"If you have people around who are telling you that, 'Oh you're too old to do this or that,' get away from them. Age is an attitude. In endurance sports, you get better as you get older." Lorraine Moller, Olympic Marathon Medalist.
Coming soon to a venue near you, the delightfully talented, wickedly funny, physically gorgeous Lorraine Moller! A New Zealand girl who came to America in 1978, Lorraine is a pioneer for a generation of New Zealand women's athletes, and a relentless advocate for above-board prize money in track and field. Lorraine is coming to speak at the Leading Ladies' Marathon Expo on Aug. 18 at 5 p.m. in the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Spearfish. I spent two days with Lorraine at the Des Moines Marathon in 2004, and I can vouch for an entertaining and enlightening presentation. There is no charge, and Leading Lady staff invites all who are interested in talent, tenacity and terrific times, to come join us for an entertaining hour.
Lorraine credits athletics with leading the women's movement in general, citing the sporting world as the ideal arena for social change.
The only woman to run the first four Olympic marathons for women, Lorraine was so sickly as a young child growing up in Putaruru, New Zealand, that doctors told her mother she would not survive. "I wasn't going to let that happen. There were things I wanted to do with my life" said Moller, who did plenty with her life! She recovered from her kidney ailments, and began running barefoot with her father, Gordon, through the pine forests of her hometown. By the time she was 14, she won her first national title ... still running barefoot. Eventually she made a career choice to follow her heart and devoted herself to running, which took her from the grass tracks of New Zealand to the bronze medal in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Along the way, she also became one of the leaders in ending the amateur hypocrisy in running, as well as becoming one of the pioneers in women's marathoning; she helped to get the women's marathon added to the Olympics in 1984. One of her greatest causes has been running, promoting, and writing about the Phnom Penh Marathon in Cambodia which was ravaged by years of genocides.
Lorraine has long believed in the mind-body connection and one of her strongest attributes is her mental preparation. She is truly a "Leading Lady" and exemplifies all that we stand for and support.
Lorraine's autobiography is published in October this year. I have read an early version. It is not your usual athlete bio book. There is no Ghost Writing and it is a great read! But, being her borther, I would have to say that!
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