Samuelson Hits The Roads On A Japanese Game Show

Former Olympic marathon champion had some fun in Japan.

American distance legend Joan Benoit Samuelson took some time out of her training for the upcoming ING New York City Marathon to participate in a popular Japanese game show. Although these shows are sometimes full of embarrassing or out-right painful moments, Samuelson was asked to simply run a race with a time handicap. She was not the only top level runner to toe the line, as two-time world championship medalist Masako Chiba was also in the field.

The race was staggered to give a virtually insurmountable lead to some slower runners. Samuelson was able to place 11th overall and seemed as though she had a ton of fun in the process. Her agent Brendan Reilly even wrote up a little recap of her experience in Japan. Japan Running News blog published a short recap and Brendan’s comments on their blog, click here fore more.