Arlene Pieper Stine, 90, Dies; First Woman to Finish a Marathon

Arlene met Mr. Pieper, a bodybuilder and football player, in high school; he brought weights to her house and they worked out in her kitchen. They were still in their teens when they married.

She also threw the javelin and discus at a local track, her daughter said in an interview. After her marriage, she helped her mother-in-law make costumes for the Ice Capades and Mr. Pieper attended U.C.L.A. while working in a gym.

They moved to Colorado Springs in 1957 and opened Arlene’s Health Studio. Mr. Pieper suggested to her that she promote their business by competing in the Pikes Peak run, which she first did in 1958. But she stopped after reaching the summit, and she was disqualified.

“That got her all upset,” Kathie Pieper said, “and she said, ‘I’m going back next year.’”

She redoubled her training and was prepared for Pikes Peak that sunny August day in 1959.

“I had my short shorts on that we used to wear back then and a white blouse tied in a knot — that’s how we did things back in the ’50s,” Ms. Pieper Stine told WBUR. “And my tennis shoes from the dime store, and off I went.”

She was accompanied on the ascent by her husband and Kathie, then 9, whose 5:44.52 time trailed her mother’s by 27 minutes. Another woman, Katherine Heard-Fahl, ran only the ascent. Twelve men and a horse named Min completed the race.

After Ms. Pieper finished the descent in 3:54.08, her marathoning career ended. She and her husband returned to California in 1961 and eventually divorced. Her marriages to Eddie Garza and Richard Stine also ended in divorce.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/25/sports/arlene-pieper-stine-dead.html