But maybe she believes that she really did (run the whole marathon). Maybe it would have been better if she had. It’s sad, the way it happened for her - I’m sure it affects you, when you do something like that. Q: Rosie Ruiz was a big part of your story - what were you thinking and feeling when you heard about her death?Ī: I felt some sadness. The National Post caught up with her to chat about how her life was affected by the woman who has long been painted as her nemesis. Now 66, Gareau works as a massage therapist and lives in rural Ste-Adèle, Que., where she makes plenty of time to bike, swim, cross-country ski - and, despite recurring knee problems and surgeries, even race the occasional 10K. Her fastest marathon time, 2:29:37, stood as a Canadian record for five years. Gareau went on to win many more marathons and qualify for the 1984 Olympic team - the first Games in which the 42-kilometre race was open to women. Ruiz, who died this week at 66, always maintained her innocence. She was stripped of her title, leaving Gareau, belatedly, the victor. She had skipped a large part of the race, having traversed most the distance by subway. In reality, as witness testimony and video evidence later revealed, Ruiz didn’t come out of nowhere. Ruiz, not Gareau, got to break the tape and don the laurels. Fellow competitor Rosie Ruiz usurped her at the last moment, beating her time by more than two minutes. Indeed, the 27-year-old French Canadian clocked in at 2 hours, 34 minutes and 28 seconds, making her the fastest woman ever to run the Boston Marathon up to that point.īut Gareau didn’t get her moment of glory. At mile 22, Switzer locked eyes with Gareau and held up one finger : You’re in first place. The legendary runner Kathrine Switzer, who was physically tackled by an official when she tried to run the 1967 race before it was open to women, was watching from a golf cart on the sidelines. It was April 21, 1980, and Jacqueline Gareau looked poised to become the first and only Canadian woman to ever win the Boston Marathon.

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