Merry Lepper is a former American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 long-distance runner from California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations

International Association of Athletics Federations

The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...

 as having set a world best in the marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 on December 16, 1963, with a time of 3:37:07 at the Western Hemisphere Marathon in Culver City, California

Culver City, California

Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...

.

In the early 1960s, Lepper trained with Lyn Carman (also from California)and the pair began to run unofficially in road race

Road running

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

s. At the 1963 Western Hemisphere Marathon, the two women hid along the sidelines then joined the men just after the start. A race official attempted to remove them from the course and Carman reportedly yelled, "I have the right to use public streets for running!" The women were timed by a sympathetic AAU

AAU

-Education:* Aalborg University, in Denmark* Academy of Art University,in San Francisco* Addis Ababa University, in Ethiopia* Allied American University, brand used by Allied Schools in California, United States* Alpen-Adria-University of Klagenfurt, in Austria...

 official, and Carman eventually dropped out around the 20 mile mark.