Nina Kuscsik, the first women's division champion in the Boston Marathon, has died at age 86. An obituary for Kuscsik said she "passed away peacefully" on the morning of Sunday, June 8, "after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease and a shorter struggle with respiratory failure."

Nina Kuscsik, who was the first celebrity of women’s marathoning and used her clout to agitate for the first women's Olympic race at that distance in 1984, died June 8 of respiratory failure at her Huntington Station home after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was 86.

Nina Kuscsik, who campaigned for women's inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year that they were officially allowed to enter into the race, has died. She was 86.