Free Republic

Rosie Ruiz, whose name is notoriously synonymous with marathon cheating, died on July 8, from cancer, according to an obituary posted by her family in Palm Beach, Florida. She was 66 and known as Rosie M. Vivas. Ruiz infamously jumped into the 1980 Boston Marathon in the final stretch of the race and claimed the women’s win ahead of the true champion, Jacqueline Gareau of Québec. Runners and fans have always resented that Ruiz basked in acclamation for her supposed come-from-behind victory and refused to admit guilt. Gareau had to cross the finish line with no recognition of her course...

A half marathon in China made international news for all the wrong reasons: Hundreds of participants were caught cheating at the Shenzhen Half Marathon on November 25.Officials punished 258 runners for cheating. That included 18 runners with fake bib numbers, three people who competed as different registered runners, and 237 entrants who cut the course, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. While the runners using fake bibs and the imposters were banned for life, the 237 athletes who cut the course will receive a two-year ban from the event. Those runners were actually caught on video by a traffic...