Marathon Park

Marathon Park is named for the first U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials, held in Olympia on May 12, 1984, when runners covered 26.2 miles on Thurston County roads from the hill to the southwest to a finish on Deschutes Parkway just north of the park, and the top three finishers went on to represent the United States at the XXIII Olympiad in Los Angeles, the first Olympic Games to include a women's marathon. The marathon entered the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 as a men's-only event, though Stamatis Rovithi ran the full course from Marathon to Athens before the Games and Melpomene, barred from entering on race day, joined from the sidelines and finished after passing exhausted men who had dropped out. Although some women's track events were added in 1928, women were not allowed to compete in any Olympic running race longer than 800 meters for nearly half a century, and even after women entered the Boston Marathon in 1972 and West Germany hosted the first all-women's marathon in 1973, Olympic organizers still resisted a full women's marathon. During the 1970s, female runners pressed for equal opportunity in international competition, aided by corporate sponsorship and support from the American and International Amateur Athletic Unions, and in 1981 the International Olympic Committee finally approved a Women's Olympic Marathon for the 1984 Los Angeles Games, 85 years after Melpomene's run. Olympia won the right to host the first U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials over Los Angeles, Buffalo, and New York City because of its scenic course, mild temperatures, clean air, minimal traffic, and strong local enthusiasm, with its name also echoing ancient Olympia in Greece. On the morning of May 12, 1984, about 50,000 spectators, reporters, and television crews gathered along the route, more than 3,000 volunteers helped stage the event, and 238 women ages 16 to 54 started the race; all but 41 finished, including two pregnant runners who came in last to loud cheers. Joan Benoit won in 2:31:04, and when Julie Brown and Julie Isphording finished within the next 82 seconds, the United States had its first women's Olympic Marathon team.

Olympia, Washington · United States