De Wimmin's Mini "Marathon"

Ruiz, a New York native, set the pace for all marathon cheats to follow.

On April. 21, 1980, the 23-year-old Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon. She did it in the third-fastest time ever recorded for a female runner (two hours, 31 minutes, 56 seconds).


Quite the victory considering she was barely sweating when crowned with the winner's wreath. Marathon organizers were immediately suspicious, and after some investigation course officials had no evidence of Ruiz passing checkpoints and fellow competitors had no recollection of her.

Eventually a few spectators came forward and said they saw Ruiz join the race during its final half-mile. It seems that she had sprinted to the finish line.

What makes Ruiz an even bigger cheat is that she also deceived race officials in the New York Marathon, the race she used to qualify for the Boston event. Apparently she got her above-average time by riding the Manhattan subway.

Boston organizers stripped Ruiz of her title and awarded it to the real winner, Jacqueline Gareau.

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

When is the men's full "marathon"