Rosie Ruiz Scams the Boston Marathon

Sports History This Week

April 21, 1980. The Boston Marathon, the oldest and arguably most prestigious marathon in the world, attracts the sport’s top professional runners. So, when a completely unknown woman named Rosie Ruiz, with barely any marathoning experience, crosses the finish line first, many in the media and racing community are shocked… and more than a little suspicious.

Over the next seven days, a massive investigation is launched, and eventually a story filled with some genuinely bizarre twists and turns is uncovered.

Today, Rosie Ruiz becomes the most infamous cheater in marathon history. How did the race organizers eventually catch her in the act? And at a fundamental level, why did she do it?

Special thanks to our guests: Chris Chavez, founder of CitiusMag.com and host of the Citius Mag podcast; Paul Clerici, author of several books on long-distance running, including “Boston Marathon: History by the Mile” and “Images of Modern America: the Boston Marathon”; and Bill Rodgers, four-time winner of both the Boston Marathon and the New York Marathon.

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