SLIDESHOW: Running great Grete Waitz dead at 57

Grete Waitz races toward the finish line of the 1986 New York City Marathon in New York on Nov. 2, 1986.

Grete Waitz wins the 1986 New York City Marathon on Nov. 2, 1986.

Grete Waitz finishes the 1980 New York City Marathon, breaking her own record with a time of 2 hours, 25 minutes and 41 seconds in New York on October 26, 1980. Waitz, the nine-time New York City Marathon womenÕs champion, the elegant first lady of long-distance running, quit competing years ago, but she never stopped putting in her 40 miles a week. She became an advocate for fitness and health but then was reminded there is no such thing as a guarantee.

Grete Waitz in Central Park after crossing the finish line for the New York City Marathon on Nov. 4, 1990.

Grete Waitz, left, runs alongside that years winner Wanda Panfi during the 1990 New York City Marathon.

Grete Waitz, wins the New York City Marathon for the seventh time on Oct. 27, 1985.

Grete Waitz, left, and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani help hold the finish line tape for the New York City Marathon as Tegla Loroupe of Kenya crosses on Nov. 6, 1994.

Grete Waitz and the ailing Fred Lebow cross the finish line in the 1992 New York City Marathon. Waitz, the Norwegian runner who set a world mark in her first marathon, in New York City in 1978 and won a total of 9 NYC Marathons, died of cancer on April 19, 2011 in Oslo. She was 57.

Grete Waitz, wins the New York City Marathon for the fifth time on Oct. 23, 1983.

Grete Waitz of Norway, right, accepts her plaque after being inducted into the National Long Distance Running Hall of Fame at the Stanley Performing Arts Center in Utica, N.Y., on July 8, 2000. Giving her the plaque is Kathrine Switzer, left, a 1998 inductee.