Running pioneer, Boston winner Nina Kuscsik dead at 86

The Advertiser

17-06-2025

Nina Kuscsik, who campaigned for women's inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year that they were officially allowed to race, has died aged 86.
A funeral home notice said Kuscsik died June 8 of respiratory failure after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
"Nina was more than a pioneer, determined women's running advocate, and celebrated icon within the sport," the Boston Athletic Association said in a social media post.
"To us, she was a friend who will always be remembered for her kindness, joyful laugh and smile.
"Nina held the distinct honour of winning the 1972 Boston Marathon, and recognised the platform that came with that triumphant moment, inspiring thousands of women to reach their own goals and finish lines in the decades since."
Kuscsik graduated from high school at 16, studied nursing for two years and received her licence at 18 after petitioning to change a New York law that required nurses to be 21.
She won state championships in speed skating, roller skating and cycling – all in the same year -- before turning to running when her bicycle broke.
She ran the Boston Marathon four times from 1968-71 — before women were officially welcomed, a period retroactively recognised as the Pioneer Era — and then won the first official women's race in 1972.
She was also the first woman to enter the New York race, in 1970, and was one of the "Six who Sat" – six women who refused to start the '72 New York City Marathon for 10 minutes to protest an Amateur Athletic Union rule that the women's race had to be separate from the men's.
She won that year and the next year as well.
She later served on AAU and USA Track and Field committees drafting rules for women's running.
In addition to the more than 80 marathons she ran over her lifetime, Kuscsik set the American record for the 50-mile run in 1977 and won the Empire State Building Run-Up three straight years from 1979–81.
She was inducted into the Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999.
Nina Kuscsik, who campaigned for women's inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year that they were officially allowed to race, has died aged 86.
A funeral home notice said Kuscsik died June 8 of respiratory failure after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
"Nina was more than a pioneer, determined women's running advocate, and celebrated icon within the sport," the Boston Athletic Association said in a social media post.
"To us, she was a friend who will always be remembered for her kindness, joyful laugh and smile.
"Nina held the distinct honour of winning the 1972 Boston Marathon, and recognised the platform that came with that triumphant moment, inspiring thousands of women to reach their own goals and finish lines in the decades since."
Kuscsik graduated from high school at 16, studied nursing for two years and received her licence at 18 after petitioning to change a New York law that required nurses to be 21.
She won state championships in speed skating, roller skating and cycling – all in the same year -- before turning to running when her bicycle broke.
She ran the Boston Marathon four times from 1968-71 — before women were officially welcomed, a period retroactively recognised as the Pioneer Era — and then won the first official women's race in 1972.
She was also the first woman to enter the New York race, in 1970, and was one of the "Six who Sat" – six women who refused to start the '72 New York City Marathon for 10 minutes to protest an Amateur Athletic Union rule that the women's race had to be separate from the men's.
She won that year and the next year as well.
She later served on AAU and USA Track and Field committees drafting rules for women's running.
In addition to the more than 80 marathons she ran over her lifetime, Kuscsik set the American record for the 50-mile run in 1977 and won the Empire State Building Run-Up three straight years from 1979–81.
She was inducted into the Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999.
Nina Kuscsik, who campaigned for women's inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year that they were officially allowed to race, has died aged 86.
A funeral home notice said Kuscsik died June 8 of respiratory failure after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
"Nina was more than a pioneer, determined women's running advocate, and celebrated icon within the sport," the Boston Athletic Association said in a social media post.
"To us, she was a friend who will always be remembered for her kindness, joyful laugh and smile.
"Nina held the distinct honour of winning the 1972 Boston Marathon, and recognised the platform that came with that triumphant moment, inspiring thousands of women to reach their own goals and finish lines in the decades since."
Kuscsik graduated from high school at 16, studied nursing for two years and received her licence at 18 after petitioning to change a New York law that required nurses to be 21.
She won state championships in speed skating, roller skating and cycling – all in the same year -- before turning to running when her bicycle broke.
She ran the Boston Marathon four times from 1968-71 — before women were officially welcomed, a period retroactively recognised as the Pioneer Era — and then won the first official women's race in 1972.
She was also the first woman to enter the New York race, in 1970, and was one of the "Six who Sat" – six women who refused to start the '72 New York City Marathon for 10 minutes to protest an Amateur Athletic Union rule that the women's race had to be separate from the men's.
She won that year and the next year as well.
She later served on AAU and USA Track and Field committees drafting rules for women's running.
In addition to the more than 80 marathons she ran over her lifetime, Kuscsik set the American record for the 50-mile run in 1977 and won the Empire State Building Run-Up three straight years from 1979–81.
She was inducted into the Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999.
Nina Kuscsik, who campaigned for women's inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year that they were officially allowed to race, has died aged 86.
A funeral home notice said Kuscsik died June 8 of respiratory failure after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
"Nina was more than a pioneer, determined women's running advocate, and celebrated icon within the sport," the Boston Athletic Association said in a social media post.
"To us, she was a friend who will always be remembered for her kindness, joyful laugh and smile.
"Nina held the distinct honour of winning the 1972 Boston Marathon, and recognised the platform that came with that triumphant moment, inspiring thousands of women to reach their own goals and finish lines in the decades since."
Kuscsik graduated from high school at 16, studied nursing for two years and received her licence at 18 after petitioning to change a New York law that required nurses to be 21.
She won state championships in speed skating, roller skating and cycling – all in the same year -- before turning to running when her bicycle broke.
She ran the Boston Marathon four times from 1968-71 — before women were officially welcomed, a period retroactively recognised as the Pioneer Era — and then won the first official women's race in 1972.
She was also the first woman to enter the New York race, in 1970, and was one of the "Six who Sat" – six women who refused to start the '72 New York City Marathon for 10 minutes to protest an Amateur Athletic Union rule that the women's race had to be separate from the men's.
She won that year and the next year as well.
She later served on AAU and USA Track and Field committees drafting rules for women's running.
In addition to the more than 80 marathons she ran over her lifetime, Kuscsik set the American record for the 50-mile run in 1977 and won the Empire State Building Run-Up three straight years from 1979–81.
She was inducted into the Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999.