Talent is everywhere, it only needs the opportunity.

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If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon.

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When I was first running marathons, we were sailing on a flat earth. We were afraid we'd get big legs, grow mustaches, not get boyfriends, not be able to have babies. Women thought that something would happen to them, that they'd break down or turn into men, something shadowy, when they were only limited by their own society's sense of limitations.

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At the finish line of the 1967 Boston Marathon, one crabby journalist said it was just a one-off deal and women weren't going to run. Only a 20-year-old who had just run a marathon and was shot full of endorphin would say this but I said that there's going to come a day in our lives when women's running is as popular and as men's.

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Triumph over adversity that's what the marathon is all about. Nothing in life can't triumph after that

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All you need is the courage to believe in yourself and put one foot in front of the other.

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When I go to the Boston Marathon now, I have wet shoulders—women fall into my arms crying. They're weeping for joy because running has changed their lives. They feel they can do anything.

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Women were afraid and they would never even imagine running a marathon in 1967.

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When I finished the Boston race in 1967, there were two things I wanted to do. I wanted to become a better athlete because my first marathon was 4:20. In those days, that was considered a jogging time and I knew people were going to tease me. But I was more fascinated with what women could do if they only had the chance.

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1967 race in Boston changed not just my life, but millions of women's lives. There are also things that, when you get older, resonate more.

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