Having won the first Olympic marathon contested for women in 1984, Joan Benoit Samuelson has been an important figure in the growth and the success of women’s running.
Now, the Freeport native will be recognized at one of the country’s most prestigious track and field invitationals.
Samuelson, the founder of the Beach to Beacon 10K, will be honored on May 26 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. The event will be called “Joan Benoit Samuelson Night,” according to a statement released Tuesday.
The classic, entering its 43rd year this spring, is the longest-running outdoor track and field invitational in the country and is named in honor of 1972 U.S. Olympian Steve Prefontaine, who died in 1975.
The May 26 events will feature elite international and U.S. athletes on a night dedicated to women in track and field, and include a 200-meter dash for high school girls, along with 800-, 1,500-, 5,000-meter races and the long jump and the javelin.
Samuelson, a graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, burst onto the scene in 1976 by winning the Falmouth 7-mile road race on Cape Cod. The men’s title that year was won by 1972 Olympic gold medalist Frank Shorter.
Samuelson owns six Boston Marathon titles, the most of any woman, and ran a sub-2-hour, 50-minute marathon at the 2008 Olympic Trials, also in Boston.
The 10K that Samuelson founded in 1998 will be celebrating its 20th running in Cape Elizabeth this summer, with over 6,000 runners expected to participate.
