Rosie Ruiz, famous for cheating in 1980 Boston Marathon, dies at 66

Rosie Ruiz, whose name became synonymous with cheating in sports after she won the 1980 Boston Marathon by running only the last half-mile of the race, died July 8, according to her family and a Palm Beach County funeral home.

Ruiz, who went by Rosie M. Vivas, was 66. She died battling cancer for 10 years, her family wrote an obituary placed with the Quattlebaum Funeral, Cremation and Event Center in West Palm Beach.

For eight days in 1980, Ruiz was considered the winner of marathon racing’s biggest event. Not only had Ruiz won the 26.2-mile race, but she also did it in a women’s record-setting time.

But skepticism that Ruiz had actually won the race began nearly as soon as she crossed the finish line.

Competitors noted that Ruiz didn’t seen physically spent and sounded unfamiliar with the sport’s common jargon.

Later it was realized that no one had written Ruiz’s name at any of the marathon’s checkpoints. A video review of the race showed no signs of Ruiz, then 26.

Four days after the Boston Marathon, it was discovered that Ruiz had taken the New York City subway to near the finish line of that city’s 1979 marathon. Ruiz was credited with a time of 2:56:29, allowing her to qualify for the 1980 Boston race.

Despite the avalanche of evidence against her, Ruiz never confessed to cheating.

“I don’t look at it now because it makes me cry,” Ruiz told The Palm Beach Post in 1998.

As part of her agreement to speak to The Post in 1998, Ruiz insisted a reporter share her claim that she didn’t cheat to win the Boston Marathon and could prove it through photographs and other evidence.

Her win, Ruiz said, was a “victory” for women. She said she still had the medal awarded after the 1980 Boston Marathon and watched the race every year.

Ruiz had various legal issues following the marathon scandals. She was sentenced in New York to five years of probation after being charged in 1982 with embezzling from her employer.