Remembering when Rosie Ruiz stole the Boston Marathon from a Canadian

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Three days ago, Malindi Elmore produced one of the more remarkable performances ever by a Canadian distance runner. With the Boston Marathon celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first official women's competition, the 42-year-old mother of two (and national record-holder) ran the sport's most prestigious and toughest race in 2:27:58. That's the fastest time ever by a Canadian woman on this revered course, and it placed Elmore an extremely impressive 11th in her Boston debut.

Still, though, only one Canadian has ever won the women's division of the Boston Marathon. It happened 42 years ago today, and under the most bizarre circumstances imaginable.

Jacqueline Gareau's victory on April 21, 1980 would have been incredible just on its own merits. At the time, the 27-year-old Montrealer was by no means a professional athlete. She'd been an out-of-shape smoker until getting hooked on running six years earlier, and didn't try a marathon until 1977. Gareau's talent was undeniable from the start (she placed second in her first marathon), but in early 1980 she was still just training in her spare time while working at a hospital. When she made it to Boston for the first time that April, Gareau was taken so lightly that she wasn't allowed to line up at the front with the elite runners, forcing her to zig-zag through the crowd to catch up.

So imagine everyone's surprise — and Gareau's joy — when she not only went toe-to-toe with the elites but pulled away from them and crossed the finish line in a record-breaking 2:34:28. Cinderella story! But then imagine her despair when she saw