Her race is over
Famous marathon cheat Rosie Ruiz dies
Rosie Ruiz, who cheated her way to “victory” in the 1980 Boston Marathon before being stripped of the title for not actually running the bulk of the race, is dead at the age of 66.
She died July 8 “from fighting cancer for over 10 (years),” an online death notice read.
A Florida funeral home posted the death notice of Rosie Vivas, whose biographical details seemingly match Ruiz’s, including age, birthplace, college and brother’s name. It made no mention of the Boston Marathon infamy, but Running magazine first realized the woman in the obituary was Ruiz. Other news outlets, such as the Washington Post and the Associated Press are reporting Ruiz to be the dead woman.
Ruiz shot to fame after completing the Boston Marathon in what would have been a women’s record at the time of a little less than 2 hours and 32 minutes. But officials disqualified her after asserting she skipped most of the 26.2-mile course.
While crossing the finish line in a sweatfree T-shirt, she raised her arms in celebration to reveal dry armpits, reported Runner’s World.
In a postmarathon interview, Ruiz couldn’t answer simple racing questions and was confused by the concept of intervals.
“We knew that she had jumped in. We, who knew what the marathon was, we got it,” 1980 men’s champion Bill Rodgers told The Associated Press on Thursday. “She wasn’t sweating enough; she had on a heavy shirt; she didn’t know about running.
“I was with her the next day on TV, and she was just crying her head off,” Rodgers said, adding that he thought Ruiz wanted to confess. “If she had just said, ‘I’m sorry. I made a mistake.’ Runners — we all drop out of races — we would have understood.”
Ruiz was stripped of her title eight days after the race. Jacqueline Gareau of Canada was declared the rightful winner and came back to Boston the next month to receive the honor she deserved.
Just six months earlier, she ran the New York City Marathon in 2 hours, 56 minutes and 29 seconds but even that time was doubted after a woman told reporters that she had met Ruiz on a subway and rode with her to the finishing area, according to the Boston Globe.
Even decades after the fraud, Ruiz never confessed to cheating. For much of the time since her disgrace, she tried remaining anonymous.
In 1982, she was busted for allegedly embezzling about $60,000 worth of checks and cash from a real estate company where she was employed. A year later, she was arrested again for allegedly conspiring to sell cocaine to undercover agents.
“A funeral is not scheduled due to Rosie’s final wishes,” reads the obituary posted online by West Palm Beach, Fla.’s Quattlebaum Funeral, Cremation and Event Center.