A Cultural Icon Has Died

This morning I learned of the untimely death of famed marathon runner Rosie Ruiz, who died after a battle with cancer.  She was 66 years old at the time of her death on July 8, but the death wasn't widely known until now.

The Times article notes she was listed in the obituaries in her town in Florida under her married name, which was Rosie M. Vivas.

Vivas lived in the West Palm Beach area of Florida.  In her local obituary, it stated she was born in Cuba, lived in Florida, and then, after college, moved to New York, where she lived for five years.  At some point she became homesick and went back to Florida, where she remained until she died.  At the time of her death, she was survived by her domestic partner, her partner's three sons, and a brother.

As Rosie Ruiz, she gained international infamy for having cheated in the women's marathon events in the New York and later Boston Marathon in 1980.  She was found to have been cheating in the latter as she was initially thought to have set a record in it, but she looked like she had barely broken a sweat.  It was later determined she had joined in the final leg of the race not too far from the finish line.

Video clip of the incident:




Even Walter Cronkite got into the act:




From the NYT:

Ruiz’s claim about the New York race quickly unraveled. Susan Morrow, a freelance photographer, came forward to tell The New York Times that she had been on the subway with Ruiz during the marathon and that Ruiz had told her that she had dropped out at the 10-mile mark with an injured ankle.

After leaving the subway, Ms. Morrow said, they walked to the finish line and watched Grete Waitz win the women’s race.


New York City Marathon officials invalidated Ruiz’s time after reviewing videotape showing that Ruiz had not crossed the finish line in the time she had mistakenly been assigned by a volunteer, who thought Ruiz was an injured runner.

Days later, Ruiz’s victory in Boston was also nullified. Race organizers there based their decision on about 10,000 photographs taken along the last mile of the race as well as on information supplied by the news media and observers along the route. In addition, at least one witness recalled seeing Ruiz enter the course at Kenmore Square, about a mile from the finish line.

There was even a song about her, recorded in around 2014: