Two-Time Boston Marathon Champ: 'Run Your Own Race'

BOSTON (CBS) -- A Boston Marathon legend shared some tips and advised runners to "run you own race" on the day before the big event.

Joan Benoit Samuelson broke a world record when she won the Boston Marathon for a second time in 1983, and she was the first woman to win the Olympic Marathon in 1984.

But on Sunday, she walked the last mile of the course with both first-time and experienced marathon runners, acting more like an old friend or coach.

"When we leave Hopkinton, there's a slight downhill," she said. "You're apt to go out a little too fast. Patience is a virtue, hold yourself back, put on the brakes."

Giving advice to runners never gets old, she said. And the most important thing for runners to learn is they are competing for themselves, not against each other.

"For me, the best inspiration in the marathon comes at the back of the pack," she said. "Everybody from the start to the finish has a story to tell."

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports: 

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• Karen Twomey