Charlotte Lettis Richardson begin running in 1971 and competed at the national and international level in distances from the 800 meters to 30K. She started a women’s running club in 1972, won the 1975 L’eggs Mini Marathon, and made the Olympic Trials in the 1500 meters in 1976. She’s also a storyteller who wrote and directed the 2005 documentary “Run Like a Girl.” Richardson currently lives in Sisters, Oregon, where she coaches at Caldera High School. She’s approaching her 50th year in coaching and is a co-founder of the Women’s Running Coaches Collective.

Jacqueline Hansen is a two-time world record holder in the marathon, being the first woman to break the sub-2:40 mark with her 2:38.19 world record time.  She is the 1973 Boston Marathon winner, a national collegiate champion in the mile, and a Masters World Champion in the 1500m and 5,000m distances.  As President of the International Runners Committee, she spearheaded a movement to usher the women’s distance events (marathon, 5,000m & 10,000m) into the Olympic Games. 

Freddi Carlip started casually running in 1978 as an outlet from her daily life as a stay-at-home mom to two small children. Little did she know that the healthy activity would soon become her life’s work. Carlip has served multiple terms as the President of the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA), has been publisher and editor of Runner’s Gazette since 1981, and successfully helped lobby for the inclusion of women’s 5,000 meters and marathon distances in the Olympic Games.

Alisa Harvey’s impressive running career spans decades and distances. The first time she qualified for the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials was in 1988, in the 1500 meters, when she was still a student at the University of Tennessee. The last time she did so was in the 800 meters in 2008—at age 42.

For Judy Shapiro-Ikenberry, blazing a trail as an early female runner came naturally. Her parents were progressive “radicals,” in her words, and in California, where she spent most of her life, people were generally more open to women in sport than on the East Coast.

Marilyn Bevans, born in 1949 in Baltimore Maryland, was the first African-American woman marathoner. Her career highlights include winning two Baltimore Marathons and being a top finisher in several Boston Marathons, including second female overall in 1977. Bevans, a retired teacher, still lives in Baltimore and is a girls’ high school track coach.

Bjorg Austrheim-Smith, multiple Western States winner (1981, 1982, 1983), will tell you upfront that her story does not fit the typical narrative, “I was just a stay-at-home mom with three small children who one day stuck the kids in a baby buggy with groceries underneath it and started running the streets. I needed to get out of the house,” she said.