Jacqueline Gareau was deprived of her triumphant moment at the Boston Marathon 25 years ago, but she's indomitable, JAMES CHRISTIE writes
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050406/GAREAU06/TPSports/TopStories By JAMES CHRISTIE Wednesday, April 6, 2005 The race doesn't end at the finish line for Jacqueline Gareau. For Canada's outstanding female marathoner of the 20th century, the final steps of a long grind quickly become the first steps over a new threshold. "I'm studying massage for sport therapy and prenatal therapy," the 52-year-old running star says from her rented townhouse in Saint-Bruno, Que. "I'm about to start my fourth career." There is nothing but good cheer and enthusiasm in her voice. There's not a hint of regret about the twists of fate that could have made Gareau a bitter woman -- no anger about the infamous cheat named Rosie Ruiz who deprived Gareau of her greatest moment of glory at the Boston Marathon 25 years ago this month. She doesn't weep over the economic downturns in the United States that crushed the great American dream she and husband, Gilles Lapierre, lived recently and landed a globetrotter back in rural Quebec, where she began. Advertisements Gareau ran 22 elite marathon races around the world, setting the Canadian record three times. The Ruiz fiasco, however, almost eclipsed her brilliant career. It turned out to be only one of a number of hurdles Gareau would face. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were followed by an economic slump, then the dot-com collapse. Both critically affected Boulder, Colo., where Gareau and Lapierre had built a successful outdoor equipment store since 1997 and expanded to a second store. Attempts to salvage the business sucked up all the retirement money Gareau had accumulated during her running career. They mortgaged their home to the hilt and wound up losing that, too. When business did start to rebound, it was at a new mall, 15 kilometres from their downtown shop. Then Gareau and Lapierre learned that the visas they had, which allowed them to build a business and employ Americans, didn't allow them to look for any other employment to support themselves and their 12-year-old son, Yannick. "In the end, it was impossible, like the point at which you realize you're not going to be able to finish a marathon," Gareau explained. But she didn't pause to dwell on misfortunes. "Like when I was running, I never looked back, always ahead. I'm starting my fourth career. I've been a respiratory technician and an elite athlete and a mother. I guess I was an investor, too, but because of that, I'm starting over," she said with a laugh. The 25th anniversary of Gareau's 1980 victory -- the date is April 21 -- will be celebrated in Boston on April 18 when the 109th marathon is run. Not only is Gareau invited back, but she has been made the grand marshal of the festivities surrounding the race. Ruiz, who jumped out of the crowd a mile from the finish line and stole across it three minutes before Gareau's course record of 2 hours 34 minutes 28 seconds, has been barred from the race. Now living in South Florida under her married name, Rosie Vivas (she has since divorced), her life was a turmoil after 1980. She was jailed twice, then placed on probation, once in New York for taking cash and cheques that belonged to a real-estate company she worked for and once in Florida over a botched attempt to deal drugs to an undercover police officer. She has not made herself available for interviews. "I last saw her in Miami, about a year after [1980] at the Orange Bowl 10-kilometre race," Gareau said. "I finished the race and she came up and introduced herself. I didn't know what to say. I asked her why she did that [the Boston ruse]. She insisted she ran the race and would do it again. I just shook my head. I hope, in her life, she got some wisdom." In 1980, Boston officials took about a week to definitively exclude Ruiz's result and honour Gareau. She was brought back from Montreal, ran about 200 metres to a mock finish line and crowned with a laurel wreath. But the true moment of glory had been usurped. This year's recognition is another attempt to make it up to her. "I feel like they really want me to feel good about winning Boston and give me back what I didn't get then," Gareau said. "I lost something of the moment, but they don't have to feel sad or bad that way. I got friendships and recognition and people remember me. It's sad for Rosie. . . . By the way, people are mistaken when they say she took the subway in Boston. There was no Metro along the course. She took the subway in the New York Marathon, the race in which she said she qualified for Boston." These days, Gareau runs mainly for fitness and fun between learning Swedish massage techniques and working on yet another career option as a personal coach. "I love communicating and trying to get people to be healthy," she said. "I'm still in there to enjoy it. I like the human side of it, it's fun for me. I'm hoping to keep giving motivational talks and conferences. I've done a lot of talks, not for money, to kids, cancer survivors, Scouts and Guides and even prisoners. "What's even more important than showing people how to be healthy is showing that we keep coming back. We have to show Yannick that life's like that. Just like in sport, you need will and perseverance. "I had a little downtime, when running money disappeared like all the sweat I dropped on the streets over the years. We had lots of friends and a good life in Boulder. The economy got us. " There's a moment of pain, but Gareau, in the true style of a marathoner, runs through it. "I got back here and I heard the pinsons [finches] in the trees. I hadn't heard them in Colorado and didn't know how much I missed them. I grew up in the Laurentians, and they were my company when I was training as a girl. Hearing them, it seemed right to come back. We're back here as our parents are getting older. My son can grow up bilingual. Maybe God wants me back here." ENDS
