For a woman to go out and run a 3:15 marathon the first time out is very impressive. Probably puts her in the top 10% of the finishers including the men.
Her 2:42 to qualify for the Olympic trials is also impressive especially for a 39 yo working mom. She would probably need to take off about 15 minutes to make the team. But just to compete for an Olympic slot is every runner’s dream.
Don’t watch the Olympics anymore, but I’ll always remember Joan Benoit blowing away the field in the 1984 LA Olympics. To me that was right up there with the US hockey team in Lake Placid.
Joan Benoit is shooting for another goal: to win a marathon in each of six consecutive decades. If she wins on in 2020 or so, she will clinch it.