First woman to complete a sanctioned marathon turns out to be Arlene Pieper Stine

[adamengst]

Learn something new every day. It turns out that Roberta Gibb wasn’t the first woman to complete a sanctioned marathon (Boston, in 1966). The New York Times has a nice obit about Arlene Pieper Stine, who finished the Pikes Peak Marathon in 1959 and passed away at age 90 back in February.

Arlene Pieper Stine, 90, Dies; First Woman to Finish a Marathon

And that led me to another nice piece on women’s running by Amby Burfoot.

At the Boston Marathon, Leading the Way for Women Fifty Years Ago (Published...

[D_G_Rossiter]

And Gibb’s running outfit (check out the shoes!) show that it’s the athlete not the gear that is 99% of the importance. Like Bill Rodgers in the torn t-shirt with GBTC written in magic marker.