Grete Waitz

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Lore & Background

Grete Waitz began her career as a teenage runner in Norway, winning national junior titles in the 400 and 800 metres. At age 17, she set the European junior record for the 1500 metres with a time of 4:17 and won a bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships in 1974. She broke the 3000 metres world record in 1975, running 8:46.6 in Oslo, and lowered it to 8:45.4 a year later. In 1977 she won gold over that distance at the inaugural IAAF World Cup in Düsseldorf with a personal best of 8:43.50. Her personal best in the 1500 metres, 4:00.55 set in Prague on 3 September 1978, still stands as the Norwegian national record. Waitz's association with the New York City Marathon began in 1978, when she was invited by race co-founder Fred Lebow. In her first appearance on 22 October 1978, she won in 2:32:30, taking two minutes off the women's course record. She went on to win the race nine times and broke the course record three years in a row. In 1979, she became the first woman to run a marathon under 2:30, finishing in 2:27:33. In 1980 she won in 2:25:41. Norway boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. At the 1984 Los Angeles Games, she won the silver medal in the marathon, beaten by Joan Benoit. In Seoul 1988, a bad knee forced her to drop out just after passing the 18-mile mark. She completed her last marathon on 1 November 1992 with Fred Lebow, who had brain cancer, finishing in 5:32:35.

Reader's Guide

Grete Waitz is widely acknowledged as helping to promote marathon and long-distance running for women. Her nine victories in the New York City Marathon remain the highest number of wins in a single big city marathon in history, and her 12 World Marathon Majors are the most for any runner, earning her a place in the Guinness World Records. She set world records in the marathon four times, as well as at distances of 8 kilometers, 10 kilometers (twice), 15 kilometers, and 10 miles, and won the World Cross Country Championships five times (1978–1981 and 1983), tying her with Doris Brown Heritage for most wins in the history of women's International/World Cross Country Championships. In Norway she is a sporting legend, with an annual race named in her honor. The New York Road Runners club annually sponsors 'Grete's Great Gallop,' formerly a half-marathon and now a 10K, in her honor. After retirement, she worked as an ambassador for the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge, coached Liz McColgan, and founded a cancer care foundation called 'Aktiv mot kreft' (Norwegian for 'Active against cancer'). She died of cancer on 19 April 2011, aged 57, and was buried with government honor at state expense, the sixth woman in Norwegian history to receive this honor.

Did You Know?

• Waitz won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, the highest number of victories in a single big city marathon in history.
• She set world records at distances of 8 kilometers, 10 kilometers (twice), 15 kilometers, 10 miles, 3000 metres (twice), and the marathon (four times).
• Her 1500-metre personal best of 4:00.55, set in Prague on 3 September 1978, still stands as the Norwegian national record.
• Waitz completed her last marathon on 1 November 1992 with Fred Lebow, who had brain cancer, finishing in 5:32:35.
• She was appointed a Knight 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in November 2008, only the third sportsperson ever to receive this award.

A Record-Breaking Career Spanning Multiple Distances

Grete Waitz, born Grete Andersen in Oslo on 1 October 1953, displayed extraordinary speed and endurance from her teenage years, claiming Norwegian junior titles in the 400 and 800 metres before setting the European junior record in the 1500 metres at just 17. On the road, she established world records at 8 kilometres (25:03), 10 kilometres (31:16 in 1979, then later 30:59), 15 kilometres (48:01), and 10 miles, while also setting the marathon world record on four occasions. Her personal bests tell the story of a complete distance athlete: 4:00.55 over 1500 metres, 47:52 for 15 kilometres set in Tampa, FL on 11 February 1984, and a marathon best of 2:24:54 set in London on 20 April 1986. She captured the London Marathon in 1983 and 1986, the Stockholm Marathon in 1988 in 2:28:24 (which as of 2022 was still the Stockholm course record for women), and accumulated twelve World Marathon Majors victories—a total that earned her a place in the Guinness World Records as the most prolific major-marathon winner in history.

Defining Moments That Redefined Women's Distance Running

The 1978 New York City Marathon marked the beginning of Waitz's legend. Invited by race co-founder Fred Lebow, she arrived in her first appearance and not only won but slashed two minutes off the existing women's course record, finishing in 2:32:30—a world record at the time. The following year, on 22 October 1979, she became the first woman in history to break the two-and-a-half-hour barrier, clocking 2:27:33, with Gillian Adams the runner-up at 2:38:33. Her dominance was so sustained that the Association of Road Racing Statisticians recorded a 28-race winning streak spanning from 22 September 1979 with a win in a 10-mile road race in Lynchburg, USA, until 8 June 1981 with a win in a 3000 m track race in Basel, Switzerland. In 1983, she claimed the World Championships gold in Helsinki and set a new marathon world record of 2:25:29 in London. Yet the one crown that eluded her was the Olympic title: at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Joan Benoit beat her for the marathon gold, leaving Waitz with silver. In Seoul 1988, a painful knee forced her to abandon the race just past the 18-mile mark. Her last race was a victory at 5000 metres in Oslo in June 1982, in which her 15:08.80 was the second best in history, falling only a half second short of the world record set three weeks earlier by Mary Slaney.

A Legacy Etched in Records and Repeats

Few athletes in any era have matched Waitz's consistency at the highest level. Her nine victories in the New York City Marathon between 1978 and 1988 remain the most wins ever recorded in a single big-city marathon. She added four victories at the prestigious 10-km Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, five wins at the L'eggs Mini-Marathon in New York, and a win at the Falmouth Road Race in 1980. In cross country, she collected five World Championship golds (1978 through 1981 and 1983), a tally that ties her with Doris Brown Heritage for the most wins in the history of women's International/World Cross Country Championships, along with two bronze medals in 1982 and 1984. Her 1500-metre time of 4:00.55, set in Prague on 3 September 1978, still stands as the Norwegian national record, and her 1988 Stockholm Marathon finishing time of 2:28:24 remained the women's course record as of 2022. These marks, spanning track, road, and cross country, underscore a career of extraordinary breadth and longevity.

Beyond the Finish Line

Behind the records was a young woman from Oslo who struggled to convince her parents that a professional running career was a viable path. To sustain herself, she studied at a teachers college while pursuing athletics. Norway's decision to boycott the 1980 Moscow Games meant she missed another Olympic cycle entirely. Her final competitive race came in June 1982 in Oslo, where she ran 5000 metres in 15:08.80—the second-fastest time in history at that moment, just half a second behind Mary Slaney's record set three weeks earlier. Her last marathon was not a competition but a gesture of friendship: on 1 November 1992, she crossed the finish line alongside Fred Lebow, the man who had first invited her to New York, in a time of 5:32:35, celebrating his 60th birthday after he was diagnosed with brain cancer in early 1990. Waitz passed away on 19 April 2011. She was survived by her husband Jack and brothers Jan and Arild. The Norwegian government announced she would be buried with government honor at state expense, the sixth woman in Norwegian history to be given this honor.