Richard Stephen Benyo (born April 20, 1946) is an American journalist and veteran distance runner.
[4] Benyo is a serious long-distance runner who over the past 20 years has competed in distance races-from 400 meters to ultramarathons.
[5] Benyo and his running partner Tom Crawford, founded the Badwater race, with its first one taking place in 1987.
[6] In 1989, Benyo and Tom Crawford, became the first to complete the run from Badwater in Death Valley (the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere and one of the hottest places on Earth), to the peak of Mount Whitney (at 14,494 feet highest point in the contiguous United States) and back, a total distance of 300 miles.
[8] Richard Benyo's wife, Rhonda Provost, became the first woman and the eighth runner overall to successfully complete the Death Valley-to-Mt.
In 1998, Richard Benyo was named Journalist of the Year by the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA).