Women Run the World

“Cos I’m Free”. This is a heart wrenching statement. No matter the context, the sentiment can speak to us all. It touched the soul of Cathy Freeman so strongly that she had it tattooed on her upper arm as an expression of just how free she felt…finally. Having spent much of her life dealing with discrimination from those who felt her inferior due to her ethnic background and uses this tattoo as her way of giving a “shout out” to the world. Perhaps in an attempt to get inside her mind and communicate how she might feel, she’s saying, she has had enough of ridiculous stereotypes and even more the judgmental and hateful people who spout them. She is through!
Cathy Freeman has been active in the competitive world of running since she was a child and for her blood, sweat and tears, she can proud display many an award. Coached by her stepfather, Bruce Barber, from an early age, she showed both talent and aptitude.
Born Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman, on February 16, 1973, in Slade Point, Mackay, Queensland. As an Australian Aborigine, she has become something of a role model for the people of her country. Given the acute racism experienced by those of Aboriginal descent, she was forced to work harder to prove that she was no different than anyone else. Both the result of her accolades, coupled with the newer generation’s lack of interest in enforcing a centuries-old tradition of discrimination, things have improved in Australia.
A Little About Those Accolades
Cathy was the winner of several honors during the 2000 Olympic Games, which were conveniently for her, in Sydney, Australia. Offered the privilege of lighting the Olympic flame that year, Cathy returned the favor and won a gold medal in the 400-meter race. As it happens, her gold would turn out to be the 100th overall won by an Australian, since they began participating in the Olympic Games. By this time, Cathy had previously won the silver medal in the same event in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, placing her in second place behind her most staunch rival, French competitor Marie-Jose Perec.
By the time she reached her early teens, she had already been involved in several national and regional competitions. Of those she participated in and excelled were the high jump, 100 m, and the 200 m, with each ending her crossing the finish line first.
Between 1990 and 2002, she competed in the Commonwealth Games three times, the World Championships three times, and the Olympics twice. This is how Cathy Freeman faired:
Commonwealth Games
Cathy participated in the Commonwealth Games in 1990, 1994, and 2002.
1990: Auckland: She won the gold in the 100 m.
1994: Victoria: She won the gold in the 200 m and the 400 m. She won the silver as a member of the team who ran the 4 x 100 m.
2002: Manchester: She won the gold as a member of the team who ran the 4 x 400 m.
World Championship
Cathy participated in the World Championships in 1995, 1997, and 1999.
1995: Gothenburg: She won the bronze as a member of the team who ran the 4 x 400 m.
1997: Athens: She won the gold in the 400 m.
1999: Seville: She won the gold in the 400 m.
Controversy
Cathy Freeman really stirred things up during the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria. As she ran her victory lap after winning the gold in two events, she waved the Australian flag (as is the custom). She also bucked tradition and waved the Aboriginal flag, which had never been done before. This was a huge statement to those who did little to help her get where she is today and a thank you to those who did. Indeed doing so placed her firmly in people’s minds as someone who was not only proud of her country, but of her heritage as well.
Personal Life
Several upsetting events occurred in Cathy’s early life, which have had a deep impact on the person she is today. In 1990, Cathy lost her sister far too early. Afflicted with cerebral palsy, her life ended much too soon. Recently, she lost another close family member as the result of a car accident, she has had her share of heartache.
Through a lot of hard times and a lot of successes, one thing hasn’t changed. Cathy Freeman is finally free!

Some professional athletes have illustrious careers with nothing but gold and fulsome praise to show for their efforts. These Midas-touched types are a rarity however. Other athletes are lost to obscurity, having held hopes for greatness that were never realized. Still others maintain a low-key yet loyal following through their courage, determination and drive, no matter how many medals they receive. Sonia O’Sullivan was one such.

Born November 28, 1969, in Cobh, County Cork, Ireland, this student-turned-pro athlete did not distinguish herself with gold medals galore, but was a source of fierce spirit and pride as befits her heritage. In 1987, she won a sports scholarship to Villanova University (one of the country’s largest and oldest private Catholic universities), where she studied accountancy.

Her very first international event was in 1990, at the European Championship at Split (Croatia). She finished only in 11th place in the women’s 3000-meter, but would not let this rough start deter her. Between the years of 1990 and 1993, Sonia put in some of the best times at the races in which she competed. First among these was a 5000-meter race in Boston where she set a new world record for an indoor event. In July of 1991, she placed first in the 1500-meter, winning the gold at the World Student Games at Sheffield (England). She also took home the silver for the 3000-meter during the same event. In 1992, she set six Irish records (an astounding five of these in the course of only eleven days) in races ranging from 800 to 5000-meters.

In many, she bested her own personal times, making her all the more remarkable. During the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, she came ‘so’ close to winning a bronze in 1992 in the final race of the 3000-meter run. Her fourth place win was made all the more bitter when the silver medalist from that race, Tatyana Doroskikh (a now retired Ukrainian runner representing Ukraine and the former USSR) tested positive for officially banned drugs the following year. Happily, at the tail end of the year, she was able to put her failure in the Olympics behind her by winning first place in the Grand Prix Final in the 5000-meter race.

Despite exceedingly stiff competition from the Chinese in 1993 during the course of multiple events, Sonia continued to put forth a strong effort. After the rocky start where she took fourth place in the 3000-meter race, she took home the silver six days later for the 1500. The very next week, she would set the season’s best time in Germany, which afforded her the honor of ranking third in the world for women’s middle distance in the 5000-meter run. 1993 came to a close with a fantastic second place in not only the Grand Prix Final 3000-meter and the mile, but she also took second place overall in the women’s competition.

Things would only continue to improve for O’Sullivan, as in 1994, she set the fastest time in four individual events: the 1500, 2000, 3000-meter and 1 mile races. She also set the second fastest time in the 5000-meter. At an event in Scotland, she broke the world record for the 2000-meter in July, and that very next week she broke the 3000-meter European record. These fantastic victories moved her to fifth place in the world rankings (remember the Chinese were stiff competition for her, and took up three of the slots). Later, at a race in Nice, France, she placed with a personal best of 3:59:10 in the 1500-meter race – this succeeded in pushing her up to the fourth all-time world rank. Many of the records set by her during the course of 1993 were also Irish records in their own right, which further increased her renown on the Emerald Isle and around the world.

1995 was equally a banner year for O’Sullivan, affording her with many strong, if not record finishes in races ranging between 1500 and 5000 meters. 1996 however saw her first major disappointment since her fourth place finish in Barcelona in 1992. Despite initially favorable odds, she became sick, and was unable to finish most of the races she took part in as her health suffered. Disappointment would continue to hound her for a time, interspersed with high points from 1996 to 1997. 1998 saw another resurgence in this bold and stubborn athlete, and she has continued to persevere, even having found time to start a family, giving birth to healthy daughters in 2000 and 2001 respectively. 2006 saw her apply for and receive dual citizenship in Ireland and Australia. This allowed her to continue training in the latter country and represent it in a limited number of events while representing Ireland in a majority of events in which she took place.

Some athletes are media darlings, rising and falling in popularity as the opinions of the public change. Others eschew such publicity, living for the sport, which they have chosen rather than for which magazine cover they get pasted on. Thus they win or lose on their own merits, and Sonia O’Sullivan has a long way to go yet.

Young, old, contemporary or yesterday’s news, professional athletes are to be lauded as symbols of physical perfection and grace during the eras in which they perform. Some are Midas-touched, earning medal after medal, others end up sinking into obscurity. Many of the more successful athletes retire to take up writing, charity work or even open training centers for the next generation of athletes. Still others continue to compete as they grow older, occasionally earning further accolades or setting new records in the process. Then there are those who do all those things. Joan Benoit Samuelson is one such.

A native New Englander, Benoit was born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine on May 16, 1957. She took up long-distance running in 1972 as part of her physical therapy regimen while recovering from a broken leg suffered in a skiing accident. Little did the Mainer know that this medically necessary stint would lead to world records and a life of athletic renown, making her arguably one of the most famous marathon runners in the United States.

Having excelled at athletics during her time at Bowdoin College, she entered the 1979 Boston Marathon, where she took first place at just over two and a half hours, shaving eight minutes off the previous record time. In 1983, she not only repeated but also surpassed her previous record by an additional two minutes. The 1980s continued to be fruitful for Samuelson, as she not only competed in, and won, the first U.S. Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials, but she became the first woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the eponymous marathon. Her record was just under two and a half hours – even better than her time for the Boston Marathon of 1979. In 1985, she won the Chicago marathon, setting an all-time American record of two hours, 21 minutes and 21 seconds. Additionally, in both the 1980s and 1990s, she received multiple awards and accolades from various sources. Among others, she received the Jesse Owens Award, the Sullivan Award for the United States’ Top Amateur Athlete, the Tufts Jumbo Award, Yale University’s Kiphuth Award.
In the 1990s, she became a Paul Harris Fellow courtesy of the Rotary Club International, she received the Sarah Orne Jewett Award from the Maine Women’s Fund, the New England Women’s Leadership Award, and the Women’s Master Runner of the Year Award from the Road Runners Club of America. In addition to these worthy and prestigious awards, Joan was the recipient of several honorary degrees from such institutions as Williams College, Colby-Sawyer College, Mount Ida College and Thomas College. She was also inducted into multiple Halls of Fame: the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, the National Alumni Hall of Fame for the Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA) in 1994, the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1998, the International Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame and last but not least, the International Women’s Sports Foundation Hall of Fame (both in 1999).

Active as ever, Joan shows no signs of quitting anytime soon. Though she has retired from active participation in running events, she continues to inspire the current generation of American and foreign athletes with her indomitable spirit and drive. Joan has penned several books, including Running Tide and Running for Women, and she also coaches women’s cross-country and long-distance athletes. She set a new U.S. Record for participants 50+ years of age, by beating her personal goal of under 3 hours during the 2008 US Olympic Trials, and when she ran in the 2009 New York City Marathon, she smashed the 50+ division record with a race time of 2:49. Off the field, Joan is a consultant for Nike, Inc., as well as a clinician and motivational speaker. One of her greatest achievements however, is arguably the founding of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10k charity run, which benefits a different children’s charity every year. 2010′s beneficiary is Junior Achievement of Maine. Some of the previous beneficiaries have been: Maine Handicapped Skiing, the Susan L. Curtis Foundation, the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation and Greater Portland Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Relatively new to the running scene, but tearing the asphalt up behind her, Kara Goucher, born July 9th, 1978, is a superstar in the making, in the field of long-distance running. Born in Queens, New York, Kara suffered great loss early on when her father lost his life to a drunk driver. She was just four when she and the rest of her surviving family changed hometowns to Duluth, Minnesota, where Kara’s mother could raise the kids with the help of her parents, Ola and Cal.

A very tight-knit family, Ola and Cal filled the void of a lost father extremely well, becoming surrogate parents themselves, a role in which they thrived. For Kara, family was the key and the strength she needed to blossom in those early years. Kara’s sisters, Kendall and Kelly, her mother Pat, and her grandparents, have a great deal to do with Kara’s success; they have been her support, her cheerleaders, and her best friends through injury, disappointment and achievement.

Kara’s love of long-distance running was discovered in seventh grade. She wanted an award the local junior high school gave out, but in order to gain it, she needed participation in a sport. Due to the cross-country team’s reputation of never cutting students, she felt it was safe choice. The chance awakened in her a love for running that would propel her forward into athletic greatness.

Education was emphasized heavily and Kara was not allowed to neglect her studies in favor of athletics. A well-rounded individual, Kara was also involved in dance and music while in high school. Eventually, though, she had to make a choice between that and running, as training was taking over her free time. As one of the top runners in the state beginning in junior high, the decision, though difficult, was clear.

High school saw Kara achieve notoriety and start really gaining a reputation for herself. Duluth East High School enjoyed a record number of cross-country championships with the help of young Kara. It was at a competitive run against Carrie Tollefson, which Kara lost by one second that eventually led to meeting her husband, Adam Goucher (2006 4k short course 1st place winner at the World Championship games). Kara was told by her coach that she had lost because she wore tights as she ran; Carrie chose not to don the popular accessory, regardless what temperature it was. Ever after, Kara has refused tights, even when she triumphed at the NCAA cross-country title on shatteringly cold day in 2000. When Adam Goucher saw the shivering champion, he gave her his coat to keep her warm. Nothing sparked at the time, but that would not always be the case; they married in 2001.

2008 ran Kara at her first marathon in New York City. With a time of 2:25:53, she came in a strong third and gained title of the best marathon debut by an American woman ever; she beat out Deena Castor’s time of 2:26:58. For the first time in 14 long years, an American woman placed in the top three for the revered race. In 2009, landing another solid third place in her second run, she ended the Boston marathon with an impressive time of 2:32:25.

A place in history is hers forever thanks to her winning the first American medal ever in the women’s 10,000-meter at the 2007 IAAF World Outdoor Championships. She outmatched the competition in the 5000-meters and took second in the 10,000-meter Olympic trials in 2008.

She’s been victim to several injuries that have kept her out of training, however, and these are always worrisome to any athlete. She also has what she calls ‘negative self chatter’, which are basically nagging self doubts, taking on the form of an inner dialogue with herself. She has a small problem with talking herself down or out of a competition she believes may be too challenging. With the help with a sports psychologist, she’s making great strides in this area.

Currently, as of 2010, Adam and Kara are both on hiatus and eagerly awaiting the birth of their first child, a son. Kara expects to resume training when after the baby is born and is looking forward to both motherhood and returning to long-distance running.

It sounds so cliché, and it’s an expression that’s been used to describe many people, but here it is again. In the dictionary under the definition of the word adversity must surely be a photo of Wilma Rudolph. Born prematurely on June 23, 1940, Rudolph weighed only 4.5 pounds at birth. Christened Wilma Glodean Rudolph, this tiny infant would also soon be struck with infantile paralysis, caused by the polio virus. Wilma was the 20th child in a family of 22 children, born to Ed and Blanche Rudolph. In a time when the Great Depression was still affecting employment and security, Wilma, it could be assumed, was simply an unfortunate girl who would not get the necessary attention her condition required, and it would be no one’s fault.

Wilma’s mother, however, was a determined woman, and dedicated her meager resources to the health of her child. The nearest hospital was for whites only, so Wilma’s mother was forced to nurse her daughter through many deadly diseases, including measles, scarlet fever, chicken pox and double pneumonia at home. When it became obvious her legs were deforming, Wilma’s stalwart mother took her to the Meharry Hospital, a black medical college of Fisk University in Nashville. It was 50 miles away from their home in Clarksville, but Wilma went twice a week for two years. For her mother, finally seeing her daughter walk with the aid of a metal brace, proved her devotion was not in vain.
A doctor instructed leg massages at home, and Wilma’s condition began to improve. Her entire family assisted, giving Wilma four massages a day for therapy. Eventually, Wilma recovered enough to walk and started attending school at the age of seven, having been previously tutored at home. In that time, schools were segregated by law, and young Wilma learned in an all-black school, which unfortunately meant they were less likely to have proper funding for books, teachers, and resources. Nothing, however, would hold Wilma back.
When her sister Yolanda joined the school basketball team, Wilma followed. While her coach, Clinton Gray, was hesitant about playing her and forced her to wait three years before putting her into the game, when she was finally unleashed as the starting guard, she helped vault her team to the championships. It was during the State Basketball Championship that she caught the eye of Ed Temple, coach of the famous Tennessee State track and field team, the Tigerbelles. He recognized her potential immediately and invited her to a sports summer camp.
She quickly excelled in track and field events, and at the age of 16, she earned a place on the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team. This honor didn’t go to her head however, and she brought home a bronze medal from the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, in the 4×100-meter relay. The 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome were another shining moment for Wilma, as she won medals in the 100 and 200-meter races and 4×100-meter relay. This marvelous woman even ran the 100-meter dash in 11 seconds flat, though it was uncredited as it was determined to be ‘wind-aided’. Rudolph also went on to win the 200-meter dash, setting a new Olympic record of 23.2 seconds. It had been Wilma’s hope to have a good showing in Rome to pay tribute to her inspiration Jesse Owens. An African American track and field star, Owens competed in the 1936 Berlin, Germany Olympics at a time when he not only lacked support from his country, but also faced the less tolerant Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party who were hell bent on proving the nonsense of Aryan superiority. Winning four gold medals – in the 100-meter, 200-meter, long jump and the 4×100-meter relay team – Owens shattered Hitler’s notion that any race is superior to another.

After graduating from Burt High, Wilma was awarded a full scholarship to Tennessee State and completed her Bachelor’s Degree in education in 1963, after taking a year off for international track events and appearances. Also in that year, she married her high school sweetheart, Robert Eldridge, and they subsequently had four children.

When looking back on the life of Wilma Rudolph, it’s difficult to believe that she accomplished all that she did, despite having had polio and myriad other childhood diseases. Even more unlikely is that her running career, explosive as it was, ended when she was just 22 years old when she retired. What makes her story bittersweet is that Wilma passed away at the age of 54 from brain cancer. For her determination and breaking barriers in the face of adversity, her legacy will live on as one of the country’s most courageous and strong-willed women, competing where few people of color and few women, had previously. Wilma Rudolph shattered barriers of race and gender, providing a beacon of hope and equality for people all throughout the world.

When asked to conjure up images of Kenya, no doubt thoughts of beautiful mountains, many of them snow capped, colorful every day and ceremonial costumes, silverback gorillas and several marathon runners come to mind, right?

Indeed all of those images are accurate depictions of the beautiful east African country, which borders Ethiopia to its north, Somalia to its northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west and the Sudan to the northwest. An independent nation from the UK since December 12, 1963, Kenya boasts a population of just over 39 million people. It’s a fairly poor and continuing to develop nation, with unfortunately a few diseases that limit the life expectancy of its people.

Amid all this, have emerged some of the greatest athletes of the world. Indeed several countries can boast this, but in the case of Kenya, it’s staggering how many have emerged from there who have gained international fame. Several women and men have represented their native Kenya in running at the Olympics and in marathons in various cities around the world. Kenya has boasted many a winner of the gold, silver as well as record breakers in sprints and long distance running alike.

One incredibly bright star among several of Kenya’s finest is a woman named Catherine Ndereba. Born Wincatherine Nyambura Ndereba on July 21, 1972, which is the same year that Norway’s Grete Waitz competed in the Munich Olympic games. Significant only because it was the first time women had been allowed to compete in the 1500-meter race on an international level.

It would be in high school that Ndereba would fall in love with running. It is said that she was so fierce a runner, even in high school that when she showed up to compete, both the boys and girls would forfeit rather than compete and lose. Indeed her brother and sister, both of whom are also runners, admitted that there was something special about their sister.

Something special indeed caught the attention of recruiters and trainers in the United States who invited Ndereba to train with them for three months in 1998. What is most unusual is that even after giving birth (her daughter was 1-year old when she left for the US), unlike most women whose bodies are never quite the same post delivery, her best years were ahead of her.

On a chilly October morning in 2001, Ndereba, was back in the US again, this time to compete in the Chicago Marathon. For years women marathoners tried, in earnest, to break the 2 hour and 20 minute marathon. Grete Waitz, with 11 wins (between 1978 and 1986), four of them world records, was unable to achieve this. Six days prior to Ndereba entering the Chicago Marathon, Japan’s Naoko Takahashi, while competing in the Berlin Marathon, posted a record-breaking time of 2:19:46.
Almost as though she’d done so effortlessly, Catherine Ndereba smashed Ms. Takahashi’s incredible world record. Winning the Women’s Chicago Marathon, Ndereba posted 2 hours 18 minutes and 47 seconds. Indeed a reporter with the Chicago Tribune who was covering the marathon dubbed her, “the greatest women’s marathoner of all time.”

To Her Credit
In Catherine Ndereba’s illustrious career, to site each and every win, one might need five or six pages to enumerate them. However, here are some highlights, or as the expression goes, “the abridged version”:

1998: Named Road Runner of the Year by Runner’s World Magazine; Named Road Racer of the Year by Running Times Magazine; Ran the world’s fastest time for the 5k race with a time of 15:09 and for the 15k with a time of 48:32; Entered her first marathon in Boston, placed sixth overall

2000: Winner for Boston and Chicago Marathons; named World Athlete of the Year by Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS)

2001: Winner again for Boston and Chicago Marathons; broke world record running it in 2:18:47

2003: Won the Gold Medal for the World Championship Games; Placed 2nd for New York City and London’s Marathons

2004: Silver Medal Winner, Marathon runner in Athens, Greece; Boston Marathon winner

2005: First woman to win four Boston Marathon

2006: Osaka Marathon winner

2007: World Championships Gold Medal winner

2008: Silver Medal Winner in Beijing, China

She and her husband, Anthony Maina, live in Nairobi, Kenya and are together raising their daughter Jane who is now 13 years old.

If you were to ask many an American to name anything of interest about Norway, many would give you a blank stare and ask you what it is. While this might seem a sad commentary about people’s understanding about geography, while true, it’s also an indication that Norway is a small country, which has remained out of the political spotlight, since 1945. This is when it ceased being occupied by Nazi Germany.

Trying to rebuild itself meant utilizing its myriad of natural resources; and within only two decades, it became quite the independent nation it is today. However, it’s still as small as it ever was. Boasting a population of just under 5 million, it’s the most sparsely populated country in Europe and the third least populated in the world (for its geographical size). This country that shares most of its border with Sweden (known for more than just offering the world Ikea), is in the western most portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. In the last two decades, Norway has become of the US’s largest financial contributors, which makes its lack of notoriety among many Americans rather ironic.

Now that you have a little more of an idea what Norway is and where it’s located, it’s time to introduce to you one of its most prominent citizens of modern day.

Born on October 1, 1953 in Norway’s capital city of Oslo, was a little girl named Grete Andersen. Given how soon it was after recovering from part of occupied Nazi Germany, for a girl to take up something considered rather frivolous as running can be, her parents discouraged her from pursuing what she was clearly born to do. Relegated to watching from the sidelines as her brothers entered race after race, she longed to strap on running shoes and join them. Indeed, it’s safe to say that women the world over were hardly being taken seriously as athletes. However, determined as she was, Waitz began running and chasing her dream, albeit late in life as compared to most athletes who start in their formative years.

By 1970, Waitz was beginning to garner attention on an international front, which finally earned support from her family. Learning that the 1972 Olympic games to be held in Munich, Germany, were allowing women to compete in the 1500-meter race, Waitz tried out. Not only did she get to participate but found a surprising amount of support and encouragement from her male counterparts.

By 1975, this time competing in her native Olso, Waitz competed in the 3000-meter race and broke a world record, completing it in 8:46:06. She would come back a year later and best her time in the same race posting an 8:45:04. Waitz continued posting victories in both 3000 and 5000-meter races throughout Europe over the next three years.

In 1978, at the age of 25, Waitz was asked to participate in the New York City Marathon, by its co-founder Fred Lebow. Finishing the full 26 miles in 2:32:30, which is highly respectable finish for a man, Waitz shaved two minutes off the women’s world record set by Christa Vahlensieck, on September 10, 1977.

As if that weren’t enough to drop jaws both in the world of sports in the place Grete still called home, she came back a year later and bested her own record. In 1979, Waitz returned to New York City and ran the marathon in 2:27:32. On a roll, she’d return in 1980 and set a new world record running it in 2 hours, 25 minute and 29 seconds. However it was her participation in the London Marathon in 1986 that would turn the sport completely on its head when Waitz ran it in 2:24:54. Indeed, the current record holder for a woman is Paula Radcliffe who ran a 2:15: marathon in London in 2003. The record has yet to be broken.

Retirement – Sort of
Grete Waitz never did officially retire from professional sports. In 2005 she underwent treatment for an unspecified cancer and still competes in smaller races. In her career Waitz won 10 New York City Marathons (1978-1988). In that time, she set and then broke the world record twice. She won two London Marathons (1984 and 1986) and again, broke the world record. She has one silver medal for her efforts in the 1984 Olympics and a gold for the 1983 World Championship games held in Helsinki – both were for marathons.

Norway’s Finest
In a time when women were still discriminated against from entering competitive sports, women like Grete Waitz not only broke barriers but set records. She is widely regarded as one of the most famous female runners of the world and in Norway she is, as you can imagine, a national hero.

A statue of Grete Waitz outside the Bislet Stadium in Oslo is a constant reminder of Norway’s prodigal daughter. And when you mail a letter in Norway, don’t be surprised to see an image of the nine-time New York City Marathon winner. With more wins than anyone else in the world (male or female), she indeed has earned to be mailed all over the world. Grete Waitz is truly an inspiration to her little country and to women around the world.

Shin splints, arthritis in the joints, Achilles tendon, broken toenails and if you are a hurdler, those plus bruised shins and knees are just some of the pains associated with running. Running, especially on concrete, can be a killer on your feet, toes and basically everything from the knee socket southward. And so why, with all these known risks, experienced by most every runner, be she a sprinter or love of long distance runs, is running such a popular sport?

Diet, Exercise and Maintaining a Healthy Weight
While it’s true that for the majority of people, the idea of altering one’s diet, incorporating exercise into his or her life are enough to make you want to pop a pill. It’s easier, faster and doesn’t involve pain, right? But where’s the fun in that and besides, most pills aren’t FDA approved and so you are opening yourself to a whole new set of problems.

Whether your doctor has suggested you change your lifestyle, you noticed a few extra pounds on you that weren’t there last year or you’ve been diagnosed with type II diabetes, better diet and adding exercise are a must. As we get older, it takes us longer to shed fat and extra pounds. However, old, young or in between, running is a great choice. Even with the pounding it takes on our knees, tendons and toes, as you’ll see, the benefits far outweigh the “pain in the butt” factor.

We all want to maintain a healthier lifestyle and weigh less (yes even people who are overweight don’t secretly love being that way), and yet most of us want it, NOW and not excited about going through the hard work needed to get there. Instead of going from sitting on your couch day in and day out and suddenly running a marathon, start with baby steps. If exercise for you gives you a similar set of hives only experienced when considering that root canal upcoming, perhaps start with small jogs.

Going From Very Heavy to Incorporating Exercise
To ensure that your body doesn’t go into shock from the sudden change from inactivity to doing a 10-minute mile, perhaps do this all gradually. In the same manner that you didn’t skip walking and went directly to running (unless you were this author’s brother), bear this in mind with a new exercise regimen. Start with a slow leisurely walk; say a 2-mile walk at no faster a pace than 25 minutes per mile. By week two you can increase this to a 20-minute mile and if you are so inclined, add an extra mile. By the end of the month trying running for half of one of those miles and before you know it, you are running a 15-minute mile!

The Benefits Outweigh the Aches and Pains
We all know by now that getting your heart rate above a normal resting pace is the only way to burn fat and calories. But did you know that you needn’t train your way to beating Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 10.49-second 100-meter dash? Get out and run 30 minutes a day, at least three days a week and you’ll notice several things:

• Although it won’t happen overnight, you’ll lose weight
• The overall tone of your body will change; not only will you weigh less, but your skin will be more taught and toned
• Your appetite will increase, but be sure not to fill the void with junk food but rather lean protein and vegetables
• You have more energy and you fall asleep much quicker
• If you had been diagnosed with sleep apnea, you might be breathing more easily
• You will no longer be winded walking up the stairs
• Check your blood sugar and blood pressure, both surely dropped considerably!

Running is Solitude, Ask a Buddy to Join You
One big difference between walking and running is that walking tends to gather a crowd while running gets us deep into our thoughts. Indeed that zone runners often speak of might be difficult to achieve if you are gabbing with ten of your closest girlfriends. If you have ever tried talking while running, you get breathless even faster. Perhaps still consider asking a friend to join you, but agree to keep the conversation to a minimum. Why a friend? When starting a new thing, be it exercise, a cooking class, acting on stage or flying a plane, we need reassurance that we’re doing it correctly. Having the support is often the difference between continuing and giving up.

When you feel that you are no longer in need of a buddy and prefer to run solo, bring that iPod; you’ll need something to reduce the monotony.

What is the difference between a cheetah and a lion? A cheetah is the fastest animal in the world and can run up to speeds of 70 miles per hour. A lion, by contrast may not be able achieve nearly the same speed, but she has the endurance to keep running long after the cheetah has stopped running.

Florence Griffith-Joyner, née Florence Delorez Griffith was born on December 21, 1959 in what is more commonly referred to as South Central Los Angeles. Raised in “the Projects”, which are low-income housing projects, money was tight for her family. However, values, such as excellence, being the best you can be and achieving your goals are ones that were instilled in her at a young age. As many of her neighbors in the projects were succumbing to drugs and leading a life of crime, growing up with the parents she did with the values she learned from them, going down that path was not an option.

Griffith began running at age seven and by junior high school she was already competing against runners in local area schools. Despite her innate talent, it was important to her parents that she maintain good grades and so graduating with honors was again, something that wasn’t an option for Griffith.

For two years Griffith attended California State University, Northridge but transferred to University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) where she graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Olympic Dreams, The Gold and Setting Records
While still attending UCLA, Griffith ran and placed fourth in the inaugural World Championship games, held in 1983. A year after graduating from UCLA, Griffith qualified for and competed in the 1984 Summer Olympic games, where she won a silver medal for the 200-meter dash. It was at the Olympic games that Griffith first made heads turn. Not only was she extremely fast, but it was also the first glimpse into her rather colorful personal personality that the world would get. At a time when women were donning tracksuits of muted colors, she opted for bold and loud. Complimenting her flamboyant running gear were her rather long, elaborately painted nails.

When Griffith-Joyner – by this time married to Al Joyner, champion triple jump winner and brother of Olympic Gold Medal Winner Jackie Joyner-Kersee – competed again in the World Championship games of 1987, having previously proven herself quite formidable in the 200-meter dash, this time she won a second place trophy. However, it would be trying out for the 1988 Olympic Trials in the 100-meter race that stunned on-lookers, competitors and commentators of the game. Running 10.49 seconds set a world record that today has yet to be broken. It’s safe to assume with that time, she qualified to compete in the 1988 Olympiad games, which were held in Seoul, Korea.

Once there, Griffith set a second world record, this time for the 200-meter dash. Running 200 meters in 21.34 seconds remains to this day the fastest time recorded for that race. For her achievements in the 1988 games, Griffith took home, 3 Gold medals and two Silver ones.

Whispers, Rumors and Controversy
It would be at the 1987 Olympic Trials that the whispers, rumors and speculations about Griffith-Joyner’s life would start. Although her 10.49 seconds for the 100-meter dash stands, the Athletics Annual of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians ruled in 1997, that her incredibly fast speed was likely wind-assisted.

During the 1988 Olympic games, several of her competitors began spreading rumors and speculating that Griffith-Joyner, by this point known the world over as “Flo Jo” had been “doping”, meaning that she was using performance enhancing drugs. Indeed gold medal winner Joaquim Cruz went so far as to say that she could not have posted the times she did without the assistance of drugs.

Retiring shortly after the 1988 Olympic games did little to quell the rumors. What they say: “Knowing that random mandatory drug testing on athletes was set to begin in 1989, Flo-Jo got out while she still had her reputation and wins on record.” What both her husband and she said is that she wanted to start a family, be able to sit on the couch and eat junk food when she wanted and concentrate on her other true love – fashion design. Indeed in 1989, Flo Jo designed the uniforms for the Indiana Pacers basketball team and had a child later that same year.

Accolades
In addition to Flo Jo winning the gold and silver medals she did, along with setting not one but two world’s records, the following awards were bestowed upon her:

• 1988 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year
• 1988 United States Olympic Committee Sportswoman of the Year
• 1988 Sullivan Award (awarded to top amateur athlete)
• 1988 Jesse Owens Outstanding Track and Field Athlete
• 1995 Inducted into the U.S.A. Track and Field Hall of Fame
• 
Recipient of a Distinguished Service Award from the United Negro College Fund

Ten years after her triumphant and record-breaking wins in Seoul, which led to two nick names: Flo Jo and “The Fastest Woman in the World”, Florence Griffith-Joyner died in her sleep. She was only 38 years old. Her untimely passing started the rumor mill all over again about her drug usage, despite having retired ten years earlier. Her husband, Al Joyner, insisted on an autopsy to prove to the world that his wife did not take performance enhancing drugs. The coroner ruled Flo Jo’s death to be of natural causes and due to suffocation, the result of an epileptic seizure, which she had been known to have.

It is the hope of the Florence Griffith-Joyner’s family, that Flo Jo, known to be the fastest women on earth and with the longest and most elaborately painted nails in competitive sports, that the rumors be put to rest. Flo Jo is hardly the first athlete to break records and defy physics. After 7-time Tours de France winner Lance Armstrong not only beat advanced testicular cancer but also went on to win that many Tours, the rumors persisted that he had been doping. Indeed there are those who have been caught doping in running, baseball, basketball, bicycling and other sports. But sometimes someone just comes along who is just born from greatness. That indeed describes Florence Griffith-Joyner, a woman with the running ability of a cheetah.

Although she was named for Jackie Kennedy, that’s indeed where the similarities end. Long, lanky, athletic, talented, born to run and bring home the Gold are just a few ways of describing this East St. Louis, Illinois native.

Born on March 3, 1962, Jackie Joyner went to high school, and rather than act out, as did many of her classmates, seeing a made-for-TV movie about the life about Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias changed Joyner’s life. Babe, as she came to be known, competed in the 1932 Olympiad games and took home two gold medals and one silver in 80-meter hurdles, Javelin throw and the high jump, respectively. What made Babe so special (whose name she adopted because she excelled not only in running but also baseball and people began calling her Babe after Babe Ruth), and what Joyner no doubt found so admirable is that when competitive sports were still considered to be “man’s work”, Babe broke records and competed on a level rarely before seen by a woman.

In addition to being a gold-medal winning runner and baseball player, Babe competed in and won 41 Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA Tours) games, of which she was a founding member. This, mind you, occurred after breaking records in basketball, baseball and running. Surely that would inspire the slacker in most of us to pick up the pole vault, throw on some running shoes and attempt to break records. Imagine what it might do to a 13-year-old with innate athletic ability to achieve.

After graduating from high school with honors, Joyner was accepted into the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to compete in both basketball, as well as track and field. For the first three seasons she attended UCLA, Joyner was the starting forward for their much celebrated Bruins basketball team. It was during her fourth year at UCLA that Joyner decided to concentrate her efforts on women’s heptathlon, with competing in the 1984 Olympics as the ultimate goal.

Typically a heptathlete will compete in the following areas:

• 100 m hurdles
• High jump
• Shot put
• 200 meter sprint
• Long jump
• Javelin throw
• 800 meters

Variations of this might exist for a women’s competition or whether the event is being held indoors or out of doors. Variations or not, these events are not for the faint of heart. Joyner faired quite well in the 1984 games; she brought home a silver medal for her efforts in the heptathlon.

Having red-shirted to now concentrate on the equally intense discipline of running, having achieved what she set out to (competing in and winning at the Olympics), Joyner returned to UCLA to complete her fifth and senior year. Red-shirting refers to athletes who because they’ve been accepted to a college or university to compete in two or more sports, rather than be required to graduate in four years, a fifth is added to allow the student to equally compete in both areas.

While at UCLA, Joyner managed 1,167 points on the basketball court. The Bruins advanced to the West-Regional Semi-Finals of the NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament for the 1985 season. For her efforts, Joyner was named one of the 15 greatest players for the UCLA Women’s Basketball team.

In addition to her stellar performance while attending UCLA, Joyner went on to compete in the following:

• 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 Summer Olympic Games
• 1986 and 1988 Goodwill Games
• 1991 World Championships in Tokyo Games

For which she won 8 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. Joyner set and held records in heptathlon, the long jump and 100 metre hurdles. Sports Illustrated voted Joyner the greatest female athlete of the 20th century. This is rather ironic, given that the woman who inspired her to compete was voted by Sports Illustrated the greatest female athlete of the first half of the 20th century. Dead before Joyner was even born, surely even Babe Zaharias would be impressed.

Personal Life and Philanthropy

In 1986, Joyner married her athletic coach, Bob Kersee. Two years later, she founded the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation. Her goal with this non-profit is to give back to the community that helped raise her. It offers both financial and life skills resources to assist East St. Louis, Illinois families, children and adults to improve their quality-of-life.

In 2007, Kersee joined forces with such notable names as Tennis great Andre Agassi, world heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali, 7-time Tours de France winner Lance Armstrong, basketball’s Alonzo Mourning, Soccer’s Mia Hamm, NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon and many others to establish the Athletes for Hope. This is a non-profit organization that seeks to involve athletes to assist non-athletes in support of their communities.

A truly great, one of a kind athlete and while some attempt to talk the talk, or even walk the talk, Jackie Joyner-Kersee runs the walk.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee is also the sister-in-law of the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, who married Jackie’s brother Olympic triple jumper winner Al Joyner. Florence Griffith-Joyner, an equally talented runner who still holds the record for the fastest 100 and 200 meter runs, she died of epilepsy at age 38.