March 12, 1999

Olympic gold medalist and world-famous runner Joan Benoit Samuelson paid a visit to the MGH March 8 to help encourage members of the MGH Marathon Team preparing to run in the Boston Marathon next month.

Samuelson was invited to speak at a running clinic to give motivating words and running tips to the group of 45 runners – physicians, nurses, relatives of patients and others – who will be raising money for the MGH Pediatric Cancer Program. The runners are paired with pediatric patients, who will cheer on team members and provide them with inspiration.

"If you think you're having a tougher time than the patient that you are running for, you are probably wrong," said Samuelson. "Run for them. They are your inspiration. They want you to succeed, and they will be waiting for you at the finish line."

This is the second year that a team of runners have participated in the marathon to benefit research in children's cancer at the MGH. In 1998, 10 runners raised nearly $50,000 for the program.

Joan Benoit Samuelson and Howard Weinstein, MD,
unit chief of Hematology/Oncology, at the running clinic.