Dr. Joan Ullyot
In this episode, you will hear an interview with Dr. Joan Ullyot done by Amy Begley as part of the Road Runners Club of America oral history project. It was recorded by phone in 2013.
We also need to add a special thank-you to Jacqueline Hansen for the photos in this article.
Dr. Joan Ulloyt in bib #206
Dr. Joan Ullyot, the "fastest physician marathon runner," paved the way for women runners across the world by proving, through example, that women should not be counted out when it comes to running. Ullyot raced in 80 marathons, winning ten of them, including the masters division in the Boston Marathon in 1984. Her book “Women's Running” started a movement that gained traction, ultimately helping women runners compete in Olympic distance events. Not only her book but also her in-depth studies as an exercise physiologist made the evident case that women deserved equal opportunity to run competitively.
Ullyot started her running career at 30 years old, after having two kids and graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1966 to become a physician. She initially started running to help her lose weight, as running wasn't a common activity when she started in 1970. Ullyot read Dr. Cooper's “Aerobic Running”, which included aerobic exercises and running in place. Ullyot and her friends would run in place in the park for long periods and realized one day that by "running in place," they had ended up running one mile. This is when they realized they should start running and see where it could take them.
"Running felt conspicuous at first, like being at a golf driving range where at first you think everyone is looking at you. Then you realize no one is and it feels more freeing to do what we wanted," said Ullyot.
Ullyot (far left) and Van Aaken (center) as part of a speaking tour.
The next year, Ullyot and her running group didn't hesitate to join their first race, the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco in 1971. This was the first year that women were allowed to race in it. She completed her first marathon just two years later in 1973 with a time of three hours and 17 minutes. In 1974, she was one of six U.S. women runners invited to the International Women's Marathon in Germany and, knowing the German language, would be the interpreter for her team. Here she met one of her mentors and friends, Ernst van Aaken, another pioneer in the science of women's running. Together they developed more technical training programs for women's running.
"My first husband didn't like me running much," said Ullyot. "I think it was just because I was a better runner than him and he couldn't fathom that."
Ullyot started to get recognized more across the world after she published an article in Runner's World debunking some of the myths in women's running that were as extreme as "women's uterus will fall out if they run long distances." She received hundreds of letters from women asking more about these myths, and she would write back with her medical knowledge.
"When I was writing letters back to these women, I would get writer's cramps and would have a sore hand all the time. That's when I decided I'm just going to write a book with all my research in women's running," said Ullyot.
In 1976, she published her first book “Women's Running”, going deeper into debunking myths and providing a platform where she could share the truths of women running, backed by evidence and research. This led to her writing two more books, “Running Free” and “The New Women's Running”. Her work lead to be become a lead researcher for the International Running Committee, which was urging Olympic officials to allow women to run in long-distance events. In the 1984 games in Los Angeles, they added the 3000-meter and marathon races for women, breaking ground for the world with Ullyot and her team's work being a main contributor to the change.
Ullyot's work throughout her life made revolutionary changes to the women's running world, but she proved more than that for women. Her accomplishments and research are just one example in a long history of debunking the myth that women are less than men.
About the author: Isaac Donovan is a strategic communications student at Washington State University. He works in the marketing and communications department for WSU’s College of Education, regularly writing stories about the college for the WSU Insider.
