“She has no idea how important she really was,” says Lennie Tucker, a friend of Switzer’s, a longtime runner and track official in Central New York-and a woman who recalls a time, not so long ago, when she rarely saw other female distance runners training on country roads.

Monday, she will be among tens of thousands of runners who go to the starting line in Boston.įifty years after she shattered a ban on women runners by entering that famous marathon-and then finishing, even after race manager Jock Semple tried to drag her from the course-she will be a center of attention for world media, thanks to all she proved as a 20-year-old student at Syracuse. Switzer, now 70, became an elite marathon runner and an inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls. The other number belonged to John Kelley, who ran Boston 61 times. This week, a half-century later, officials in Boston announced they’ll retire Switzer’s bib number from the 1967 race, making her only the second person in the history of the event to earn that honor. This show is brought to you by the Apostrophe Podcast Network and powered by Acast.Kathrine Switzer running with her coach Arnie Briggs, far right, in 1972. Runner’s World: “Eleven Wretched Women” by Roger Robinsonįrom the creators of Under the Influence:Įxecutive Producer & Co-Host: Terry O’Reilly

Join us this week as we tell the stories of pioneer runners Bobbi Gibb and Kathrine Switzer – the first women to ever run the Boston Marathon after 70 years as a men’s only event.įirst Ladies of Running: 22 Inspiring Profiles of the Rebels, Rule Breakers and Visionaries Who Changed the Sport Forever by Amby Burfoot

But back in the 1960s, women weren’t permitted into the prestigious event, rejected solely on the basis of sex. In 2019, 13,684 of the Boston Marathon’s participants were women – making up nearly 50% of total entrants.

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