Marathon matriarch and Trustee Joan Benoit Samuelson ’79 is all about goals. With a track record that includes the gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, not one but two Boston Marathon wins, and one in the Chicago Marathon, it’s clear Joanie, as she’s known to friends and admirers the world over, is a force of nature.

Saturday, August 2, 2014, brings the TD Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race, which she founded, back to her hometown, Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The race, attracting some 6,000 runners in its 17th year, becomes increasingly greener each year.

The greening of the B2B includes efforts ranging from composting and recycling (diverting an estimated 67% of the event’s waste from the landfill), to the elimination of all pre-race printed marketing materials, and a commitment to providing locally produced food and beverages to runners. “I believe that conservation is to environment what prevention is to health,” says Benoit Samuelson. “The two are really inextricably linked.”