The L'eggs Mini-Marathon was a series of women only 10 kilometer (10K) road races held in the 1970s and 1980s, sponsored by the L'eggs hosiery company. The race grew from a small single event in 1972 into a national series with the sponsorship. [1] The circuit consisted of three preliminary races, situated around the United States, in Dallas, Texas, Chicago, Illinois and San Diego, California leading to a big, nationally televised final race in New York City's Central Park, conducted by the New York Road Runners. [2] Tens of thousands of women participated in the series which allowed them to rub shoulders most of the female running elite of the time, such as Grete Waitz, Rosa Mota and Priscilla Welch. [3]
Women's only road races were virtually unheard of at that point in time.[ citation needed ] The event capitalized on three phenomenon of that era: Feminism, Title IX, and the Running boom of the 1970s. Many women, who had not previously thought of themselves as athletes achieved a feeling of self-empowerment by learning how to run, participating and completing the race. [4] They felt comforted in the festive environment surrounded by other women of varying abilities. There was a unity in accomplishing this together with other women. [1] For some, like Gerry Davidson and Gail Waesche Kislevitz, [5] it was the only race they ran.
| Year | Name | Nationality | Time | Entrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Jacqueline Dixon |  United States | 37:01.7 | 78 |
| 1973 | Katherine Schrader | United States | 36:48.7 | 103 |
| 1974 | Doreen Ennis | United States | 35:45.6 | 157 |
| 1975 | Charlotte Lettis | United States | 35:56.6 | 304 |
| 1976 | Julie Shea | United States | 35:04.8 | 492 |
| 1977 | Peg Neppel | United States | 34:115.3 | 2,277 |
| 1978 | Martha White | United States | 33:29.7 | 4,346 |
| 1979 | Grete Waitz |  Norway | 31:15.4 | 5,807 |
| 1980 | Grete Waitz | Norway | 30:59.8 (World Record) [6] | 5,417 |
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain.
Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, at the New York City Marathon, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. Waitz won nine New York City Marathons, women's division, between 1978 and 1988, the highest number of victories in a single big city marathon in history. She won the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki. She was also a five-time winner of the World Cross Country Championships.
Joan Benoit Samuelson is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985. Her time at the Boston Marathon was the fastest time by an American woman at that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.
Margaret Okayo is a professional Kenyan marathon runner. She has won four World Marathon Majors with victories in the New York City Marathon, the Boston Marathon and the London Marathon, setting three course records. Okayo's 2003 New York course record of 2:22:31 still stands today, despite the challenge of some of the world’s best distance runners having the benefit of improved shoe technology. She has also won the San Diego Marathon on two occasions.
The Chicago Marathon is a marathon race held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest race by number of finishers worldwide.
Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes, being the first sportswoman from Portugal to win Olympic gold. Mota was the first woman to win multiple Olympic marathon medals as well as being the only woman to be the reigning European, World, and Olympic champion at the same time. On the 30th Anniversary Gala of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) she was distinguished as the greatest female marathon runner of all time.
William Henry Rodgers is an American runner, Olympian, and former record holder in the marathon. Rodgers is best known for his four victories in both the Boston Marathon, including three straight from 1978 to 1980, and 4 straight wins in the New York City Marathon, between 1976 and 1979.
Fred Lebow, born Fischel Lebowitz, was a Holocaust survivor, runner, race director, and founder of the New York City Marathon. Born in Arad, Romania, he presided over the transformation of the race from one with 55 finishers in 1970 to one of the largest marathons in the world with more than 52,000 finishers in 2018. He was posthumously inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 2001.
The Yonkers Marathon, is a marathon race held annually in Yonkers, New York. Founded in 1907, it is the second oldest marathon in the United States, after the Boston Marathon. It is held on the third Sunday in October. In addition to the marathon, there is a half marathon race and a 5K course. At the end of the race there is a gathering and festivities centered on Van de Donck Park.
New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit running organization based in New York City whose mission is to help and inspire people through running. It was founded in 1958 by Ted Corbitt with 47 members and has since grown to a membership of more than 60,000. As of 2012, it was considered to be the premier running organization in the United States.
Ted Corbitt was an American long-distance runner. The first African-American to run the marathon at the Summer Olympics and the founding president of New York Road Runners, Corbitt is often called "the father of American long distance running." He was also an ultramarathon pioneer, helping to revive interest in the sport in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. New York Times columnist Robert Lipsyte called Corbitt a "spiritual elder of the modern running clan". In a Runner's World feature honoring lifetime achievement, writer Gail Kislevitz called Corbitt a "symbol of durability and longevity". Corbitt was among the first five runners to be inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame, and the first to be inducted into the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame.
Anne Marie Letko is an American long-distance runner who competed in the Summer Olympics in 1996 and 2000 (5000m).
Donald Franklin Kardong is a noted runner and author from the United States. He finished fourth in the 1976 Olympic marathon in Montreal.
The women's marathon was one of the road events at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome, Italy. It took place on 29 August 1987; the course started and finished at the Stadio Olimpico and passed several of Rome's historic landmarks. The race was won by Portugal's Rosa Mota in 2:25:17, a new championship record, ahead of Zoya Ivanova of the Soviet Union in second and France's Jocelyne Villeton in third.
Kathrine Virginia Switzer is an American marathon runner, author, and television commentator.
Marie-Véronique Antoinette Colette Jeannine Marot is a former marathon runner from France who moved to England in 1976. She twice broke the British record for the marathon, with 2:28:04 at the 1985 Chicago Marathon and 2:25:56 when winning the 1989 London Marathon. The latter time stood as the UK record for 13 years. She is also a three-time winner of the Houston Marathon and represented Great Britain at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Toshiko D'Elia was an American Masters athletics long distance running legend. She was a member of the 1996 inaugural class of the Masters division of the USATF National Track and Field Hall of Fame. She holds numerous American long distance running records, primarily in the W75 age division.
Gerry Davidson was an American long distance runner from Fallbrook, California. She is the former world record holder in the W85 Mile run. She is also the American record holder in most W80 and W85 track events from the 400 metres through the 10,000 metres and several road running records going back to 1991 when she was 70 years old.
The S 25 Berlin is an annual road running competition over 25 kilometres that takes place in Berlin, Germany in early May.
The 1991 London Marathon was the 11th running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on Sunday, 21 April. The elite men's race was won by Soviet athlete Yakov Tolstikov in a time of 2:09:17 hours and the women's race was won by Portugal's Rosa Mota in 2:26:14. Tolstikov's run was a Soviet record, which was never bettered as the country collapsed at the end of 1991.
L'eggs Mini-Marathon.
L'eggs Mini-Marathon san diego.