Merry Lepper

Merry Lepper (born circa 1940 to 1943) is a former American long-distance runner from California who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best in the marathon on December 16, 1963, with a time of 3:37:07 at the Western Hemisphere Marathon in Culver City, California.^{[1][2][nb 1]}

In the early 1960s, Lepper trained with Lyn Carman (also from California)^{[nb 2]}and the pair began to run unofficially in road races.^[5] At the 1963 Western Hemisphere Marathon, the two women hid along the sidelines then joined the men just after the start.^[5] A race official attempted to remove them from the course and Carman reportedly yelled, "I have the right to use public streets for running!"^[5][6] The women were timed by a sympathetic AAU official, and Carman eventually dropped out around the 20 mile mark.^{[5][nb 3]}

Notes

1. ^ According to the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, the course for the Western Hemisphere Marathon was short in 1962 and 1963.^[3] The ARRS also notes the date of the race as December 14, 1963.^[3][4]
2. ^ Carman has been reported as also being in her early 20s, however, data compiled by the Association of Road Racing Statisticians indicates that she would have been 27 years old.
3. ^ Carman would eventually win the Santa Barbara Marathon in 1966, 1969, and 1970^[7] and the World Masters Marathon in 1969.^[7]

References

1. ^ "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009." (pdf). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. p. 653. http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf. Retrieved May 20, 2010. 
2. ^ Noakes, Tim (2003). The Lore of Running (Fourth ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 675. ISBN 0-87322-959-2. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Western Hemisphere Marathon". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. http://www.arrs.net/HP_WHmMa.htm. Retrieved May 10, 2010. "The 1962-63 courses are considered to have been short." 
4. ^ "World Marathon Rankings for 1963". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. http://arrs.net/MaraRank/ATM_Mara1963.htm. Retrieved May 10, 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Kuscsik, Nina (1977), "THE HISTORY OF WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN THE MARATHON *", Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 301 (The Marathon: Physiological, Medical, Epidemiological, and Psychological Studies): 862–876, doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1977.tb38253.x 
6. ^ Anderson, Ruth (1978). The Complete Woman Runner. World Publications. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "Santa Barbara Marathon". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. http://www.arrs.net/HP_SBbMa.htm. Retrieved May 10, 2010. 

Records
Preceded by Violet Piercy	Women's Marathon World Record Holder December 16, 1963* – May 23, 1964 (*see explanation in the Notes section)	Succeeded by Dale Greig

Persondata
Name	Lepper, Merry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	c. 1940
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death