ROSIE RUIZ Biography - Socialites, celebrities and People in the fashion industry

 
 

Biography » socialites celebrities and people in the fashion industry » rosie ruiz

ROSIE RUIZ

Name: Rosie Ruiz Vivas                                                             
Born: born 1953, Havana, Cuba                                                     
                                                                                   
Rosie Ruiz Vivas (born 1953, Havana, Cuba) is a Cuban American runner who on       
April 21, 1980 ostensibly came in as the first place female competitor in the 84th 
Boston Marathon with a record time of 2:31:56. However, race officials             
determined that she had not completed the entire 26.2-mile course, but had         
registered for the race and later jumped in from the crowd and sprinted to the     
finish.                                                                           
                                                                                   
There was suspicion from the beginning: no one had seen her running earlier in     
the race, she did not appear in videotape footage, and some members of the crowd   
reported witnessing her run into the race in the last mile. In addition, her       
time of 2:31:56 was an unusual improvement, more than 25 minutes ahead of her     
reported time in the New York City Marathon six months earlier. When asked by a   
reporter why she didn't seem fatigued after the grueling race, she said, "I got   
up with a lot of energy this morning." Soon, race officials learned that Ruiz     
had possibly cheated in the New York marathon in order to qualify for the Boston   
Marathon. Freelance photographer Susan Morrow reported meeting her on the subway   
during the New York race and accompanying her from the subway to the race. She     
lost touch with Ruiz after that, but came forward when the news of Ruiz's         
dubious Boston win broke. According to Morrow, she met Ruiz on the subway and     
together they walked a distance to the finishing area, where Ruiz identified       
herself as an injured runner. She was escorted to a first aid station and         
volunteers marked her down as having completed the marathon, thus qualifying her   
for the Boston Marathon.                                                           
                                                                                   
Eventually, race officials decided to strip Ruiz of her Boston Marathon title     
and named Jacqueline Gareau of Montreal, Canada the women's winner, with a time   
of 2:34:28. New York Marathon director Fred Lebow had rescinded Ruiz's 1979       
finish earlier that week, determining that Ruiz had not completed her first       
marathon, either. As of 2008, Ruiz has not officially finished a sanctioned       
marathon.