You’ve probably never heard of Kathrine Switzer but she’s kind of a big deal. Katherine was the first woman to run in the Boston Marathon, even though they didn’t allow women to run.
The Boston Marathon started in 1897. It was inspired by the Summer Olympics in Greece. At the time it was the oldest continuously running marathon in the United States.
It had been attempted the year before by Bobbi Gibb. She tried to enter the Boston Marathon but was rejected by Director Will Cloney because he felt women were incapable of running far.
Will Cloney stated, “If that girl were my daughter I would spank her!”
Bobbi Gibb entered the race without a number and finished before two-thirds of the other runners. Sadly, her run didn’t count because she did not officially enter the race with a number.
In 1967, Katherine Switzer registered for the Boston Marathon using her first initial and last name, K.V. Switzer,. She did this to hide her gender. Since women were not allowed to run in the Boston Marathon no one double checked her application. She registered and paid the fee for the Boston Marathon. She signed her application and provided a certificate of fitness. Her bib with the number 261 was collected before the race by a male runner.
Katherine Switzer got the idea to run in the Boston Marathon in 1966. She was a 19 year old Journalism student in New York at Syracuse University. The University didn’t have a women’s running team so she trained off the books with the men’s cross country team. She had been running in a snow storm for six miles with her unofficial trainer, Arnie Briggs, when she decided to run the Boston Marathon. Arnie Briggs thought it was a dumb idea. He believed women were too fragile to run in the Boston Marathon. Arnie was also the university mailman and a veteran of the Boston Marathon for the past 15 years. Arnie later changed his mind and said, “If any woman could do it, you could, but you would have to prove it to me. If you ran the distance in practice, I’d be the first to take you to Boston.”
Arnie was excited to train a woman runner even though he didn’t believe women should be allowed to run in marathons.
Katherine was aware there would be trouble if she ran in the race but she wasn’t prepared for what actually happened. She was only 20 years old on April 19, 1967 when she entered the race. She was running with other men and tried to blend in with the crowd. During the race she was assaulted by the co-race director Jock Semple. Jock had a horrible temper and enjoyed beating anyone that looked different from other runners. Jock had a history of assaulting runners who he felt tarnished his sacred race. It was obvious Jock had been ridiculed his entire life for his first name and might have been born with fetal alcohol syndrome.
Katherine had been running the race wearing a hooded sweatshirt. When the hood came down, Jock Semple jumped off a press truck and charged her. Jock was livid that an actual woman was running in his race. Jock grabbed Katherine and knocked her down.
“Before I could react Jock Semple grabbed my shoulder and flung me back. He screamed at me,” said Katherine Switzer.
Jock said he was just trying to take her number away and throw her out of the race. Photographs from that day show a different story. Jock Semple looked like a monster.
Arnie Briggs tried to block Jock from the attack. Jock was finally shoved to the ground by Katherine’s boyfriend, Tom Miller, who was running beside her. Jock quickly gave up his attack and scurried off to tell the other officials.
Katherine finished the marathon without any other assaults. When it was over Jock Semple and Will Cloney made sure all women were banned from running in the Boston Marathon.
Even though Jock Semple was on the wrong side of history, he eventually apologized to Katherine Switzer. Katherine forgave Jock and they became friends.
Katherine Switzer brought attention to the issue of gender discrimination in sports and challenged the stereotypes of women’s physical abilities. Her actions that day paved the way for women in all sports.
Kathrine Switzer went on to have a successful running career, and became an advocate for women’s sports. Her efforts contributed to the official inclusion of women in the Boston Marathon by 1972.
On the 50th anniversary of her first Boston Marathon, Katherine Switzer was again assigned number 261. The same number she had been assigned in 1967. This time she was joined by over 13,700 women. The Boston Marathon announced it would not assign number 261 to any future runners in her honor. Katherine Switzer proved to the world that sometimes it’s better to stand alone than with people who don’t value you.