Richard Stephen Benyo (born April 20, 1946 at Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American journalist and veteran distance runner. He is the editor of ''Marathon & Beyond Magazine'', a magazine devoted to

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

and

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

running. He is also the former executive editor of Runner's World Magazine, and Anderson World Books, Inc. Benyo is the author of 17 books and has written extensively about running, health and fitness.

Life and work

Benyo earned his B.A. at Bloomsburg State College (now Bloomsburg University) in 1968. He did academic work at

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

in Fairfax, Virginia. Benyo became interested in road racing after participating in college cross country. Following college, he became a newspaper editor for the Lehighton Times-News from 1968–1972. In 1972, Benyo was awarded the "Best Local Column Award" from the ''

Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers Association The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association is a trade group serving newspapers in Pennsylvania. The PNA seeks to "advance the business interests of Pennsylvania news media companies" and protect the "free and independent press." It represents Pennsylva ...

''. From 1972–1977, Benyo worked in an editorial position for ''Stock Car Racing'' magazine before joining Bob Anderson as executive editor at Runner's World magazine. During this time he authored and co-authored books and magazine features. Benyo is a serious long-distance runner who over the past 20 years has competed in distance races-from 400 meters to ultramarathons. He has completed 37 marathons. In 1989, Benyo and his running partner, Tom Crawford, became the first to complete the run from Badwater in

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...

(the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere and one of the hottest places on Earth), to the peak of

Mount Whitney Mount Whitney (Paiute: Tumanguya; ''Too-man-i-goo-yah'') is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of . It is in East–Central California, on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tu ...

(at 14,494 feet highest point in the contiguous United States) and back, a total distance of 300 miles. He chronicled the event 1991. Benyo has authored 17 books on running, health, and fitness and has served as the running and fitness columnist for the

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

(1985–1990). He has also contributed to numerous general circulation magazines. In 1998, Richard Benyo was named Journalist of the Year by the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA). In 2004, Benyo and his running partner, Tom Crawford, were inducted into the Badwater Hall of Fame. In early 2005, Running USA inducted Benyo into its Hall of Champions. Benyo's latest book—written with

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...

is ''The Running Encyclopedia''. He also serves on the staff of the Dick Beardsley Marathon Running Camp. In 2006, a commemorative book was released in honor of the Boston Marathon. The book, edited by Benyo, contains several articles by widely known runner and writer,

Hal Higdon Hal Higdon (born June 17, 1931) is an American writer and runner known for his training plans. He is the author of 34 books, including the best-selling ''Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide''. He has worked as a freelance writer since 1959, and ...

. Richard Benyo's wife, Rhonda Provost, became the first woman and the eighth runner overall to successfully complete the Death Valley-to-Mt. Whitney double-crossing in 1995. She has co-authored publications and articles with him. They currently reside in Sonoma County,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Publications

* Benyo, Richard, (1978) ''Return to Running'',

World Publications World Publications (Anderson World Books, Inc., Anderson World Publications, Anderson World, or Bob Anderson Publications) was a book and magazine publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and o ...

, * Benyo, Richard and Rhonda Provost (Benyo Press Staff), (1981) ''Runner's World Indoor Exercise Book'',

Anderson World World Publications (Anderson World Books, Inc., Anderson World Publications, Anderson World, or Bob Anderson Publications) was a book and magazine publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and o ...

, * Benyo, Richard and Rhonda Provost, (1982) ''Runner's World Advanced Indoor Exercise Book'', Anderson World, * Benyo, Richard, (1983) ''The Masters of the Marathon'', Atheneum, * Benyo, Richard and Rhonda Provost, (1987) ''Feeling Fit in Your 40'S/How to Get the Most from the Best Years of Your Life'', Atheneum, * Benyo, Richard, (1989) ''Exercise Fix'',

Human Kinetics Publishers Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedality, bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex Human brain, brain. This has enabled the development of ad ...

, * Benyo, Richard, (1991) ''The Death Valley 300: Near Death and Resurrection on the World's Toughest Endurance Course'',

Specific Publications Specific may refer to: * Specificity (disambiguation) * Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness Law * Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual * Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the final ...

, * Benyo, Richard, (1992) ''Making the Marathon your Event'',

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, * Benyo, Richard, (1998) ''Running Past 50'', Human Kinetics Publishers, * Benyo, Richard, (and Joe Henderson) (2002) ''Running Encyclopedia'', Human Kinetics Publishers,

References

External links

Marathonandbeyond.com
Accessed September 22, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Benyo, Richard 1946 births Living people People from Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania American exercise and fitness writers American health and wellness writers American magazine editors Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania alumni American male ultramarathon runners