VESTAL, N.Y. – A Monday morning isn't the normal time for Binghamton student-athletes, alumni and staff to get together for a run. Especially at 7:30 a.m.

This past Feb. 4, however, was no ordinary Monday morning. Joan Benoit Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic Marathon Champion, was in town for Binghamton University's 14th Annual Celebrating Women's Athletics Luncheon as the featured speaker. She started off the day by joining University President Harvey Stenger on a Fun Run around campus.

The Fun Run was open to the public and several current and alumni members of the Binghamton cross country and track teams showed up for the event, as did athletic department and university staff members.

For some of the participants, there was an opening mile loop. The rest of the runners went on to complete the 4.5 mile course.

Junior Jessica Cueva-Scarpelli was one of the current Binghamton athletes to show up for the Fun Run. The chance to meet and run with Benoit Samuelson was a one-in-a-lifetime chance for her.
"It is great that Joan Benoit Samuelson is here," she said. "She has broken down a lot of barriers for female distance runners and is an inspiration for all of us."

Mary (Tursi) Manning is a 2007 Binghamton alum who competed on both the track & cross country teams. She was a speaker at the Women's Athletics Luncheon when she was still a senior and was back on campus as an invited guest this year. Running with Benoit Samuelson made her return to campus all the more special.

"To have had the chance to run my old training routes with someone like Joan Benoit Samuelson, who has done so much for the sport of running and women in general, was such an honor and something that made my Binghamton homecoming that much more special," she said.

President Stenger stayed with Benoit Samuelson for the entire three miles and made reference to it during his speech later at the Women's Athletics Luncheon.

"This day started off with what I thought was going to be a fun run," he said. "But in the end it was more like four miles of wondering if I could keep up with Joan."

Not many participatory events would inspire people to get together on a chilly February morning. But as Benoit Samuelson said in her speech at the luncheon, that is what make the sport of running so unique.

"Running is one of the most accessible sport," she said. "Even if you are no longer playing a sport after college, you can run your whole life. It is something we can all do as long as the passion is there."