Interview with Lynn Jennings

By Stuart Calderwood

In a career that reached the very highest levels in all three of the major running disciplines—track, road, and cross-country—Lynn Jennings quietly accomplished as much as any other American woman ever has in the sport. Never a limelight-seeker, she merely produced the goods: Her bronze medal at 10,000 meters in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games is still the only Olympic medal won by an American woman in a track event longer than 800 meters, she still holds the American record for 10K on the road (31:06), and her best races of all were on cross country courses: She won three consecutive World Cross Country Championships (1990, ’91, and ’92) and an amazing nine USA Cross Country Championships.

Although Jennings, 47, is happily retired from competition, a typical day can include as many as three workouts: She still runs about 50 miles each week and also rows and bikes. New York Road Runners met her at the expo before the 2008 More Magazine Marathon + Half-Marathon, an all-women’s event at which she was about to participate in a panel discussion.

New York Road Runners: You don’t do a lot of public appearances. Why did you show up for the More Magazine Marathon?

Lynn Jennings: Because it’s so cool! Look at all these women. It wasn’t until 1984 that women even had a 3000-meter race in the Olympics. Now we’ve got a big race like this.

NYRR: What do you think of the direction of women’s running in the U.S.? Are we improving on our past?

LJ: I don’t like to compare eras—I’d rather look at what’s happening right now. Young women in the sport who are coming out of college have some great examples now—people like Kara Goucher, Deena Kastor, Shalane Flanagan, Erin Donohue—these women are running with a lot of confidence.

NYRR: You almost always trained alone. Many people think American running is improving because of the training camps for top runners that have started up in several parts of the country—would you have benefited from a situation like that?

LJ: Training alone worked better for me—that was my personality. But the camps are great. With the right coach—someone who can keep the reins on a group when they need it and encourage synergy at other times—they can work well. Even some competition within the group is good, if it’s in the right amount and with the right attitude.

NYRR: Do you miss racing? Would you do any kind of race at all now?

LJ: I’m pleased with what I did, but I had to keep a 24/7 focus on competition for a lot of years, and I used it all up. I have no need to race any more.

NYRR: I read that you do some cycling, and you’re still running quite a bit—what about a duathlon?

LJ: No, I’ll just do my personal trifecta—I’ll go for a run in the morning, then later go out on my road bike, and maybe row after that.

NYRR: That’ll probably keep you in shape. What’s the rest of your day like?

LJ: I like to read, I work in my garden, I’ve got a dog—I have a very different life now.

NYRR: A lot of people think you’re the greatest U.S. woman distance runner ever, but it doesn’t seem like you get the attention that some others have.

LJ: Well, first of all, you’ve got to put Joanie [Benoit] up there—her medal is a different color than mine is.

NYRR: Yeah, but you won three straight World Cross Country Championships.

LJ: I always liked cross country—it’s every year, and the runners from all the distances are there—it’s like the Super Bowl of running.

NYRR: What was your Barcelona [Olympic 10,000-meter] race like?

LJ: It was a warm day, and it was tougher back then because they ran a first-round heat. In Barcelona, the heat was four days before the final—two 10,000s on the track in a very short time. I wasn’t a natural track runner—I was good at cross country, but I wasn’t that rhythmic—and I had to really prepare well to be smooth and light on the track; I did a ton of pace running to get that rhythm. When I got to Barcelona, I believed that I’d done the work to be a medalist, and I went out intending to do that.

NYRR: That’s a great example for young runners right there.

LJ: You’ve got to look at what your weaknesses are and then work on them. I had to work on my track running. If you’re not so good on hills, you’ve got to run a lot of hills. The goal has to be to perfect the things that you’re not as good at yet. There’s always something you can improve. After 15 years, I was still finding things to work on.

Interview conducted April 4, 2008, and posted April 8, 2008.