run, and it was really great to see the passion and the fire in so many of these young girls' eyes and just being there to support the parents and the coaches and the people who are involved in their lives.

CITIUS MAG: Do you see inspiration when you retell your stories and they're hearing it from someone like you?

Joan Benoit: I see potential in everybody and it's just up to the individual to decide how she or he or they want to play that out… If soccer had been a sport available to me in my high school and college years, we probably wouldn't be here talking because I probably would have pursued soccer. So it all comes down to opportunity…

We just need to provide opportunities at every level for the next generations to come and I think that's what Girls on the Run does. And with Abbott’s tag(line): “Live life to the fullest” – that's what I do every single day and that's what we want the next generation to do. There's so much tech out there now with AI and I think it's too easy for these young people to find shortcuts and to narrow their focus on certain things. We just need to keep physical activity alive and well in those lives.

CITIUS MAG: If someone were to sit the four of you in a room – Emily Sisson, Deena Kastor, Keira D’Amato, and you – and said that you guys can talk about whatever, what would you guys talk about? Is it training or more just about life and how you go about carrying yourself in the sport?

Joan Benoit: About life – because everybody who lives needs to find a passion that motivates them to improve themselves as a person. I think by self-improvement, you help others. If you feel good about what you're doing, and you're passionate about what you're doing, I think it makes it much easier to help people. When I came through that tunnel in L.A., I really didn't know if I was the right person to be doing so because I knew with that, responsibility would come. Was I capable of carrying that mantle and moving our sport forward? I think I immediately thought about how much the sport had given to me and offered me and how much my community had given to me…

I promised my family and friends who gathered after the win to make sure that that moment in time didn't change who I was as a person and didn't change my values – and they've kept me honest. I have a lot of friends outside the sport of running, and as much as I appreciate my friends in the sport, I appreciate those friends who keep me grounded and don't let me forget where I came from and where I might go next.

For more from Joan Benoit Samuelson, listen to the full interview on the CITIUS MAG Podcast.

Time stamps:

• 4:48 - How she’s feeling after becoming a World Marathon Majors Six Star finisher.
• 6:02 - How she finds the motivation to continue training + how she goes about goal setting.
• 8:25 - The story she wants to begin writing for herself now that the Six Stars are accomplished.
• 10:10 - How she inspires others through sharing her story.
• 15:04 - Her relationship with other elite women marathoners.
• 16:44 - Her philosophy on running + what the sport means to her.
• 18:20 - Her relationship with the running community.