Grete Waitz

Grete Waitz won the New York City Marathon more than anyone else, coming in first 9 times from 1978-88. She also won silver medal at 1984 Olympics. Runner's World magazine named Waitz the female runner of the quarter-century in 1991. She set world records at the 3,000 meters, 8 kilometers, 10 kilometers, 15 kilometers, and 10 miles. In 1978, she ran her first New York City Marathon in 2 hours, 32 minutes, 30 seconds, setting a world record at the time. Waitz also won the London Marathon twice, the Stockholm Marathon once and the world championship marathon in 1983. In 2005, Waitz was diagnosed with cancer, though she never revealed publicly what kind. She lived in Oslo with her husband Jack, but the couple also had a home in Gainesville, Fla.