Our guest this episode is 1996 Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Kim Carlson Benner

Like many of us who started running in the 70’s and 80’s it was pure happenstance. After a stint on the west coast for college Kim Carlson Benner moved to the Boston area.  After a brief stay in Salem her sister’s apartment near the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Mass Ave in Boston on the marathon course had an opening.  Moving into the Eliot Lounge neighborhood Kim was quickly swept up by the aura of the Boston Marathon.  After watching a guy run by dressed as a canoe she thought “If he can do it I can too”.  At the time she did not realize she was taking a page out of Mimi Fallon’s playbook and entered the NYC marathon for her first race.  Her progression from that first marathon was remarkable, especially considering she continued smoking a pack a day while occasionally bumming cigarettes off the Eliot Lounge doorman.  Join us for Kim’s story of love, friendship, and her single minded focus that resulted in qualifying for the 1996 Olympic Trials marathon.