Beth Bonner
Elizabeth "Beth" Bonner (June 9, 1952 – October 9, 1998) was a long-distance runner from Reedsville, West Virginia.[1] On May 9, 1971, Bonner ran a 3:01:42 marathon time in Philadelphia at the AAU Eastern Regional Championships,[2] breaking the world best set one year earlier by Caroline Walker.[3] On September 19, 1971, she became the first winner of the women's division of the New York City Marathon at the age of 19. Some sources question the validity of Adrienne Beames' 2:46:30 time one month earlier, so Bonner's 2:55:22 performance at New York is frequently credited as the first sub-three hour performance by a woman.[4]
She attended Brandywine College.[5]
In 1994 she was coaching in Louisiana.[6] She died in Kerrville, Texas in 1998 when she was hit by a truck while biking.[7][8]
An annual 5K run is held in her name in Arthurdale, West Virginia.[9]
References
- ^ "FACES IN THE CROWD".
- ^ "ML_1971".
- ^ "Women's World Record Times - 1971 to 1977".
- ^ Benyo, Richard; Henderson, Joe (1 January 2002). "Running Encyclopedia". Human Kinetics – via Google Books.
- ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nzkzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T7cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5725,1491249&dq=beth-bonner&hl=en
- ^ Jr, Robert Mcg Thomas (4 November 1994). "NEW YORK CITY MARATHON: NOTEBOOK; A Race for 25 Winners Finishing a Few Short" – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "www.PrestonRun.com: E. Beth Bonner".
- ^ "Runner's World Columns".
- ^ "Beth Bonner Memorial 5K Run & 2-M Walk".