Champions Return for 2014 Boston Marathon® Weekend
Joan Samuelson, Amby Burfoot, and Gelindo Bordin to run Marathon.
Bill Rodgers to serve as grand marshal of the Boston Marathon.
Greg Meyer, Jack Fultz, and Uta Pippig to participate in weekend activities.
BOSTON ÛÓ The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) today announced that several former champions of the Boston Marathon® will return to participate in events surrounding the 118th
Boston Marathon, to be held on Monday, April 21, 2014. Champions Joan
Benoit Samuelson (ME; 1979, 1983), Amby Burfoot (CT; 1968), and Gelindo
Bordin (ITA; 1990) will join 36,000 entrants in this year’s running of
the world’s oldest annual marathon.
In addition, Bill
Rodgers (MA; 1975, 1978-1980) will serve as the grand marshal of the
race while Greg Meyer (MI; 1983) will serve as the finish line
announcer. Jack Fultz (MA; 1976) is the
Training Advisor for the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) team and
Uta Pippig (CO; 1994-1996) is running the B.A.A 5K on Saturday, April
19, along with Meyer and a record field size of 10,000 entrants.
Samuelson, 56, is a
two-time Boston champion and the first-ever women’s Olympic Marathon
champion, winning gold at the 1984 Olympic Games in 2:24:52. Her time of
2:50:29 in the 2013 Boston Marathon
was the fastest marathon ever run by a woman in the 55-59 age group. A
resident of Freeport, ME, Samuelson entered last year’s race on the 30th
anniversary of her 1983 victory with a goal of running faster than
2:52:43, less than one minute slower
for each year since her Boston victory. Her 2:22:43 win in 1983 was a
world best performance at that time. She is a John Hancock Elite Athlete
Team Ambassador and one of the sport’s most recognizable and popular
personalities.
Burfoot, 67, is one of
more than 4,500 participants in this year’s Boston Marathon who reached
the half marathon checkpoint or later in last year’s race but were
unable to cross the Boylston
Street finish line. His recorded 40K split was 4:11:25. In 2013,
Burfoot commemorated the 45th anniversary of his 1968
victory, which made him the Boston Marathon’s first American champion in
11 years. A Mystic, CT resident, Burfoot was coached
by the late John J. Kelley, the first, and currently lone, B.A.A.
Running Club member to win the Boston Marathon (1957).
Bordin, 55, is the
only male in history to win both the Olympic Games Marathon and the
Boston Marathon. A resident of Biella, Italy, he won the 1988 Olympic
Games Marathon in Seoul, South Korea,
running 2:10:32. His 2:08:19 victory in Boston in 1990 made him the
only champion in the men’s open division to represent Italy and the most
recent champion in the men’s open division to represent a European
nation.
Rodgers, 66, will
serve as the grand marshal for the 2014 Boston Marathon. A longtime
Boston resident, Rodgers is a four-time Boston champion. He will ride in
a pace car ahead of the lead runners,
heralding to spectators along the course that thousands of runners will
soon be coming. The B.A.A. has reserved the grand marshal role as a
position of recognition and honor. Rodgers is also a John Hancock Elite
Team Ambassador and participates in health and
wellness initiatives for the company throughout the year. Last year’s
grand marshals were Roberta “Bobbi” Gibb and Sara Mae Berman, Boston
champions and pioneers of women’s marathon running.
Meyer, 58, will serve
as the finish line announcer at this year’s Boston Marathon, along with
Dan Roche, Sports Anchor/Reporter for CBS Boston’s WBZ-TV News. Meyer,
of Belmont, MI, is the most
recent American champion of the men’s open division of the Boston
Marathon, having won the 1983 race in 2:09:00. Since 2012, he has served
as a coach for principal sponsor John Hancock Financial’s Employee
Training Team for the Boston Marathon. This year,
he will also run the B.A.A. 5K on Saturday, April 19. B.A.A. Executive
Director Tom Grilk was the finish line announcer at the Boston Marathon
from 1979 through 2013. This year, Grilk will be present at the start
line in Hopkinton on race morning and will
return to Boston in the afternoon.
Fultz, 65, is the
Training Advisor for the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) team of
runners in this year’s Boston Marathon. Fultz’s 1976 victory came in
100-plus degree (Fahrenheit) heat,
on a day now known as the “run for the hoses.” This year, DFMC
celebrates its 25th year and includes hundreds of athletes
with a goal of raising $5.3 million (USD) for cancer research at
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. To date, DFMC has raised more
than $61 million (USD) to enable leading-edge medical science
initiatives conducted through Dana-Farber’s Claudia Adams Barr Program
in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. Dana-Farber was among the first
organizations accepted by the B.A.A. into its Boston Marathon
Official Charity Program in 1990.
Pippig, 48, is running
this year’s B.A.A. 5K. She won three consecutive Boston titles,
including the Centennial Boston Marathon in 1996. A native of Germany,
Pippig now resides in Longmont,
CO. Many other Boston Marathon champions, pioneers, and significant
figures in race history will also be in town to participate in Boston
Marathon weekend in a number of ways.
The 2014 B.A.A. 5K
will be held on Saturday, April 19 at 8:00 a.m., two days prior to the
Boston Marathon. A record field size of 10,000 entrants will participate
in the event, which starts
and finishes at historic Boston Common.
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Defending champions
Lelisa Desisa, of Ethiopia (men’s open division) and Rita Jeptoo, of
Kenya (women’s open division), members of John Hancock’s Elite Athlete
Team, will look to repeat as champions,
as will Hiroyuki Yamamoto, of Japan (men’s push rim wheelchair
division), and Tatyana McFadden, of Champaign, Ill. (women’s push rim
wheelchair division).
About the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.)
Established in 1887, the Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit
organization with a mission of promoting a healthy lifestyle through
sports, especially running. The B.A.A.’s Boston Marathon is the world’s
oldest annual marathon, and the organization
manages other local events and supports comprehensive charity, youth,
and year-round running programs. Since 1986, the principal sponsor of
the Boston Marathon has been John Hancock Financial. The Boston Marathon
is part of the World Marathon Majors, along
with the international marathons in Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago, and
New York City. More than 60,000 runners will participate in B.A.A.
events in 2014. The 118th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 21, 2014. For more information on
the B.A.A., please visit www.baa.org.
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