Grete Waitz is dead

So so sad...I remember Grete as an 8th grader and watching the NYC marathon in central park and thinking how incredible it would be a runner like her !

Tough athlete, pioneer .... even better person! RIP

Sympathies to Jack & family.

God Bless Ms Hairy Pits! You were the best!

met her at NYC marathon expo one year and as far as I am concerned she was a New York Runner through and through, She lives on not only in the Marathon but in her Grete's Gallop which is where I sent a PB

My greatest memory of Grete is watching her conduct warm up exercises for children who had no idea that she was a champion. A true champion gives back more than they receive. Never has there been a truer champion in our sport.

Imagine if the woman who dragged the marathon WR down by about 9 minutes, as Grete did from '78 to '80, had not been what Grete was. Imagine if the athlete had been rude, vain, obnoxious or vulgar. The records would have still been set, but we would not have had the gift we had.

Grete gave us the gift of knowing something without ever having to be told it ---- that a great champion can be a class act, a good person, a person we would want our daughters to be. The sense that this silly sport must somehow ennoble the character.

I watched her in 1978 and met her in 2004. Sometimes we get something better than we deserve. I am grateful.

Every time I open this thread I tear up.

In the early 80s I was a high school sprinter repeatedly drawn to distance running by women like Grete.

So sad to hear of her passing at such a young age. I'll always remember her strength and her grace.

Yes this is a very sad day for anyone who has been involved with this sport and who had the opportunity to witness first hand some of Greta's great runs...she was the first woman to ever go under 2 1/2 hr. for the marathon I believe at New York.

If anyone has photos of Grete we can use please email me

I remember seeing Grete visit the Asbury Park with her son on a number occasions... Always looked so happy to be down there... I also remember her blowing by me in 1984 during the NYC marathon, if I am not mistaking she was wearing a pair of tights and that might have been her first victory in NYC? Tights, I thought? it was the hottest weather on record up until that point and Orlando Pizzolato walked 4 or 5 x during the race.

She will be missed....

Nice prominent obit in the Globe and Mail today. On-line version:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/marathon-great-grete-waitz-dies-of-cancer-at-57/article1991395/

So sorry you made the marathon look easy. THANKS Greta

Grete Waitz was someone who I respected and enjoyed watching run. She was an important pioneer of women's long distance running, in my favourite period of athletics. Had she been born 10 years later and not been past her peak when women's marathoning really started to take off, no doubt she would have run quite a bit faster.

It's always sad to hear of someone who died from this terrible disease, especially relatively young.

My condolences go out to her family and friends around the world.

R.I.P. Grete Waitz.

Does any one know what type of cancer?

What a great lady of the sport. She will truly be missed. I had the opportunity to meet her twice in my old running career. We lost a good one. May God Bless Jack and the family.

swedish fish wrote:

Does any one know what type of cancer?

That's never been disclosed.

All I know was years ago I read Greta had been diagnosed with some kind of malignancy & was getting treatment..not having read or heard any more I presumed she was oaky...I was on the Victoria local running club's message board & saw the shocking news...I had the honour of being in two road arces with Greta, Boston 1982 & I believe the Portland Cascade Runoff 15 km, 1983.

It was brain cancer. That's public knowledge in Norway.

And it's Grete, not Greta.

in the know yo wrote:

It was brain cancer. That's public knowledge in Norway.

I didn't know that information had been released!!!!!