Running Trailblazer: Remembering Silvia Ruegger
SILVIA RUE G GER
Silvia Ruegger knew she was destined for greatness. It was while watching the 1976 Olympics on a tiny black and white TV that she first got the notion, vowing that she’d one day be an Olympian.
A LOOK BACK AT ONE OF CANADA’ S DISTANCE-RUNNING TRAILBLAZERS
“HER PASSION FOR THE LONGER DISTANCE, COUPLED WITH AN AMAZING MENTAL FOCUS AND DRIVE TO BE THE BEST WAS VERY EVIDENT .” Hugh Cameron, Silvia Ruegger’s former coach
Silvia Ruegger knew she was destined for greatness. It was while watching the 1976 Olympics on a tiny black and white TV that she first got the notion, vowing that she’d one day be an Olympian. She even committed it to writing, using a scrap of paper that she stashed under her bedroom f loor. Her dream was finally realized in 1984, sadly her only Olympic appearance, but there were other memorable moments along the way.
It began promisingly for her, as she won her first race as an eighth-grader just up the road from Newcastle, Ont., which is just east of Oshawa, where she was born. She began to make waves in the running community as a teen, but her relentlessness resulted in frequent injuries, which would challenge her throughout her career. Politics also interceded. Her hopes of competing in the 1980 Games in Moscow were dashed when some 65 countries followed the lead of the U.S. and elected to stay home. Canada was among them.
In 1981 she spoke to John Craig for an a r t icle i n Athlet ics magazine about her Achilles tendonit is. She at t r ibuted it to “slipping too much in the snow,” which is something all Canadians can relate to when training in the off-season. What did she miss most while she was unable to work out? “The chance to get outside and be alone for a while,” she said, which is a sympathy shared by many a runner.
She was the Canadian Interuniversit y Sport ( cis) cross-country champion in 1983 while at Guelph University and twice named Athlete of the Year. That’s when she first met Alan Brookes, who was teaching at Guelph and now runs the Canada Running Series, which includes t he Scot iabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. The honours began to pile up for Ruegger, bringing her to the attention of coach Hugh Cameron, who was then handling Olympic hopeful Dave Edge. As he later said, “Having watched her for a number of years through high school and university, I knew she was emerging as a special runner.”
Having had her Olympic dream quashed by the boycott in 1980, Ruegger turned her attention to the 1984 Los Angeles Games, which Edge was also targeting. While she was determined to fulfill the vow she had made to herself years before, she had her doubts about L .A. She felt she didn’t have the kick to compete at the shorter distances then offered to women. At the time, there were no long-distance races for women, so it was either the 3,000 metres or the marathon for her. The 1984 Games marked
the first women’s marathon, but Ruegger wasn’t sure she’d be ready for the inaugural running. Ruegger took it upon herself to contact Cameron in mid-winter. “I received a call from Silvia on January 6, 1984,” he says. “She came to our house with her mother, asking to be taken on as a beginner marathoner.” She suggested a four-year plan, with the 1988 Games in mind. “When I heard her plan for 1988, I took a moment to think about it. I finally said to her, ‘How would you feel if instead of a four-year plan, we go for a fourmonth plan?’”
Ruegger didn’t think that Cameron was being serious, but he assured her that he was. He told her that he had been following her career and that he thought she had what it took to be a marathoner. “She took a moment to think about what I said, then she said, ‘Let’s do it and I will trust you in this process.’ So, the next day we had our first workout. The rest is history.”
Cameron recalls one session that took place on a blustery night. It was snowing heavily, and he could barely see from behind the wheel of his car. Even so, Ruegger, seemingly oblivious to the conditions, was outside, putting in some serious mileage. Cameron followed alongside her for almost 50k. “We never said a word, I just handed her a water bottle from time to time,” he says. “At the end, she said matter-of-factly, ‘ That was OK.’
“That longer run showed me that she was ver y capable of t he marat hon dist ance,” Cameron says . “Technic a lly it was her f irst unoff ic ia l marat hon, plus a not her 5 . 8 kilomet res.”
It was on to Ottawa and the National Capital Marathon, a race that had huge implications, as the top two male and top two female runners were assured berths in Los Angeles. Anne-Marie Malone, who had recently demolished the Around the Bay race record, was the pre-race favourite, but Ruegger wasn’t fazed. She followed her coach ’s advice to a T that day. As Cameron recalls, “The Ottawa race plan was to pick up the pace with three miles to the finish. She took over the race by running approximately a minute a mile faster for each of the final three miles.”
As Malone told Canadian Running magazine at the time, “[Silvia] just looked at her watch and said, ‘ Time to go.’ I just couldn’t
stay with her.” She crossed the finish line in a time of 2:30:37, then the fastest first marathon ever recorded by a woman, knocking a whopping 12 minutes off the race record in the process. Set your timer and you’ ll better appreciate just how much of a margin that was.
She next won the 15k Cascade Run-Off in Portland, a prep for the upcoming Oly mpics. Winning in Portland was quite the feat, as the first U.S. road race to offer prize money and, in turn, attracted the very best runners.
Among her training partners was Alan Brookes, a competitive runner and educator, with a marathon best of 2:34. 40. “I did a couple of early morning runs plus a mid-week, longer run on the back roads around Guelph wit h Silv ia in her build-up to t he Olympics,” he says. “Silvia’s strength and determination were amazing. I was never a very good morning runner and Silvia had one pace – around 6-minute miles, always pushing, leading with her chin forward.”
Ruegger and Malone, now under Cameron’s tutelage, made their way to L.A. Ruegger was the second youngest in the f ield, just a kid compared to some of the seasoned starters.
Though Cameron suggested she exercise caution, the race did not begin well for Ruegger. “Early on, Silv ia did a faceplant on the concrete road,” Cameron says. While that might have deter red ot hers, she soldiered on and eventually grabbed eighth spot, which, to this day, is the best finish by a Canadian woman in an Olympic marathon. Malone took 17th.
In 1985, Ruegger made history in Houston with a time of 2:28:36, a new Canadian standard that stood for 28 years. Buoyed by that success, Ruegger looked ahead to f urt her conquests, however, that’s when disaster struck. Just weeks after Houston, she was involved in a nasty accident. Ruegger was thrown from the car, sustaining serious injuries, so serious that she later remarked, “I shouldn’t have come out alive.”
“That [accident] changed everything for her,” Cameron says. “However, she
“SILVIA’ S STRENGTH AND DETERMINATION WERE AMAZING. I WAS NEVER A VERY GOOD MORNING RUNNER AND SILVIA HAD ONE PACE– AROUND6-MINUTE MILES, ALWAYS PUSHING, LEADING WITH HER CHIN FORWARD .” Alan Brookes, director, Canada Running Series
continued to train and really wanted another marat hon.” Ever determined, Ruegger headed for the Steel City in 1987, taking the Pittsburgh Marathon in record time, her last major win. “That in itself showed how tough she was,” Cameron adds, “but we knew it would be her last marathon. She only got the chance to run four marathons, but they were all outstanding. It was unfortunate that the accident took away the possibility to see how a normal career might have played out.”
When Lanni Marchant, f it t ingly a n Oshawa native, as well as Krista DuChene, finally bettered the mark she set in Houston in 1985 at the 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Ruegger had nothing but praise for the pair. “I said I’d be the first to applaud because I know what it took to run that, the sacrifice, the dedication, the work,” she told Canadian Running that day. “I have the highest respect for them. When I ran 2:28, my hope was that it would set a standard that other women would say, ‘Wow, Silvia did that. I can do it, too.’” Incidentally, Rachel Cliff is the current women’s national record-holder, having registered a 2:26:56 in Japan in 2019.
Ruegger, who was deeply rel ig ious, outlived her near-fatal accident by some 34 years, passing away in August 2019. Several hundred mourners filled the Baptist Church in Newcastle, Ont., to honour her on a Saturday afternoon in September, including her family, along with her many friends and acquaintances. Cameron, who stayed in touch with Ruegger through the years, attended as well, proudly toting a copy of Canada’s Magnificent Marathon, a history of the Ottawa Marathon.
Ruegger lives on through her charitable work. Over the years, she devoted considerable time to working with kids and then to founding Hopes Rise, a charity that works with Canadian children and youth, living in poverty.
The last word goes to Cameron, who’s been at it for nearly 50 years, tutoring a slew of outstanding long-distance athletes. “To be honest, Silvia was in a class by herself at a time when women were just starting to get noticed in the marathon,” he said. “She took it to another level.”