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Jacqueline Gareau won the Boston Marathon in 1980 in a Course Record time of 2:34:28. She also finished fifth at Boston in 1981 and second in 1982 and 1983, racing her personal best marathon of 2:29:28 in 1983. Jacqueline represented Canada at the inaugural Olympic Marathon in 1984, but an injury forced her to withdraw from the race after 30 kilometers. On the world stage she finished second at the 1980 Tokyo Women’s International Marathon and fifth at the inaugural World Championships Marathon in 1983. Gareau’s nine marathon victories include the 1984 Los Angeles International Marathon, 1979 National Capitol (Ottawa) Marathon, 1979 and 1987 Montreal Marathon, and 1988 Grandma’s Marathon. Her Marathon Majors podium finishes include third place at the 1979 New York City Marathon and second place at the 1983 Chicago Marathon. Jacqueline won the 1980 Mentholatum 10k in Buffalo, and the 1980 and 1983 Virginia Ten-Miler; was second at the 1980 Cascade Run Off 15k, 1980 Diet Pepsi 10k, 1981 Bolder Boulder 10k and 1985 Cherry Blossom 10-mile; and had numerous other top five placings at races including the Bermuda 10k, Jacksonville River Run 15k, Boston Shamrock Classic 5-Mile, Crescent City Classic 10k and Falmouth. Gareau begin running in her early twenties to stop smoking and increase her fitness which led to the surprising discovery of her immense distance running talent and dedication. She was inducted into the Canadian Running Hall of Fame in 1991, Quebec Sports HOF in 1995 and was named Canada’s ‘Women’s Marathoner of the 20th Century’ in 2000. Jacqueline currently works as a massage therapist and gives running clinics and lectures primarily on 'Balance for Well-Being.' Gareau resides in Saint Adele, Quebec with her husband. She was very kind to spend two hours on the telephone for this interview in January 2019.
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| GCR: |
You have had many athletic achievements but are known most for your 1980 Boston Marathon victory. Nearly four decades later, how has the notoriety of not just being a Boston Marathon champion, but the problem with the imposter who finished ahead of you, stayed with you and changed your life?
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| JG |
It is the Boston Marathon that people remember the most because of the controversy and so they talked about it, talked about it some more and they still talk about it. I will be going to Toronto this year in April before the Boston Marathon to run in a series there and have a talk with Krista Duchene who was third in Boston last year and it was talked about then. I’m going to be there again this year and there will be talk starting again about Boston 1980.
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| GCR: |
In addition to your victory in 1980, you finished fifth at Boston the following year and second place twice in 1982 and 1983. Did you enjoy the whole atmosphere of the Boston Marathon and do you take some pride in your consistency of having four top finishes there?
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| JG |
My results were pretty good. Sometimes you may arrive at the start of the race in great shape, but someone is much greater than you like Joan Benoit in 1983. I came in second, but that was my best time that year of 2:29:28. Joannie just scored so high that day
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| GCR: |
While many runners, fans and the public focus on event winners, you have several other top major marathon finishes including second places at the 1980 Tokyo International Women’s Marathon and 1983 Chicago Marathon, third place at the 1979 New York City Marathon and fifth place at the inaugural World Championships Marathon in 1983. What does it say about your body of work as a marathon racer to have so many strong finishes at major races?
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| JG |
When I started running it was a funny start because I was a respiratory technician and wanted to stop smoking. My goal was not to compete. I had no idea of the racing that existed at that time. I just wanted to stop smoking. I started jogging and loved the feel. It made me satisfied and happy. It was the endorphins, I guess. So, I was running and running and mostly long distance. I built up a good endurance foundation. I met my mentor after I ran the Boston Marathon when I was in New Zealand. But I had been doing good training and had built up such a good base that I was strong. I wasn’t breaking in pieces. Later, when I started wanting to do faster training, but kept doing the distance, it didn’t go all that well sometimes. It’s just a matter of a good base at the beginning and balance and everything can go well if you train that way.
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| GCR: |
Your Boston Marathon win was one of nine times you won at the marathon distance. After pushing your mental, physical and emotional limits for two and a half hours or longer, what is the feeling like to break the tape or to cross the line to win any marathon?
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| JG |
It went natural. I was doing the training and was prepared when I went to the start of the race. I had no idea in the beginning when I went to the line about my competitors. For example, in Boston I had no idea who was there or who was good. I wasn’t checking that at that time. I was just hoping to run a certain time that I trained for. At the start of the race that was what I kept in mind – my place, my feeling, me, my stride, how I was feeling and my goal. It was easy going out and concentrating on what I had to do. I was tested and they found out that I had over 90 percent of the slow twitch muscle fibers, probably the same amount as Alberto Salazar. That explains my genetics.
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| GCR: |
How did your winning the Montreal Marathon in August of 1979 in 2:40:56 and then following it up two months later with a third place at the New York City Marathon in 2:39:05 give you the necessary confidence to prepare for a top finish and possibly to win at Boston?
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| JG |
I think I was still a little bit naive. I was not doing my research about where I was in the running world. There was a journalist friend of mine who was also running in Boston and at the start of the race on the grounds we were warming up and stretching on the grass and drinking a coffee. Then he started saying, ‘Jacqueline, you have a chance of winning.’ I looked at him and said, ‘oh, yes.’ He said, ‘you will have a crown if you win’ and I said, ‘that would be nice.’ I went to the start of the race feeling that I was one of the good women. But Jock Semple, the guy that pushed our dear Kathrine Switzer many years before, looked at my race number and yelled at me, ‘you don’t belong in front!’ My English wasn’t too good, and he wasn’t communicating well with me. He was saying something like, ‘you have to go to the back, or you’ll be disqualified.’ I don’t know exactly what he was telling me. I’m not completely sure, but I went in the back and didn’t start with the women in the front. It was not so pleasant at the start. I thought it would be good because I had number 22 from my time at New York. I never understood why he told me that. I had to zig zag quite a way until at least five miles when I caught Ellen Goodall and then after that I was first.
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| GCR: |
What was your training like in terms of weekly mileage, long runs and intense stamina and speed sessions in late 1979 and early 1980 as you got ready for New York and for Boston?
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| JG |
I was doing lots of long running. I was doing a lot of hills. I love hills. I lived in Montreal at the time and I would run from my place to Mont Royal. It is a mountain and was quite a way to run to. I would run twenty-five minutes to get there. When I ran up the mountain it looked like in Boston, especially coming down was like at the start and going up was like toward the end. I could do that a couple of times. I remember running up a long stair too. I got in a good base with lots of strength training and lots of hills. I wasn’t doing all that much speed work. I was still working as a respiratory technician, so every time I had a day off, I went for long running. Sometimes, to tell you the truth, when it was nice outside, I would take a day off and my co-workers didn’t like that which is probably why, when I won Boston, I decided to quit my work. I didn’t want to feel guilty because when I took a day off and was missing work those people had to work more. On those days when I was taking off in the winter I could go out and cross-country ski outside of Montreal. When I was coming back, I met a person, who comes from Morocco, but was Canadien, Medhi Jamhouar, who was living in Montreal at that time and coaching and owning a running store. He liked giving out some help with training, so we met in the winter at an indoor track and were doing some 200-meter repeats. Sometimes it was after doing some cross-country skiing for quite a while. I remember him looking at me and saying, ‘Jacqueline, this is too much.’ He couldn’t believe what I was doing. I’m sure that sometimes I was doing normal days of training, but other times I could go over and get extreme workouts. Often, I was also jogging there and jogging back, so it was lots of mileage.
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| GCR: |
Back to the 1980 Boston Marathon race where you said it took you several miles to catch Ellen Goodall to take the lead. Around ten miles to the half marathon point were you feeling comfortable and how were the crowds with you being the first woman?
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| JG |
It was exciting, but I was in a tunnel in some ways. I knew I was feeling good, so I remembered the cheering. I was running alongside a very tall, blond guy who is probably in some photos somewhere. He was very tall, and I was very short. We kind of enjoyed the company with each other. Katherine Switzer was on the press truck that was following the first woman. She was always showing me one finger to let me know I was first.
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| GCR: |
While you were leading, Patti Lyons Catalano was behind by 16 seconds after 15 miles and 30 seconds at the 20-mile marker. Were you getting race updates, and did you know you were in the lead and by how much or was it so crowded with men behind you that you didn’t know?
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| JG |
I didn’t know at all. I had no idea where she was.
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| GCR: |
Since you trained on hills in Montreal, how did the hills between 17 and 21 miles compare with what you had heard before the race and did you run strong over the hills?
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| JG |
I ran strong on those hills. I don’t have much of a memory, but when you are having a good day, they aren’t that hard. I was well-prepared without knowing much at that time. I felt carried away that day. It was a little hot that day, but I went for it from the start. I didn’t question if it was hard in the hills. I just went.
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| GCR: |
I’m only going to ask one question about the finish line fiasco because I think it is emphasized too much. Unfortunately, an imposter jumped in the race with less than two miles to go, crossed the finish line before you and took away from the immediacy of your victory until she was disqualified a week later. How confusing was this entire situation and what are some moments that stand out from that mystifying state of circumstances when you had crossed the line knowing you had won and then there was this mix-up?
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| JG |
At the end I couldn’t see the press truck because they aren’t there toward the finish. Someone shouted, ‘second woman.’ I thought I won and didn’t question about not breaking the tape. At that point I thought I won. I walked and, since it was the first time I ran the Boston Marathon, I had no idea what they were doing for the winner. I was walking and thinking I was first, but it wasn’t so exciting in the garage of the Prudential Center at that time. Then I went to the podium and they didn’t put me on the podium. There was Bill Rodgers and another woman there. That’s how I discovered I was not first. I started asking people what time she ran. When they said, ‘2:31,’ I though that was fast. My 2:34 was a course record. So, then I thought, ‘2:31, I guess she won.’ There was some commotion and lots of questioning. But I couldn’t hear it.
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| GCR: |
They got the truth sorted out and eight days later there was a victory ceremony where you were presented the victor’s medal and a laurel wreath and then enjoyed the victory podium with four-time men’s champion, Bill Rodgers, before celebrating at Eliot’s Lounge with champagne while those gathered sang ‘Oh, Canada.’ How exciting was that whole day and did it make up for the missteps that occurred after the race?
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| JG |
For a little girl who wasn’t used to all that much it was impressive. They had me in a big limousine that picked me up at the airport. They took me to the hotel suite. I went swimming in the pool and they photographed me everywhere. We went to the French market and the Governor of Massachusetts gave me a parchment saying how much of a sportswoman I was and how graceful I was under the circumstances. I met some kids from a school. There was a very nice reception. They welcomed me and made me forget all the bad stuff. The nice celebration was something that our dear Tommy Leonard wanted to do at his lounge. Every time I go to Boston, I’m well-received and it is a celebration.
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| GCR: |
Even though the immediacy of what happened that day after the Boston Marathon was worse than it should have been, maybe they just keep making up for it and the years and years of them making amends may have turned out even better.
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| JG |
That could be true. I ran the Beach to Beacon race, that is Joan Benoit’s race, and at the end she gave me another laurel wreath. It keeps with me for my life and it’s not that bad.
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| GCR: |
Before we chat about some of your other major races, let’s go back to when you started running and then hit on the many highlights of your running career. First, before you even started running, as the fourth of seven children, were you an active child amongst your big family?
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| JG |
We were out in the country and lived on a farm. I was ice skating, tobogganing down the hill and walking back up, biking and swimming in the river. So, I was active, but not training. My dad was very strong, and he could work hard on the farm. My mom was kind of a stubborn and strong person, so my genetics were probably good. Of course, on the farm we had an upbringing in nature. We had a potato field and had to start working the dirt and planting the seeds. It was, at that time, not very mechanical high tech. We did a lot of work to get the produce. We learned that it takes all summer, it takes the sun, it takes the rain and getting rid of weeds. It was a lot of work and discipline. Maybe it’s part of life and a part of me that I know you cannot go too fast. When I give a lecture, I tell people they have to take their time step-by-step to get the good results.
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| GCR: |
Even though you weren’t competing in organized sports, were you developing discipline and how did life change when you moved to the city as a teenager?
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| JG |
When I was in the country until I was twelve years old, I always was a good student. Also, my personality traits were that I didn’t like mistakes. I liked to be good. If one thing was not good, I was not happy with myself. That’s a rule on the side of perfection. It’s been that way quite a lot for me. I like to do things the right way. I don’t like when things are badly done. Then we moved to Montreal because my dad was sick, and my mom decided to move to Montreal to find work. She’s a strong woman. I didn’t like the city as much as the country and I wasn’t doing much with sports. In high school we did have some team game on the snow with a broom and a ball that was like ice hockey. They didn’t think I was fast enough, so they put me in the goal. I wasn’t reactively fast enough for the game. I understand why now since I have over ninety percent slow twitch muscle fibers and am an endurance girl.
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| GCR: |
How did you make the jump from a college student who smoked a half a pack of cigarettes a day and did the usual college activities of staying out late and going to parties to a young lady with a focus on getting healthy and running?
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| JG |
I didn’t do much in sport until I started working. I was smoking a little bit in college and, at that time, it wasn’t known that it was bad. Almost everyone was smoking. When I worked, I realized that people were getting sick. I was a respiratory technician, so I could see it. That’s when I decided to stop smoking and be more active. It worked! I’m very pleased. You can open a door and close it quickly and continue what you were doing, or you keep it open and you go forward. That is how it brought me more into activity and getting in shape and then I discovered I had the running talent.
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| GCR: |
When did you notice that you enjoyed running and had a talent for it, how did you start racing and what were some of your early races?
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| JG |
I was just training, but not for races. I was not aware of those opportunities to race. Why I started running was to stop smoking and to be outside to enjoy all the nice parks. That’s when I realized that Montreal was a great place. There were trees all over. Sometimes I would go outside of Montreal to do my biking and cross-country skiing and I was just happy with that. Then I started running with another guy who was training for marathons. I knew he was going to do a long run and told him I wanted to go with him because I liked to run long. So, he said, ‘come along.’ We started running for three hour runs. When we finished, we would eat oranges and talk about running. One time he said, ‘You are good at running and aren’t even tired after three hours. Why don’t you try a marathon?’ That’s how my racing started three years after I started running.
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| GCR: |
Your first marathon was the 1977 Ile d’Orleans Marathon where you finished second in 3:44:04. How did it feel to run your first marathon and was it an exciting accomplishment to just finish a marathon and also to place so high?
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| JG |
Yes, it was fun. I knew it was very hot because it was over ninety degrees and humid. Everybody told me not to run too fast and I’m happy I took that advice. I ran 3:44 without being sore at all the day after the race. It was a good experience and I liked it.
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| GCR: |
How was it running your second marathon in Ottawa later that year?
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| JG |
I decided six months afterward to run the Ottawa marathon and finished in 3:07. That was a good improvement. I was happy. But someone just put a picture from that race on my Facebook page and I can see that my running form wasn’t that great. I was 3:07 with that form. There is a picture of me from the Ottawa Marathon when I had been running for a longer time and my form had improved. Nobody was teaching me, but I guess it’s from running and running. Sometimes runners just get it and I think I did. When I give running clinics at the Boston Marathon, I show the pictures. I also show a picture of me running the Boston Marathon and then the Ottawa Half Marathon not that many years ago, maybe in 2012. My form is almost the same. I tell people that this is the way to run. Nobody taught me but I was economical which is one reason that I didn’t get in too much trouble with injuries unless I was doing the wrong training.
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| GCR: |
A year later you won the 1978 Ile d’Orleans Marathon in 2:59:15 and two months later won the Skylon Marathon in 2:57:15. What did you do form your initial marathons to improve to under three hours?
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| JG |
I kept training and doing some speedwork. I went to the track occasionally and did some nice track workouts. I did steady pace distance runs and was good at doing them for a not so short distance. For me it is almost the best training to run marathons. It’s like in a car that going too fast can kill you. And I have a feeling that for me with all my slow twitch muscle fibers that it was probably the best way for me. But I kind of regret not concentrating on some phases of training where I could have improved. After I won Boston in 1980, I became a bit over trained. I went to see Arthur Lydiard. He looked at my potential and said, ‘Jacqueline, you can run 2:23. That’s the way I see it.’ But I never did, probably because of this way of training with too much distance. Then I did over distance sometimes. I was never well-coached. I had some people advising me, but that’s it. So, it was easy to make mistakes. If it’s one thing I regret, it’s that. But I don’t regret too much. I’m still happy with what I did.
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| GCR: |
In between when you went sub-three hours in 1978 and when you won at Boston in 1980, in 1979 you stepped it up to an entire new level when you won the National Capital Marathon in May and dropped your time by 10 minutes to 2:47:58 followed by another seven-minute PR when you won the Montreal Marathon in August in 2:40:56. Was it a natural progression or were you doing more speedwork as 1979 was the year where you really came into your own as a fast marathon runner?
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| JG |
I don’t remember completely the training I did, and I don’t keep a training diary. Sometimes there were quicker training runs because I wouldn’t be out as long. I was doing some 5k and 10k pace running. I went to the Olympic grounds sometimes and ran soft running on grass. I would do fartlek that was fast and slower. But nothing was on paper from a coach. It was all by instinct.
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| GCR: |
These races we have discussed in your early marathon racing were in Canada but, as I mentioned briefly earlier, you finished third at the 1979 New York City Marathon and you ran your first sub-2:40 time with a 2:39:05. What were the crowds like, and did you feel getting a podium finish at such a big race?
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| JG |
I don’t remember being intimidated. When Fred Lebow called me after I won in Montreal, he said, ‘We want you.’ And they offered me two thousand dollars to run. I was thinking, ‘Great! I’m paid to run.’ So, I went there and remember feeling good. I thought I had finished as the second woman. But there was this woman runner with short hair that I didn’t realize was a woman. But being third in 2:39 was good enough for me. The feeling of running in New York was quite ecstatic in some ways because it’s a big city and it changes as we run through the miles. It was quite a big race with quite a lot of people.
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| GCR: |
After the 1980 Boston Marathon you mixed it up with the top women distance runners at shorter distances and won the Mentholatum 10k in Buffalo, New York and the Virginia Ten-Miler while finishing second at the Cascade Run Off 15k and Diet Pepsi 10k. Did you enjoy pushing your limits at the faster pace of these shorter races and mixing it up with the top women?
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| JG |
Oh yes, very much. That was a good time and was quite a change from my life before. That’s why after the Boston Marathon I decided to stop my work which was questionable for me. I wasn’t too secure to stop working. But people were telling me that the other top runners I was racing weren’t working at a job, so I went for it. I took a sabbatical year and the second year I decided not to go back to work and that was it. I enjoyed running those races all around in different cities and getting to know the runners. It was a good time for me.
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| GCR: |
Patti Catalano got you back after you beat her in Boston with her 2:30:58 win at the 1980 Montreal Marathon later that year topping your 2:31:41 PR by 43 seconds. Did the two of you race closely for much of that race and what were the key crunch points as you competed that day?
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| JG |
Patti, Patti, Patti… she was not happy when she didn’t win in Boston. She always wants to go out fast as she is such a strong runner. She came to Montreal and I was in good shape. What I did was that I felt strong and I felt that I had to be in front. That probably was not a good plan. I went out too fast. At that time, I wasn’t so knowledgeable, and I ran by instinct. Sometimes that didn’t work. I was in front and shouldn’t have led out that much. I should have been more conservative because the marathon is a long way and she caught up to me near the end.
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| GCR: |
After that great effort you were invited to and ran two months later at the 1980 Tokyo Women’s International Marathon where you ran your third marathon PR that year but your 2:30:58 effort was 31 seconds behind Joyce Smith who won in 2:30:27. What are highlights of that race in terms of pack running, your tactics, who pushed the pace, and when Joyce made her ultimate move to win?
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| JG |
I really liked racing there. The people were great. They are fans. When I came to Japan, I was jet-lagged so I received some type of shiatsu treatment. They cared for me quite a lot. Training was not exciting. There wasn’t much green space as we were running around and around in a park to train. It wasn’t like in Quebec with all our green space. I went walking and I dropped my wallet, but someone found it and turned it in at his work. They returned it to my hotel, and I got to meet the guy. There was a story in the newspaper of what he did so at the marathon start many more people knew about me. All throughout the race the fans were yelling for me. Joyce Smith wasn’t so young anymore. She had been a fast runner at shorter distances, had a family and came back on the marathon scene. She was a strong woman and we were shoulder to shoulder almost to the end. Then she was a very fast lady because of her background and did an acceleration in the last two kilometers. I didn’t respond. I wasn’t feeling that good to accelerate. I wasn’t used to that and kept my pace. She finished first and I was right behind. After that she was a role model for me, at that age of over forty years old being that good. She was quite a woman and quite a runner.
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| GCR: |
We mentioned briefly earlier that you had three other finishes in the top five in Boston, so let’s chat about those races. At the 1981 Boston Marathon, Allison Roe beat your course record by over seven minutes in 2:26:46 with Patti Catalano a minute behind her and then Joan Benoit and Julie Shea running sub-2:31 before you finished fifth in a fine time of 2:31:27. How did that race compare to your win the prior year in terms of your effort and did you receive a nice reception along the course from fans who recognized you as the defending champion?
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| JG |
Beforehand there were press conferences. The cheering was the normal amount along the way and at Wellesley College. I ran strong, but those four women all ran very fast.
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| GCR: |
In both 1982 and 1983 you finished in second place but both years were seven minutes behind winners Charlotte Teske and Joan Benoit. Can you compare how you felt physically running 2:36:10 on a very warm day in 1982 versus your PR of 2:29:28 on a cool day in 1983 though both yielded the same place?
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| JG |
In 1982 I didn’t run so fast as I was injured during the winter and then over trained for the race. So, I was not in my best shape. The next year in 1983 the weather was great. I remember being at the start with Joan Benoit and she was a good friend of mine. She lives in Freeport and I like to go to Maine in the summer. We had a chat for a bit. But we were concentrating on the race because we were both ready. She was so ready that she was rolling down those early hills so fast and I could not keep up with that pace. I forgot about her and adjusted my race. She was amazing. That’s all I can say as I didn’t see her for long.
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| GCR: |
During those two years you continued to race at the top at shorter distances with over a dozen top five placings at races including the Bermuda 10k, Jacksonville River Run 15k, Boston Shamrock Classic 5-Mile, Cherry Blossom Ten-Mile, Falmouth and the Virginia Ten-Mile. How much did these races serve as tempo running that kept you fast for your marathons?
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| JG |
I was using a lot of those races to lower my mileage like in the Arthur Lydiard training and racing pyramid. I did hard training at home and used those races to lower the mileage and have a speedy race to get going faster. I was using those races like that.
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| GCR: |
Possibly you most impressive marathon finish could be your fifth place in 2:32:35 at the inaugural World Championships Marathon in 1983 in Helsinki, Finland. What was that race like in terms of excitement and prestige and how was it to be racing with winner Grete Waitz and fourth place finisher, Rosa Mota, future Olympic champion?
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| JG |
It was a great event. It is one of my best memories because the competition was just track and field. It was a lot of fun. I also liked being in Finland and how it got dark earlier. For the race I got some help from Billy Squires, the coach from Boston. When I was in Kennebunkport, Maine, I got talking with him. All through my career, people gave me good advice and Bill was one of them. He got me doing some good fartlek training that helped me. He wrote some training on a piece of paper when we were talking in Maine. It wasn’t a training schedule, but some ideas. I liked his ideas and incorporated them for this race. He was a great guy and gave that advice with his heart. He was a great coach in my mind. I came to the World Championships ready. It was a hot day. I was in front of Grete Waitz for a while. I remember thinking about myself, ‘Here she is in front again.’ I should have had more respect and stayed behind her but, no, I was right in front. That was not a good tactic, but that was how I ran sometimes. There was one mistake I made that I decided to not make anymore. At a water station I took my water but lost my concentration and went off the back of the pack. So, I knew in future races that I couldn’t do that because in a marathon when you lose the pack that’s it. I sort of regretted that. You are running by yourself and it’s not the same feeling.
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| GCR: |
Since it wasn’t like the Olympics with many sports, did you get to see many of the track and field competitions?
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| JG |
Not too much, but I remember seeing those Russian runners compared to Mary Decker and they looked very strong. I met Eamonn Coghlan and talked with him. He was a very nice guy.
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| GCR: |
The closest major marathon for you was at the 1983 Chicago Marathon where Rosa Mota won in 2:31:12, with you 24 seconds back in 2:31:36 and Dorthe Rasmussen just nine seconds behind you in third place. Did the three of you race together most of the way, were there others with you and what were the crunch points that decided where the three of you finished?
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| JG |
I was a little bit intimidated by them and their names. I felt strong by myself but compared to other runners I always felt like they are faster, they are faster in some way. Maybe I should have been stronger and kept with her, but that was lacking in me. That is very important to feel confident, not just within yourself, but with the others you are racing. Sometimes I feel that was where I could have improved in my races because I was in second place too many times. Of course, maybe all those people had more speed. There was one woman I always raced in Quebec and we finished many races together. We would both race very well but, at the end, she could change gears so much. Right after the finish line I felt fresh as roses and she was almost vomiting. This is the other gear that maybe I was lacking. One reason is because I should have done more of those workouts where you go into oxygen debt. That’s from the way I trained. If I did some faster training I may have improved on my time.
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| GCR: |
In 1984 you won the Los Angeles International Marathon in February in a fine time of 2:31:57 which seemed to set you up for the inaugural Women’s Olympic Marathon. What were highlights of that race?
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| JG |
I had kept visualizing in my training that I was strong. I kept training like that for the 1984 Olympics. At the end of all my quality workouts I kept concentrating at the end and telling myself, ‘Be strong. Be strong.’ When I went to Los Angeles, because I visualized in my training that I was so strong and I did accelerations in my training, that’s how I was, and I won.
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| GCR: |
After your big win in Los Angeles, what happened that year that led to your Olympic disappointment and having to drop out of the race?
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| JG |
That Los Angeles Marathon was a tough one to recover from because we ran on a lot of concrete. I made a mistake after that race by going back to Tallahassee, Florida to train by myself. I developed shin splints but kept telling myself, ‘I have to train. I have to train.’ I took this medication called DMSO and used it on my skin. It is used for horses’ injuries. I went to a whirlpool at the college, but that was a mistake because I got infected. Then I went back to Quebec and wasn’t well for a while. I missed the Olympic Trial in Ottawa because I wasn’t trained enough. Because of my fifth place in the World Championship, they pre-selected me to the Olympic team. I felt a lot of pressure and I wanted to train so hard. Again, I was by myself most the time. I went to Colorado to train at high altitude all by myself. I trained very well. But I didn’t get enough massage care because I wasn’t so rich. I took care of myself as I could. I did a lot of good training but, without a coach, it was easy for me to over train. I was in great shape and I did a great time trial a few weeks before the Los Angeles Olympics. I was at my best, but I felt some type of tension in my right butt muscle. It was almost time for the Olympics, and I was staying in San Diego. We went to see a physical therapist. I seemed okay and kept doing my tune up for the race.
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| GCR: |
How did that 1984 Olympic marathon progress and when did you know you couldn’t go on?
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| JG |
I started the race and felt confident enough. But inside I knew that something was wrong. I started the race feeling in shape but by 30k I had so much calf cramps on that right side that I couldn’t even walk. The muscle that was causing pain was the piriformis muscle and it was so tight that my sciatic nerve was reacting and that’s what happened to my leg. Now that I’m a massage therapist I know how to take care of it. If I had been in Quebec instead of San Diego, I might have taken care of it more before the race but, all by myself, it was another mistake. It was the first Olympic marathon and I was listed in the favorites. I was hoping to do well. It was the biggest disappointment in my life.
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| GCR: |
You almost set one more personal best marathon the following year but came up four seconds short in Houston as your 2:29:32 put you in second place just under a minute behind Sylvia Ruegger. Was she just too fast at the end again for you to pull out the victory?
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| JG |
She was my fellow Canadian and was running great at that time. We both were there and were in good shape. Again, my lack of speed and reactivity was not there at the end of the race. She went out for a surge and I didn’t respond. That was another one where I said, ‘Jacqueline, c’mon!’ And so, I was second again. But that year I got almost all my personal bests in 1985. I was not trained for the 1500 meters but ran either 4:35 or 4:38 – I’m not sure. I don't want to remember, it was too hard! There was a study that was done in Atlanta that year and it says about my high score of slow twitch fibers and my high Vo2 Max.
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| GCR: |
Over the next few years as you got into your mid-thirties you had some strong efforts in the 2:36 to 2:40 range that left you in the top ten at Boston, New York City and London. Was it getting more difficult to stay at or close to PR marathon shape?
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| JG |
I had been trying to get faster and everyone said I had to do more speed. With my endurance and distance running I was now doing too much speed and got some stress fractures. I had some injuries and didn’t know exactly so I was asking many people for advice. When I ran the Falmouth race, I had a stress fracture and when I finished, I was limping. I was going up and down and up and down in training because of the injuries and was lacking the base I needed. I was also doing water running because of those injuries.
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| GCR: |
How exciting was it to have one last very strong marathon effort when you won the 1987 Montreal Marathon in a speedy 2:32:51 and what is the story about missing the 1988 Olympics?
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| JG |
So, I kept going up and down and missed the 1988 Olympics where I had qualified with a good race in Montreal even though I had had two surgeries. I was not one hundred percent physically ready for Montreal, but I worked mentally and with visualization. When I give lectures, I tell how it can carry you away. With lots of good mental preparation I was able to run well and win in Montreal. But we had to do two qualifications and the second was either in Boston or London. I chose London because the course is flat. But after Montreal I had a big cold and kept training through it. I didn’t stop training because the race was there, and I needed to qualify. My immunity never recovered. When I ran in London, I wasn’t that well prepared and then I ran a final trial in Buffalo and had another cold. My body was just not responding because I didn’t give it a rest. So, that’s another piece of good advice I give – take your rest! It’s good. And so, I missed the 1988 Olympics. I had a lack of good training and with the injuries it got tough.
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| GCR: |
A few years later your son, Yannick, was born in 1991 and you were getting close to forty years old. How did you balance motherhood with training, and did you enjoy staying close to the sport while running shorter distance races?
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| JG |
When I got my son, I was in Colorado training for the 1992 Olympics. In some way I was like Lorraine Moller, one of my good friends. She kept going so I was thinking I could do it. I was training but always had some nagging injuries. My body was not responding so well after those surgeries. My first surgery was a bunion surgery and it kind of shortened my big toe. My problems started there. That surgery caused me to compensate on my right side and my right knee didn’t like it. I tore the meniscus. I believe if we can avoid surgery it is better. That’s what I would say now but, when you’re right there, you just want to get rid of the pain. Now with my massage therapy I can see that you might have a problem with your feet or somewhere else and there are blockages on meridians. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bunion surgery wasn’t even necessary. So, I was training in Colorado and running a 10k where I felt nauseous at the end. I didn’t feel good. I went to a sauna and came out of it very dizzy. There was a woman there who was also a runner and she said, ‘You might be pregnant!’ I said, ‘What?’ I went for a test in the morning and went to see my husband and told him I was pregnant. That was my little Yannick who came when I was almost forty. My Gold Medal finally. Nothing better. That’s what I think. Sometimes the universe brings you what you need.
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| GCR: |
During this conversation you’ve mentioned not really having a coach and mainly doing distance training. If you had consistent coaching and knew more about the science of training to race faster and improved nutrition, do you think you might have been a better runner or did things just worked out the best they could?
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| JG |
I know some runners who did a lot more of the fast training than I did, and they didn’t last that long. I’m still healthy and I’m still running. Two days ago, I did my hill training. I’m still thinking about the Lydiard training and I can still do it. I was so happy. I could have ended up being unhealthy. I did learn from my mistakes and could have improved my time a little bit more, but no regrets. Everything is great. Things happen a certain way so I’m not questioning. If I started over, I could have done things differently, but no regrets.
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| GCR: |
We have discussed several ladies that you raced against. Who were some of your favorite competitors and adversaries from your marathon and shorter distance road racing days because they were fun to race against and for their ability to draw out the best in you?
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| JG |
I loved all the runners. Joan Benoit was in front of me most of the time. We had so much fun. After races we had so much fun with the girls and the guys. In addition to all the ladies, guys like Dave Murphy, Nick Rose and Adrian Leek joined us for parties and dancing after the races. I had much fun talking with the ladies. Lorraine Moller and Priscilla Welch, Rosa Mota, and Regina Joyce were ladies that were fun to be around. Lorraine, Priscilla, Bonnie Gert-Berg and Kim Jones were around at the races while I lived in Colorado or later on. I made my pineapple cake for Priscilla Welch because she lived close to me. Priscilla is one of my role models because she won the New York City Marathon at age forty-one or forty-two. Priscilla was a strong woman. Dorthe Rasmussen was a very tall girl and a nice girl. Kim Jones was nice. At the start of races, it was great because the runners weren’t looking at each other badly. Everybody was friendly. It was a nice community. Everybody was cool.
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| GCR: |
You were inducted into several Halls of Fame including the Canadian Running HOF in 1991, Quebec Sports HOF in 1995 and were named Canada’s ‘Women’s Marathoner of the 20th century in 2000. How exciting is it to be so honored?
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| JG |
It’s great. Sometimes I feel like an imposter because I just ran to enjoy running and to get away from smoking cigarettes. I’m not so good. But I did do some good running. I also am in the Mount Washington Racing Hall of Fame. I love that race – it’s one of my favorites. We all would start at the bottom and we all wanted to reach the top as fast as we could. We all felt like mountain goats ready to go and reach the sky. There is one guy who is almost a hundred years old who is still doing that race. It’s a friendly group of people who want to complete the challenge of going up the hill.
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| GCR: |
What are you doing now as far as running and racing?
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| JG |
If I don’t do marathons now, that is okay. I do most of my running in the woods or on dirt. I don’t run too much on asphalt unless I race, which I don’t want to do too much anymore. Once in a while I like to race. I like the challenges I give myself to feel this feeling at the end when I’m happy that I’ve run my best. I have a good life. I didn’t get rich when I decided to stop my work and to be a runner. This wasn’t to be rich – it was for passion. I still live that way and it’s fun. It’s me.
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| GCR: |
What else do you do now for health and fitness?
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| JG |
In the winter I love cross country skiing. I like skating when it isn’t too cold. I cross country ski many times during the week, more than running in the winter. But I like running and, if there is too much snow, I go in the woods with my snow shoes, the very small ones that I clip on my normal shoes so it’s quick. I love being in the woods because I feel so well grounded. It’s like Mother Earth and the universe. It takes me in and gives me serenity. That’s why I want to keep going and keep playing outside. It’s this connection. This is my goal. My goal isn’t to race anymore but to keep doing something outside. In the summer I will go biking. I do that quite a lot which is good for my body instead of doing all running because of my knee problem. I like swimming. I live in the country. I used to do some triathlons, but I want to keep my life simple. I don’t want to race if I don’t have to. Besides I race at the last minute when I am invited. Most of the time I like to train and take advantage of the outdoors. I started going to the gym because of my knee problem. I finished a half marathon in the fall and felt like my muscles weren’t reacting well. This is very new. I used to do some weights when I was a good runner, but not too much. So, I went back to the gym and it’s great. I’ve improved a lot. One of the best things when you get older is to keep your strength. I realize it’s important, so I don’t try to compensate for my knee problem. I run on the treadmill with some big hills so it’s not hard on my knee. I go day by day and might decide to do a race if I’m feeling good. I can call a race director, and this is what is nice about being good – you get invited and it's great. I take advantage – why not?
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| GCR: |
What are some important words of advice you can give to marathon runners in training and racing and especially those getting ready to race at Boston?
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| JG |
My advice would be to learn to do the phases like in the Lydiard pyramid. I really believe it that. In the fall you must build very well before doing speed workouts. And hill workouts are great. Tallahassee was a good place for me to train in the winter for Boston in 1983 and for Los Angeles in 1984. It was hilly and warm enough. With my knee I almost do hill workouts all the time. They prepare your tendons and muscles and are the best preparation. Then you can do some sharpening and time trials and your taper and then you’re ready. You can’t work hard, hard, hard all the time. Easy days, and sometimes two easy days are better than one day easy. I see too many people doing too many hard workouts. I don’t think you can race then to another level. It is a good idea to give your body time to recover so you can improve. One more piece of advice for runners is to keep doing good flexibility, strength and stability exercises and if nagging injuries keep coming, improve your running form.
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| GCR: |
When you speak to groups or just have casual conversations, what are the major lessons you have learned during your life from growing up in a large family on a farm, the discipline of running, the challenge of competing, and adversity you have encountered that you share with others and can be summed up as major points of the ‘Jacqueline Gareau philosophy’ of living life well and being your best?
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| JG |
I learned that’s it’s easy to do wrong. What I learned is to be more aware of that and to be in touch with my internal wisdom. Sometimes we focus too much on the mental aspect and it’s like a like monkey that makes us repeat the same things that aren’t so good anymore. Then we also have these personality traits that we have had since we were born or that we learn in childhood. The personality can make us keep emotion inside. If it isn’t good for us the body is going to react. It means injuries. It means blockages. It means illnesses. I learned through my career that when something happened it was an imbalance. It was an imbalance of too much or not enough. That’s my philosophy now. It isn’t easy. I’ve made mistakes. But I need to live for a hundred years. I’m stubborn.
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Inside Stuff |
| Hobbies/Interests |
I like to read a lot, but sometimes I don’t have enough time or am too tired. Reading is very interesting to me. I read stories mostly that raise me spiritually. I like to go out with friends to movies. My husband doesn’t like to go out as much as me. I have many friends so I will call them to go to movies. I’m still quite busy. I’m 65 years old and my husband is 71 and he works part-time. I am kind of full time because a massage therapist is on the go and I’m either working at my place or in people’s homes. I’m not always 100 percent busy so I can have more time for me. I have lots of endurance for sports which takes up time. I like going to the spa for hot water and then the cold river to relax. It’s almost like the endorphins from running to feel the contrast of the hot and cold. And it helps me to recover from running. It is good for my muscles. I like to communicate with people and at the spa we aren’t supposed to talk too loud but sometimes we get carried away. Conversing is important to me
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| Nicknames |
I wasn’t a runner as a child, but I was always that girl who was naive and liked to have fun. People liked talking with me. I would be in a group talking and they called me ‘Jackie Apollo.’ I don’t know why but maybe because I was always game. I was always there having fun and that was my nickname at the college
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| Favorite movies |
I enjoy some animated movies that are for kids. I liked ‘A Star is Born’ with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. I like movies that touch me in my soul. When I give lectures, I will play the music from ‘Chariots of Fire’ because when I won the Montreal Marathon after surgery and with a lack of training, I visualized a lot through ‘Chariots of Fire.’ That is one movie that I love
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| Favorite music |
There is one in French that I sing sometimes when I give a lecture. It is ‘Non, Je ne Regrette Rien’ which means ‘No, I Don't Regret Anything,’ from Edith Piaf. It’s a song that touches me a lot because it’s about life and no regrets. There is the good and the bad, but everything is great and starting again at a good starting point that is beautiful. When people hear me sing it, they tell me I sing the song very well. It sounds foolish, but I will go in the woods and sing it. That song just gets to me and I put it on my Facebook page during Christmastime. I also like ‘Alleluia’ by Leonard Cohen and ‘Ave Maria’ by Schubert. These songs are all good to my heart
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| Favorite books |
There is an author, Osho, that I read as one of my first books. I was getting older and more interested in spirituality. There was a sentence that said, ‘Humans are sleepy.’ I didn’t understand that and kept reading. He said it’s because were not vigilant and aware enough. He said we weren’t in silence enough and we get trapped by too many things. We try to do too much of some things and don’t do enough of other things and that is what he meant. Every time I read a book it seems to come at the right time. I read books that remind me of things that are important. I read a book by Doreen Virtue that is spiritual and talks about chakras, which is important. The first chakra is for grounding and the second is for needs and pleasure. There are a total of seven chakras. That book made me realize there is more than the body – there is body, soul and spirit and we all must be much more connected if we want to live a fuller life with a good mission in life. Right now, my mission is not to be in my best shape, but to be in my best harmony. The books I read are mostly about that. I’m not so wise and I know I make mistakes but I’m more vigilant about it and I can realize more
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| First vehicles |
It was a Dodge Caravan minivan. Once I won a 10k when I was coming back from injuries. I went to Toronto and I won a Honda Civic. That was so much fun! The universe brought me a car and I needed one
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| Current car |
Now I have a Mazda CX3. It’s a four-wheel drive which is good when I go up the many hills here where I sometime work in Mont- Tremblamc, which is a downhill skiing resort. It’s very safe and is a good car. We also have another Mazda. We got a good deal from the garage. He can use me in his promotions and so he gave me a great deal. It’s the advantage of being well-known, I guess
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| First Job |
I did babysitting, but that was about all. My studying to be a respiratory technician wasn’t too long, so I wasn’t that old when I started working
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| Family |
My husband and I kind of got married late. Right after I won the Boston Marathon we lived together. My husband is the guy who brought me to Boston to race the year I won. I was supposed to do the Ottawa Marathon, but he went to see my coach, Medhi Jamhouar, in Montreal who said, ‘Why is she not running in Boston?’ His response was, ‘She’s doing Ottawa again.’ But my husband called me and told me I should do the Boston Marathon and that is how our relationship started. He brought me to Boston and then I won, so that was a good thing. So, I stuck with him after that and we lived together and then got married before we moved to Colorado. I was training in Colorado for a while and that’s when I got pregnant. My son was conceived in Boulder. So, we went back to Quebec. I got my son and then when he was five years old, we went back to work in Colorado at the running store. We decided to go to Colorado because my husband wanted to invest in a running store and we lived there for seven years in Boulder, Colorado. It was kind of a nice life. I liked it but the business didn’t do too well after a while because the economy wasn’t great. We moved back and my husband was an agent for sporting goods, and I studied to become a massage therapist. My son now is 26 years old. He was a very active boy and he needed to keep moving. So, we put him in sports from the beginning. He could bike on two wheels when he was three years old. He did cross-country skiing when he was very young. When we were in Colorado, he was on a cross-country team and did quite well. When we moved back to Quebec, he went to a very high level of cross-country skiing. He didn’t live with us because we sent him to an American school in Vermont – the Burke Mountain Academy. He had a very good arrangement with a scholarship, and he was cross-country skiing for this private school. After that he went to a different team in British Columbia near Whistler and finished with another team in Canmore, Alberta. So, we have a 26-year-old boy who is very mature and very healthy. He is working as a firefighter in the forests in the summer for five months and then is studying in the winter. He likes to enjoy life like I do. He likes the outdoors and being in good shape. He is looking for work to find his way and what he wants to do. During all those years of cross-country skiing he stopped going to University for a while because it was too demanding. So, he has goals in mind and works toward them
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| Pets |
We have had many cats. The last one just died in the fall. It was very, very sad. She was a beautiful cat with three colors, a calico cat. Her eyes were green. She was very independent and wanted to go outside when she wanted to. She was a very wise cat. She was wonderful. I miss her and still look at the photos and sometimes I talk to her. Maybe her spirit is with me now. Her name was a funny name like ‘Slippers’ in English. Her name was ‘Pantoufle’ because she had this big tail like a slipper. When we came back to Quebec my son missed his friends and he needed to have an animal, so we went by the shop and he saw her and said, ‘I want her.’ He was learning his French and liked this word, ‘Pantoufle.’ To me, cats take care of themselves and, if they don’t want to do something, they tell you. Animals don’t care about doing things that aren’t good for them because they don’t have the mentality and personality like us. I admire animals a lot, but never had dogs because they are too much work
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| Favorite breakfast |
My first breakfast is before I do my exercise and starts with a good coffee, an expresso coffee. I have it with toast and peanut butter or almond butter and a little bit of jam and a half banana. Then I exercise and, when I come back, I like eggs and pancakes. I have my own pancake recipe with all kinds of good stuff like buckwheat and chia seeds and bananas. The pancakes are very healthy. I put bananas on them. In the summer I pick blueberries and put them on top. Of course, I use maple syrup which is from here where I live. We have good maple syrup. I don’t go on fad diets. I love my carbs even if people say it’s not so good any more. I don’t mind. Balance is the better choice for me
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| Favorite lunch |
I like vegetables. I make salads with raw vegetables and hummus. I eat a light lunch
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| Favorite dinner |
I like vegetables again. I love all kind of vegetarian food. I eat rice and turkey and fish. Sometimes I wonder with fish if it is the healthiest, so I try to have good salmon. We can be unaware of the additives to food, so I am hoping that my body is clean enough that my liver is good enough to get rid of things we eat that we don’t need
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| Best evening snack |
Homemade natural popcorn with ground sesame and flax seeds with organic roasted seaweed, and with a good beer
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| Favorite beverages |
I have one coffee in the morning, and it is important but, after that, no more coffee. I make my own kaffir and my own kombucha. I add things like curcuma and lemon. I drink green tea and many other kinds of tea
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| First exercising memory |
When I was young, we didn’t run. That wasn’t something we did in my time. We were ice skating in school. Our schools in the country weren’t that great for sports for young people. We played that game I talked about with the broom and the ball that was very popular at that time. Mostly we played sports on the farm with my brothers and sisters
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| Running heroes |
My first one was Grete Waitz. In the 1976 Olympics in Montreal she was there. I was running in Olympic Park and I saw her. I was running with a friend and he said, ‘Hey, that’s Grete Waitz.’ That’s when I heard about her. She wasn’t a marathon runner at that time because the longest races for women were 3,000 meters. Then when she ran marathons it was great. But it started there
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| Greatest running moments |
It is difficult to say. I would say when I won the Boston Marathon but, when I finished, it wasn’t that great. Even when I wasn’t winning but was satisfied with my race because I ran a good time it was always a good feeling inside. It was ecstatic. When I was second in the Tokyo Marathon, even though I didn’t win, it was a good race. I enjoyed it and know I didn’t respond to a surge again, but it was a great race. In the World Championship when I was fifth was a good one too. In Los Angeles when I won that was probably the marathon where I felt the best throughout. Even before the race I felt the most good feeling ever. I woke up in the morning and I felt like dancing. I felt light, powerful and that is what I mean when I say there is a day when you are physically and psychologically the best. Six months before the Olympics in Los Angeles I had that feeling. Even two years ago when I was running a race in the town where I was born, I was running along with a young girl. And she kept up with me. She was staying with me and I was stubborn saying to myself, ‘She’s not going to get me.’ At the end I did a surge that I had never learned to do, and I was very happy because I outraced her at the end. When I looked at the photos I thought, ‘Oh boy! I did it!’ So even that race was good for me. Any time I do something that I’m happy with myself is good for me
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| Worst running moment |
At Los Angeles in the Olympics. That was the worst feeling ever. I didn’t even want to stay at the Village. I went back home and had some depressed times
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| Personality trait |
I was in the middle of the family, so I was a little bit forgotten. The oldest were trouble and the youngest were crying and yelling. I was there and wanted to say, ‘Hi, I’m here.’ Maybe that’s why I started being this girl that wanted to do well in school and to be well-liked all the time. My mom even said sometimes when we were doing family parties that I should sing – ‘Jacqueline likes to sing, and she sings well.’ It was always the same religious song, but she was proud of me. It made it easy for me to perform because that was inside me
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| Embarrassing moment |
Coming back too soon, six months after delivery of my son went and ran a 34:10 for 10k in North Carolina, if I'm not mistaken, but my heart was not there. I should have taken more time relaxing with my beautiful baby, so it brought me a good burnout
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| Favorite places to travel |
Since I love the winter, last year we went to Silver Star in British Columbia and there was unbelievable snow and skiing there. We also visited my friends and that was a great trip. I remember going for one month to Thailand in 2014 and to India for one month doing touring and visiting. Those two trips really marked my life, especially in India because we worked in Calcutta on the streets with an organization from here in Quebec that is headed by a nurse. We were trying to help people in the streets, and I was moved by all the poverty but, at the same time, by all the strength they have and the happiness. It was hard to see so many people in need so that India trip was probably the most memorable for me
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