Who Won the Marathon By Taking the Subway?

1. You read that right: In 1980, Rosie Ruiz appeared to win the Boston Marathon but officials later discovered she took the subway and was disqualified. 

It seemed Ruiz completed the race in 2:31:56, the fastest time ever recorded for a woman in the Boston Marathon's history.  Suspicions mounted about Ruiz almost immediately. Men's winner Bill Rodgers noticed that Ruiz couldn't seem to recall many things that most runners know by heart, such as intervals and splits.  Several spotters at checkpoints throughout the course didn't remember seeing her in the first group of women. She also didn't appear in any pictures or video footage.  More evidence against Ruiz surfaced when two college students recalled seeing Ruiz burst out of a crowd of spectators on Commonwealth Ave, half a mile from the finish. It was revealed that Ruiz rode the subway for much of the race.  A week after the marathon the Boston Athletic Association disqualified Ruiz.

2. Today marks the 117th running of the Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest marathon, as it has been run since 1897.

2. Last year, Kenyans won both the men's and women's elite races. Sharon Cherop led the ladies with a time of 2:31:50 and Wesley Korir topped the men's race with a time of 2:12:40. 

3. This year, about 50 people from the Back Bay are running in the race. 

4. Women were not allowed to officially enter the marathon until 1972. In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run with a number, as she registered using her initials K.V. rather than her first name and posed as a male.

5. The nickname HeartbreakHill originated in 1936; that's 75 years ago from a story written by Boston Globe reporter Jerry Nason. Heartbreak Hill is located between miles 20 and 21 of the marathon course, and is the last of the four Newton hills. While running through the hills, John Kelley caught race leader Ellison “Tarzan” Brown, patting him on the shoulder and passing him.  Brown rallied and regained the lead on the 4th of the Newton Hills, “breaking Kelley’s heart," reporter Nason wrote. Brown maintained the lead, and won the race.

6. During the first few years of the Boston Marathon, the course was only 24.8 miles long.  It was run from Metcalf’s Mill in Ashland to the Irvington Oval in Boston.  In 1924, the start was moved from Ashland to Hopkinton extending the race to 26.2 miles.

7. The Boston Marathon receives the second largest amount of media coverage in the world for a one day sporting event, second only to the Superbowl.  More than 1,000 members of the media from 200 outlets across the world will cover the the race.

8. The 1975 marathon was the first to include a wheelchair division.