Overview

• Kuscsik died June 8, 2025, at age 86 from respiratory failure following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
• She pressured the Amateur Athletic Union to permit women in full marathons and staged a sit-down protest against separate starts at the 1972 New York City Marathon.
• In April 1972 she became the first official women’s champion of the Boston Marathon, recording a 3:10:26 finish when women were first allowed official entries.
• She pioneered as the lone female entrant in the inaugural 1970 New York City Marathon and in 1971 became one of the first American women to run a marathon in under three hours.
• Over her career Kuscsik ran more than 80 marathons, set ultradistance records and was inducted into the Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999.