Jennifer Giebner Donato

The accomplishments of a girl who hated running as a basketball and softball player at Dunkirk High School to a woman who competes in long distance races on the world stage has landed Jennifer Giebner Donato a place of honor in the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame.

Giebner Donato was the first woman in the world to complete 4 Abbott World Marathon Majors. The Abbott World Marathon Major consists of six-26.2 mile races held in Tokyo, Boston, London, Chicago, Berlin and New York City. She accomplished those six-star feats in 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2025.

She was also the first woman in the world to complete all six Abbott World Marathon Majors in a single calendar year.

Jennifer Giebner Donato is a 1992 graduate of Dunkirk High. During her high school career she competed on the Marauders’ basketball and softball teams. Although she was a successful player, she did not not enjoy running as part of the conditioning program for those sports.

That all changed at the age of 35 when she started running for exercise. She found that she enjoyed running and decided to enter a marathon in Las Vegas just to see what she could do. Although she fully expected to never run another marathon, she found that she enjoyed the experience and became motivated to improve her time.

Now, 16 years later and with 61 marathons to her credit, she says that she now “craves long distance races.”

She has competed in the Tokyo Marathon 4 times, the Boston Marathon 11 times, the London Marathon 7 times, the Berlin Marathon 4 times, the Chicago Marathon 8 times and the New York City Marathon 11 times.

In 2023 she became the second woman in the world to complete all 6 Abbott World Marathons for the third time after previously accomplishing the feat in 2017 and 2018.

Giebner Donato became the first woman in the world to complete a 4th Abbott World Marathon Majors, finishing her sixth leg in 2025.

She also set a new standard in 2018 when she became the first woman in the world to run all 6 Abbott races in a single calendar year.

Giebner Donato had the honor of representing the United States at the Sydney (Australia) Marathon in 2024. That race, coupled with the 6 Abbott races, earned her membership in the Seven Stars Hall of Fame.

What is next for Jennifer?

“I’m just going to focus on staying healthy, making sure I get in my workouts, eating right, getting enough rest and staying positive. This is a chance of a lifetime for me to go and travel to these places and experience the things I’m experiencing, so I don’t want to take anything for granted.”

Jennifer is a teacher at the Pine Valley Central Schools and resides in Fredonia.