Hoped to compose the entire piece without ever mentioning Rosie’s name. But JG brought her up. Sweetly, too. Real class, like always.
It’s important that cheaters’ stories not outlive the tales of true victors.
Jacqueline Gareau is most famous for winning the 1980 Boston Marathon a week after another woman crossed the line first. “Magnanimous” doesn’t begin to cover how Jackie has handled the larceny of her laurels. Canadians really are the nicest people in the world. Wouldn’t it be great if Canada were to annex America’s Pacific Northwest.
Jacqueline Gareau (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian runner who won the Boston Marathon on April 21, 1980. Gareau led the women’s field for most of the race, only to find another runner, Rosie Ruiz, wearing the traditional victor’s laurels when she crossed the finish line. Ruiz was later disqualified after it was determined she had cheated and did not run the entire race. Gareau was awarded the victory in a special ceremony one week later. Her official time for the 1980 marathon, 2:34:28, was the fastest time recorded for a woman in the event’s history at the time.
Gareau met Ruiz two years after the marathon as she prepared to run a 10K race in Miami, Florida. The encounter was brief and Ruiz refused (as she continued to do until her death) to concede she did not win the 1980 marathon.
Gareau served as the Grand Marshal of the 2005 Boston Marathon and was allowed to “break the tape” in a special ceremony.
When did you start running and why?
I started running in 1974 at twenty-one-years-old in order to stop smoking. I was a respiratory
technician and could see my patients almost dying with a cigarette in their mouth. Just got hooked very quick, so I switched from nicotine to endorphins! I just kept running longer and longer and realized very quickly that I was comfortable at running distances.
After three years of running, I tried a marathon and ran 3:44, then six months later ran 3:07. A year after that 2:59, then 2:47:59 for first place in Ottawa ’79, First Montreal ’79 in 2:40:40, got invited to run New York 79 was third in 2:39:04 and won Boston 80 in 2:34:28. Best time in Boston 1983 in 2:29:28 behind the great Joan Benoit. 5th at World Championship in Helsinki in 1983 in 2:32:35, won LA marathon in February 84 in 2:31:57,
Olympian 1984 DNF injury cramped calf at 30 kilometers because of a tight piriformis. Ran my second best time in Houston ’85 in 2:29:32 in 2nd place. Won Montreal ’87 in 2:32:50 and Duluth 1988 with a cold in 2:43. Missed the 1988 Olympic because too many colds that year. I probably overtrained.
My last marathon was in 2010 in Boston 2010 and it looks like I buckled the buckle since I finished in almost the same time as my first marathon. 3:44:17.
Toughest opponent?
I could say it was Patti Lyons Catalano since I beat her in her hometown in Boston 1980 and she beat me in Montréal ’80. A fierce competitor but also a friend to me.
For most of my races, my opponent was just myself. I was always fixing my target and tried to reach it, no matter who was in the race. The best would win on that day. I always used my competitors to help me run my best race. My weakness was lack of fast twitch fibers, so I often was runner-up since I was outsprinted at the end. In Tokyo 1980 Joyce Smith and I battled through the race neck to neck but this experienced woman of 41 at that time did a surge at the end and I didn’t respond. Joyce Smith is my idol since she made Olympics at a young age on very short races and came back to be great marathoner in the 80’s’ she was placed very well in the 1984 Olympic.
The race I’m most proud of is in Los Angeles 1984 in February (2:31:57) on the same course as the ’84 Olympics. I practiced acceleration and visualization throughout my training and I was very fit and confident entering the race. Anne Audain was with me till the end but I did many accelerations and beat her to the line. She was a gold medalist at shorter distance in the Commonwealth games and a champion of many races, so we can say I was top shape, physically and mentally.
Most memorable run?
I just wrote it at the end of your second question. Of course, we can say that my Boston win in 1980 is the one I’m recognized for all over the world. Mostly because of dear Rosie.
Biggest disappointment?
My Olympic marathon 84 was my biggest disappointment, since I was really well-trained, high-altitude training in Boulder, Colorado. A muscle butt tightness that I hadn’t noticed ’till I arrived in California was bothering me on the right side. I had it looked by the team physio and did a 5k time trial that was satisfying. During the marathon, my right calf was painfully cramped and I couldn’t run with it. Had to drop out at about 30 k. I was so sad that I didn’t stay at the at the athlete’s village to watch the Olympics.
I returned home to get some physiotherapy in order to loosen it. It was the first time for women to run the marathon at the Olympics, so I was so proud of being part of it. Fortunately, I came back in shape and
prove myself in Houston with my second best time in 2:29:32.
The quote I thought at that time: A winner says: it’s difficult but possible; a loser says: it’s possible but too difficult.
What would you do differently if you could do it again? Why?
What I learned from it, is that it’s very important to find a good massage therapist regularly unless you know how to maintain your body with balls, foam rollling and also to do some strength work. I was a bit frustrated with the too soft massages so I decided to maintain myself but this tight piriformis flared out without me realizing it. Now, as a massage therapist, I see lots of clients with tight gluteus medius and piriformis, I assure you that it’s taken care of.
Favorite philosopher? Quote?
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance with the rain.” – Vivian Greene.
Special song of the era?
My very favorite song is from Édith Piaf: Non, je ne regrette rien. ( No, I don’t regret anything). Everything that happened in my life, either good or bad, helped me be a better version of myself. My second best song is from Leonard Cohen, born in Montreal, I especially love “Hallelujah.” To me, it means to have faith in life with enthusiasm and emotion.
Favorite comedian?
I really like the actor Tom Hanks.
What was your ‘best stretch’ of running?
I could say, from the start, from 1974 to 1984. Since I just ran with passion and pleasure without pressure and kept improving all the time. It was an exciting period to always reach new goals.
And so why do you think you hit that level at that time?
Perseverance and passion were my secrets.
What supplementary exercises did you do?
I always love to cross-country ski, some biking and some strength work. When injured, I ran in deep water a lot and without a flotation device.
I broke my hip in February 2023 and had a hip replacement. So now, I run some but don’t race. I enjoy cross-country skiing and biking a lot. I’m happy that I ran a 5k in 24:17 in 2022 to celebrate nearly fifty years of running where I started jogging in 1974.
“The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy… It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed.”
What was your toughest injury and how did you deal with it?
The tight piriformis at the Olympics 1984 because of the big disappointment. Got depressed a little while.
You can visit my website, there’s a little section in English. You’ll see my Runner’s World quote: “The body does not want to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You must handle the pain with strategy…It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed.” https://www.jacquelinegareau.com/
What else you got?
I also offer running clinics to improve posture, and to learn to maintain your body with stretching and basic weight training.
I love giving lectures: Balance for total well-being. Move and create your life, not just physically but also to move inside and listen to your inner voice.
Is that who is telling you to dunk yourself in an ice-swollen Canadian river in winter?
I think that hydrotherapy is good to help the recovery with hot, cold, rest, hot, repeated. Increased circulation.
But I also love the feeling of well-being, it’s a good rush of endorphins.
Hi Jack, I just thought to add this since it’s what I’m mostly proud of.
My biggest achievement is having my son Yannick at 39 1/2 years old.
This is my gold medal. What a precious gift of life. He was a great competitor in cross-country skiing.
Now, he’s studying at University British Colombia (UBC) in medicine.
Personal Bests
Back in the day, what was your training like as you got ready for New York and for Boston?
I was doing lots of long running. I was doing a lot of hills. I love hills. I lived in Montreal at the time and I would run from my place to Mont Royal. It is a mountain and was quite a way to run to. I would run twenty-five minutes to get there. When I ran up the mountain it looked like in Boston, especially coming down was like at the start and going up was like toward the end. I could do that a couple of times. I remember running up a long stair too. I got in a good base with lots of strength training and lots of hills. I wasn’t doing all that much speed work.
I was still working as a respiratory technician, so every time I had a day off, I went for long running. Sometimes, to tell you the truth, when it was nice outside, I would take a day off and my co-workers didn’t like that which is probably why, when I won Boston, I decided to quit my work. I didn’t want to feel guilty because when I took a day off and was missing work those people had to work more.
On those days when I was taking off in the winter I could go out and cross-country ski outside of Montreal. When I was coming back, I met a person, who comes from Morocco, but was Canadian, Mehdi Jaouhar, who was living in Montreal at that time and coaching and owning a running store. He liked giving out some help with training, so we met in the winter at an indoor track and were doing some 200-meter repeats. Sometimes it was after doing some cross-country skiing for quite a while. I remember him looking at me and saying, ‘Jacqueline, this is too much.’ He couldn’t believe what I was doing. I’m sure that sometimes I was doing normal days of training, but other times I could go over and get extreme workouts. Often, I was also jogging there and jogging back, so it was lots of mileage.
Source: http://www.garycohenrunning.com/Interviews/Gareau.aspx
In 1981, I was somewhat overtrained, so my sponsor Brooks sent me in New Zealand to train with Arthur Lydiard. It helped me to build up again, with a good base and hill training. I also took a course in 2016 of Lydiard Foundation with Lorraine Moller in Boulder, Colorado.
Later, Coach Bill Squires gave me some good advice for my training to World Championship in 1983. Fifth place.
Performances
Database updated with data from 12 Apr 2025 14:16:07. Source: Association of Road Racing Statisticians
Bienvenue! From Jacqueline.
Je suis une olympienne et gagnante du marathon de Boston, heureuse d’être en pleine forme!
J’offre des services de massages thérapeutiques, énergétiques et de détente, des ateliers de course à pied ainsi que des conférences.
Those of you here for the found poetry or
the righteous rants against fascism, some background.
