Overview

• Kuscsik died on June 8, 2025, in Huntington Station, New York, from respiratory failure following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
• She won the inaugural official women’s division of the Boston Marathon in April 1972 with a time of 3:10:26 after running unofficially from 1969 through 1971.
• As one of six women who staged a ten-minute sit-down protest at the 1972 New York City Marathon start, she helped eliminate AAU rules requiring separate women’s starts.
• Over her lifetime she ran more than 80 marathons, set the American record for the 50-mile run in 1977 and captured three consecutive Empire State Building Run-Up titles.
• She was inducted into the Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999 in recognition of her rule-changing advocacy and lasting impact on women’s distance running.