Distant memories won't fade

Samuelson's legacy is intact as she nears competitive finish line

FREEPORT, Maine - "Please excuse the mess," Joan Samuelson is saying as she opens the door to her house overlooking Maquoit Bay. "We're in between seasons." It's April Fools Day and there's still snow on the ground. A table in the living room is crammed with seed trays awaiting spring

There is a seasonal rhythm to Samuelson's life up here, where sea and shore meet, and a rhythm to her running career, which takes her back to Boston and the place Joan Benoit made her first indelible footprint 29 years ago this week.

"The thought was that I'd end my career where I started my career," says the 50-year-old Samuelson, who'll take the line on Boylston Street a week from today for the Olympic marathon trials for this summer's Games in Beijing.

It will be her last competitive 26-miler after nearly three decades that have produced an Olympic gold medal, an astounding world record, an American mark that stood for 18 years, two extraordinary Boston victories, and the "Joanie Generation" of runners who still bump elbows with her.

All of it began here in 1979 when Samuelson was an unknown face in a Bowdoin singlet, a college senior who had run a marathon in Bermuda as an extended workout and thought it might be fun to take a shot at Boston.