His deed did not produce an uproar in the world of sports. In his life either. It took 50 years for
Arlene Pieper
to learn that she had made history in the world of athletics. On August 7, 1959, she completed the
Pikes Peak Marathon
, a grueling mountain run in
Manitou Springs Colorado
that no other woman had completed. She ascended 8,000 feet to the 14,000-foot summit and descended the same way in 9 hours and 16 minutes, becoming the first woman to complete a licensed marathon in the United States.
After Pieper finished the descent, his marathon run ended. In the years that followed he went to California to live and what he had accomplished at Pikes Peak was largely forgotten.
Ron Ilgen
, president of the marathon, began looking for her in the early 2000s, after more than forty years. Their relocation and name changes made the search even more difficult. Ron Ilgen even ran an ad in the local newspaper with a reward for whoever found it. It was the genealogist,
Linda Vixie
, who located Pieper and the person who broke the news to her.
His partner was the one who brought him closer to the world of athletics.
They both opened a gym, and to promote it her husband suggested that she promote her business by competing in the Pikes Peak race, and she did so for the first time in 1958. But she stopped after reaching the top and was disqualified.
"That bothered him a lot and that's why he tried it again the following year," says his daughter
Kathie Pieper
.
Arlene Pieper didn't stop until she made history, although she didn't know at the time what she was accomplishing.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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