Elaine Pedersen; Runner Helped Break Barriers

Elaine Pedersen, 63, who helped to smash the men-only barrier in long-distance running. Pedersen, who lived in the San Francisco suburb of Mill Valley, began running in her late 20s. She had applied to enter the Boston Marathon several times but was rejected each time until 1972, when she and a handful of other women were officially allowed to compete in Boston. She was 35 at the time and finished 12 minutes behind winner Nina Kuscik, recording a time of 3:20:38. “It was really an earth-shattering moment,� she told the San Francisco Chronicle in 1997. “It was a watershed in many ways.� Years before entering the Boston contest, Pedersen broke the gender barrier at the tough Dipsea Trail race that runs from Mill Valley over Mt. Tamalpais to Stinson Beach. She competed in 20 marathons in her running career, but her best time was in that historic Boston race. On Monday at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where she went for treatment after learning in October that she had bone marrow cancer.