Sacramento Running News

Lloyd Levine

By Lloyd Levine, Special to the SRN

Quick! Name the second fastest (ever) female U.S. Marathon runner.  The answer will probably surprise you.

Recently, I wrote about Ryan Hall and the state of men’s marathon running in the United States.  Given that, it seems only fair to look at the status of women’s marathon running in the U.S. as well.  The women don’t have a Ryan Hall type figure (i.e. fast times but no wins) who draws praise, and scorn in equal measures, but the status of women’s marathon running in the U.S. is not much different from that of the men. There are a few women marathon runners who draw praise and generate excitement but, except for Deena Kastor, have little to show in the way of meaningful results or times. Additionally, like the men, there is really very little depth in the talent pool.

Most serious marathon runners in the United States probably know that Deena Kastor holds the American Record, but do you know who the second and third fastest are?  After analyzing the 1,875 (which is how many times the 2:30 mark has been broken) fastest women’s marathon times of all time it appears that the United States has only had two, legitimate, top-level marathon runners, Deena Kastor and Joan Benoit–who is still the second fastest U.S. woman of all time, despite having run her best time 1985. (Editor’s Note: The list, updated today, now includes 1,917 names but the analysis of the standing of the US women has not changed materially.)

Deena Kastor and Joan Benoit are the only U.S. women to have won major marathons, posted times competitive with the best in the world, and won Olympic medals.  Deena Kastor has a PR of 2:19:36, good for 11^th place on the all time list (and fifth on the all time list of women not named Paula Radcliffe). Deena won the bronze medal in the Athens Olympics, and has won London and Chicago (as well as many other top finishes).  Joan Benoit has a PR of 2:21:21, won the Olympic Gold medal, held the world record, and won numerous marathons.

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It was a glorious time for the sport, and for American running, as Joan Benoit ran away with a dominating win at the first women’s Olympic marathon. Her race that day in Los Angeles remains a thing of beauty and inspiration.

In case you don’t know, Joan Benoit Samuelson ran in the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials as a 50-year-old and finished in 2:49:08. (Coincidentally, she finished a few seconds behind local runner Midori Sperandeo, which gave Midori a lot of t.v. time.)

Enjoy!