Liane Winter (June 24, 1942 – January 17, 2021) was a former West Germanlong-distancerunner, who was recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best at the Boston Marathon on April 21, 1975 with a time of 2:42:24.[1][nb 1] Winter, the first woman from outside the United States to win Boston, only briefly held the mark as her countrywoman, Christa Vahlensieck, turned in a 2:40:16 performance in Dülmen twelve days later.[1][2] Winter's 1975 performance at Boston was aided by a "25-mile-an-hour tailwind",[3] after which she asked for a beer through her translator.[4] At the 1976 Boston Marathon, she finished in tenth place.[5]
Biography
Running as much as 60 kilometers (37.2 miles) on a Saturday or Sunday, Winter trained by Ernst van Aaken's method of building endurance.[6][7] On May 5, 1974 in Wolfsburg, West Germany, Winter ran a marathon in 2:57:44.4 to set the fastest mark for German women.[8] In an event organized by van Aaken, she was one of 45 women from seven nations to compete for the first women's world marathon title, the Women's International Championship in Waldniel, West Germany on September 22, 1974.[6][7]Christa Vahlensieck and Chantal Langlacé caught up to her after she took an early lead on the four-lap course, however, Winter crossed the finish line first in a time of 2:50:31.4 to earn a European record and lowered the national mark she set a little over four months earlier.[6][8]