First official female Boston Marathon champion dies at 86

June 16, 2025

Nina Kuscsik, the first woman to officially win the Boston Marathon, died Sunday morning in Huntington, N.Y., after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 86.

Kuscsik was a two-time New York City Marathon champion and made history in 1972 by becoming the first woman to win the Boston Marathon (with an official bib) with a time of 3:10:26. That same year, she also won the New York City Marathon in 3:08:41; she defended her title in 1973.

Kuscsik played a pivotal role in advocating for women’s participation in distance running. In late 1971, she helped influence the U.S. Amateur Athletic Union (USAAU) to increase its maximum race distance for women, paving the way for their official inclusion in marathons. The 1972 Boston Marathon marked the beginning of that era.

In 1996, the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) retroactively recognized the unofficial women’s winners from 1966 through 1971 as champions. Running Magazine