Anne Audain - Q&A - Part 1 - Womens Running Coaches Collective

Part 1 of the Womens Running Coaches Collective interview with legendary runner Anne Audain.

Anne Audain's story is a remarkable saga of a young girl born with foot deformities, who became one of the greatest New Zealand female runners of all times. Born with bone defects in her feet, Anne walked with difficulty as a child.

At age 13 she had surgery to correct the bone deformities, and in two short years became the top female competitor in the New Zealand running scene. In 1972, at age 15, she made her first Olympic team in the 1500, but was not allowed to go because of her age. Anne qualified  for 5 more Olympics, running in three of them in the 800, 1500, Marathon and 10K.

From 1980 through the early 1990's, Anne was one of the best roadracers on the US Road Racing Circuit. In  March of 1982 Anne broke the WR in the 5K with a time of 15:13.22.  In October of that same year, she was the first New Zealand women to win a Gold Medal in the Commonwealth Games.

In an amazing span from June of 1981 through October of 1983, Anne ran 33 American road races, winning 30 of them, placing second twice, and third once.  In her long and storied career, Anne Audain won 90% of her races. In this three part series, hear the remarkable story of a woman who overcame physical disabilities to become one of the greatest distance runners in the world!

Interview by Charlotte Lettis Richardson of the Womens Running Coaches Collective

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The Women's Running Coaches Collective is a talented group of women coaches who have come together with the mission to change the landscape of coaching as Title IX changed the landscape for girls and women in sports. This grass roots organization was created to encourage and support women who want to become coaches, or women who are currently coaching. Our WRCC website includes interviews, articles, videos, "Ask A Coach", regional 'Chapter' communities and much more. The WRCC is a collective to support, unite, inform, inspire, encourage and empower women coaches at all levels of our sport. Come join us today and help change the landscape of women in coaching. Click www.womensrunningcoaches.org to join. It's free!