Important Race Updates :: December 2007 Email

The Race is Filling Fast

For those of you who know someone who is waiting to register, the 30th annual Napa Valley Marathon presented by Kaiser Permanente Health Care, is filling fast.  Featured speaker Joan Benoit Samuelson and the return of course record-holder Dick Beardsley, are the principal incentives for runners to sign up early.  So encourage your friends, colleagues, fellow runners, and those who are looking for a good time, to sign up now!

Want to Stay in Calistoga?

Calistoga is California's spa town, with natural hot springs and mud bath spas to relax the most tense of visitors. Calistoga is a low-key place compared to the rest of the Napa Valley and with some of the Valley’s best lodging right in town, it's an easy place to have an automobile-free weekend.

The Calistoga Bed & Breakfast group will sponsor a "pasta feed" for marathoners staying in Calistoga, on March 1 at the Community Center on Washington Street.  The time is 5:30P - 8:30P.  A representative from the Marathon will be there to provide entertainment and answer questions during dinner. 

Seven B&B's will be offering discounts if individuals stay more than one night.  And, the pasta feed is included in their room rate on Saturday.  When marathoners call to reserve nights at our inn's they should say that they are part of the marathon in March and ask what the discounts will be.

The Calistoga B&B's are:

Brannan Cottage Inn - (closest to the start of the race)
Chelsea Garden Inn - (next closest)
Wine Way Inn
Wayside Inn
Craftsman Inn
Bear Flag Inn
Foothill House

Joan Benoit Samuelson to Deliver Keynote Address

The Napa Valley Marathon has successfully recruited legendary marathon runner Joan Benoit Samuelson as a special guest for the 30th annual race said Rich Benyo, who co-directs the marathon with David Hill.

"Joanie is definitely a charm. I can't think of a better ambassador of running and motivational speaker for our 30th anniversary race," said Benyo, a former executive editor of Runner's World magazine who serves as co-publisher/editor of Marathon & Beyond magazine when he's not directing the Napa Valley Marathon. "She's a magnet for runners of all ages, shapes, and abilities who just want to spend a single moment, or an hour, in her magical presence."

Joan Benoit Samuelson's keynote address at the 2008 Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon is sponsored by Calistoga Mineral Water Company, a race sponsor since 1980.

Benoit Samuelson not only won the gold medal at the inaugural women's Olympic marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles; she is the only American woman to win a gold medal in an Olympic Games marathon. The following year, Benoit Samuelson set a U.S. record of 2:21:21 at the Chicago Marathon, a mark that stood for nearly 18 years until it was eclipsed by Deena Kastor. Among many other accomplishments, she also won the Boston Marathon in 1978 and 1983. Benoit Samuelson is the founder and chair of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth , Maine. The 10-year-old race draws over 5,000 runners from all parts of the U.S. and elite athletes from around the world. As a masters competitor, Benoit Samuelson, who turned 50 this year on May 17, is still a highly visible, active athlete. In fact, the resident of Freeport , Maine will return to the Boston Marathon seven weeks after the 2008 Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon to compete in her seventh consecutive USA Women's Olympic Marathon Trials race. Instead of competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, however, Benoit Samuelson will aim for a sub-3 hour finish.