Did Rosie Ruiz Die This Week?

I don't understand this guy who claims that most of the journalists in Boston at the time thought Rosie was legit. Who was he hanging out? Who were they "journalists" for? Because the journalists in Boston that day did NOT think she was legit. This guy is making stuff up.

YMMV wrote:

One picture/1000 words:

http://liarcity.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ANT3297b5_rosie_ruiz.jpg

Great post !!!!

Best. Cheater. Ever.

sexy curves wrote:

TakeTheT wrote:

Absolutely...she is not "lean" or even skinny like a marathon. And the iron on M.T.I. shirt may have been a giveaway....Pretty embarrassing moment in Boston Marathon history. The video clearly shows her poor running form. Pretty incredible she held the title for almost a week! MarathonInvestigation.com would have broken the case within minutes!

Rosie Ruiz had a great body in 1970's. Not a physique ideal for Marathoning.

“...Charlie Rogers, brother of Bill, the man who won the race, took one look at Ruiz on the podium and thought she was a fraud. “The first thing I did was look at her legs, and I said, ‘Oh, we have a problem here’. I mean it was Cellulite City.”

In the linked article on Canadian Running Gareau says Ruiz confronted her months later in Miami & accused Gareau of cheating!

I guess the obituary forgot that part...The “successful” years in NYC got too hot to handle, and she retreated to the nearest city to her birthplace. This is what we’ve seen from other cheaters, too.

My girlfriend and I watched her run by at Commonwealth Ave. She did not look like she'd run 25 miles, and she did not even look like a runner.

When Boston Billy ran by that day on his way to 2:09:27, he looked like he'd had the crap beat out of him, a man who gave it his all.

Ernest wrote:

“...Charlie Rogers, brother of Bill, the man who won the race, took one look at Ruiz on the podium and thought she was a fraud. “The first thing I did was look at her legs, and I said, ‘Oh, we have a problem here’. I mean it was Cellulite City.”

It's funny. If you said "Cellulite city" now you'd be accused of fat shaming. So back then no one flat out called her a cheat but you could use words like cellulite city.

Hi...I'm the Original Poster. My buddy who is a sports writer and runner had posted the obituary the other day. Both of us, being from Boston, were surprised the Boston media didn't write about it...but he he pointed out that no one would care in his opinion.

It was a massive story here in 1980. I was 8 years old but I was just starting to develop an interest in track and running plus the Boston Marathon was literary a holiday for us (Patriot's Day). Everyone was at home watching it on TV. The first clue for me was her odd out fit and M.T.I. which I always felt was an incorrect acronym for M.I.T.!

My wife was asking me why I was so obsessed with the story. I guess it’s because she really did hurt people with her actions. She took away the glory of a champion and Boston Marathon record holder. It could be a once-in-a-lifetime achievement to win the Boston Marathon and she did not allow Jacqueline Gareau to experience that. She stole a qualifying slot away from a woman in New York. She continued to lie about it in the face of getting caught during the investigation. She acted as if it was an affront to the Feminist movement when I had nothing to do with that. She was a cheater.

Sure, cheating in sports, especially Athletics exhisted before Rosie Ruiz. However, I think that it is frightening that we continue to see so many people cheat since 1980 whether it’s drugs or other means. It unfortunately destroys the idea of sportsmanship and competition and fairness. I was only a kid when it happened but the fact that I remember something like this from eight years old about a rather obscure sports is pretty incredible. Running was not one of the major sports at the time but the Boston Marathon was big enough for me to be watching it on TV that day and listening to the news reports about this incident.

That said, Rosie pulled off these capers without technology: GPS, phones, or even coordination with a partner. She did it all herself! She was able to time things out pretty well in NYC but I think she screwed up in Boston. She might've been okay blending in as a top 10 finisher, which would have pushed her on to her next marathon masquerade.

I studied screenwriting and always thought that I Bill Rodgers' story would make a great screenplay. In retrospect, Rosie's tale would have made a better film.

I do hope she rests in peace....her life was turbulent...and she did suffer with cancer for ten years.

I ended up going to the marathon later in the 1980s and watching some great races. I ended up running D1 for Boston College and my coach Randy Thomas, knew all about the Boston running scene from the 1970s and 1980s so I heard many stories. I think he was 5th at Boston in 2:11 the year before this scandal in 1979. It was pretty cool to train on the Marathon course daily for four years.

Sincerely.... TakeTheT......AKA.....Mike Atwood, Author of HiStory of Santa Monica I&II (Available on Amazon.com!)

Big Red wrote:

My girlfriend and I watched her run by at Commonwealth Ave. She did not look like she'd run 25 miles, and she did not even look like a runner.

When Boston Billy ran by that day on his way to 2:09:27, he looked like he'd had the crap beat out of him, a man who gave it his all.

Rodgers ran the 2:09.27 in 1979, not 1980.

It was a legit paper (the Oregon Statesman in Salem, OR). I was just as mortified as you you were (I was a 32 min. 10k runner at the time)...I thought I was taking crazy pills, but the reporters who were more used to reporting football and baseball couldn't tell a good runner it it bit them. I think we have just seen this happen with more recent cheaters, btw.

I can't remember where I heard this version- it might have been the Boston Documentary, but it might also have been from a speaker in Boston somewhere. Maybe one of the old-schoolers (Tom D?) can shed light on this explanation.

One prevailing theory was that in NYC, she got hurt, or realized that she couldn't complete the race, took the subway to the finish (maybe to get her bags, refreshments, etc). Someone on the subway noticed her and helped her over to the finish, when a finish line helper saw her, with tag still on bib, and recorded her time/place. (I may be mis-remembering this part of the story since I don't think bibs had tear-off tags then). Regardless, the theory was that she didn't intend to "cheat" in NYC, but rather her time got recorded when she reported back to the finish line- thus the error belonging to the finish crew. (In hindsight, this is a sympathetic version of the NYC finish, but I'm not opposed to that and it still seems believable).

When her boss noticed how well she "finished" after reading her time in the paper, he encouraged her to run Boston- I think some have even suggested her boss paid her way. Now motives come into play- did she try to do the same thing as in NYC- "finish" in a respectable time, but greatly mis-judging? Or did she enjoy the newfound fame and attention at the workplace and intentionally cheat to win?

I wonder if now that she has passed, are there any family members or friends who might break their silence and discuss conversations she may have had?

Again, if she confronted the rightful winner, much later & a thousand miles away, it shows what a psycho she was.

rojo wrote:

Ernest wrote:

“...Charlie Rogers, brother of Bill, the man who won the race, took one look at Ruiz on the podium and thought she was a fraud. “The first thing I did was look at her legs, and I said, ‘Oh, we have a problem here’. I mean it was Cellulite City.”

It's funny. If you said "Cellulite city" now you'd be accused of fat shaming. So back then no one flat out called her a cheat but you could use words like cellulite city.

And now you ban people for a week for "cyberbullying" if they point out someone is unhealthy.

"OP.

1 week ban. Are you sick? Why are you posting about someone's weight under multiple handles? That's cyber harrassment. I'll be happy to reveal your IP address to Josh if he asks .

I'm going to delete the thread but want people to know that we will not tolerate cyber bullying / harassment."

All OP said was that, "He does not look healthy at all."

What seems to be lost is before she cheated at Boston, she cheated at New York.

Doubly so. Aside from cutting that course, also, she fraudulently gained entry by claiming to have a fatal, cancerous brain tumor.

Really rojo ???? wrote:

rojo wrote:

It's funny. If you said "Cellulite city" now you'd be accused of fat shaming. So back then no one flat out called her a cheat but you could use words like cellulite city.

And now you ban people for a week for "cyberbullying" if they point out someone is unhealthy.

"OP.

1 week ban. Are you sick? Why are you posting about someone's weight under multiple handles? That's cyber harrassment. I'll be happy to reveal your IP address to Josh if he asks .

I'm going to delete the thread but want people to know that we will not tolerate cyber bullying / harassment."

All OP said was that, "He does not look healthy at all."

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9532113

Give Josh my IP address, too! Gosh what would he do with that kind of information? Show up to my IP address unannounced and knock on the door and confront me about whatever??

iirc, a quote from Lebow or from someone talking with Lebow at the finish was "uh-oh, cellulite city". Thought that was funny at the time.

My bad.Looks like someone else remembered more clearly than I!

Yes, that is a "sympathetic" version of events, and a naive and gullible one too. All of Ruiz's actions did around the New York and Boston marathons were done with malice aforethought and cold calculation. She knew exactly what she was doing. "She didn't intend to cheat?" Please. From an article in Time Magazine:

Even her application for the New York Marathon was based on a lie: An Associated Press story reveals that she submitted the form after the deadline had passed, but then got “special dispensation” by claiming she had a fatal brain tumor.

Ruiz's subsequent confronting of Jacqueline Gareau at a race in Miami, and claiming Gareau was the one who cheated, shows how deranged and malicious this woman was.

Rosie Ruiz, the infamous one associated with the Boston Marathon, passed away from cancer on 8 July 2019 at the age of 66.