From National Champion to the United Nations: What Lillian GreeneChamberlain Has Learned in a Lifetime of Running

When Lillian Greene-Chamberlain, Ph.D., was growing up in Harlem in the late 1940s and ’50s, she was told she shouldn’t compete in sports: “You can’t do that; you can’t play that; you might get hurt,” she remembers. She proved naysayers wrong and went on to become the first U.S. national champion in the 440-yard run, as well as the first African-American woman to represent the United States internationally in 400-meter and 800-meter races. Greene-Chamberlain, now 81, later served as the first director of the Physical Education and Sports Program for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from 1978 to 1988 and speaks fondly of her time breaking barriers alongside other female athletes. “We didn’t have role models,” she says. “We were our role models. We stepped over hurdles.”

-  ELIZABETH OKOSUN

What do you love about running? →Running opened up the world to me. It made it possible for me to meet people, to see other places, to ask questions. Also, you don’t need any equipment; all you need are some shoes that support you. It’s a freeing activity. I could do it by myself; I didn’t need a team. And it’s something you can do while you’re thinking, while you’re meditating, while you’re planning.

What goes through your mind as you’re running? → I’m thinking about the state of the nation. I can’t solve the problems when I’m running, but I can determine the way I allow them to affect me. I don’t run with headphones on because I want to have a clear mind since I plan when I’m running.

How did you get your start? → My journey began at 8 years old, when a New York City policeman discovered me racing and beating the boys in the elementary school. He enrolled me in the Harlem Police Athletic League, and by the time I was 12, I received the league’s Athlete of the Year award for participation in track and field, basketball, and softball.

What made you choose track and field above the other sports? → Track was my opportunity to see the world. With basketball, you had to depend on various tournaments. Track was universal. There were track meets everywhere. I traveled all over the world: Russia, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Great Britain.