Inspired by Kathrine Switzer

Trail To the Setting Sun - Skyline, April 2024

​Imagine not being allowed to enter a running race because you are a woman. 

That was the state of things in the late 1960’s, when Kathrine Switzer joined the Syracuse men’s running team. She began running with an older coach, Arnie, who became a consistent running partner, sharing his stories from his decades of training and racing. 

One December evening when finals had just completed, Arnie showed up for their evening 10-miler, despite the blizzard conditions. Kathrine resisted but was finally persuaded to head out. They ran along roadsides, dodging cars, their canvas sneakers and cotton sweats soaked by the winter storm. At one point in their conversation, Arnie mentioned that a “girl” could not run the Boston marathon - a distance of 26.2 miles. Kathrine stopped in her tracks and held her ground, until they had an agreement: if she could run 26 miles in training, they’d do the Boston Marathon.

Kathrine trained all winter, without telling her boyfriend or her parents about her goal. She and Arnie completed 31 miles one training day, and the next day Arnie brought her the application for Boston. They had examined the rules, and nowhere did it state that females could not enter, although at that time the couple of women who did participate hid in the bushes near the start and jumped in, then jumped out right before the finish.

Switzer, a journalism student, completed her application with the name K.V. Switzer, as that was her byline. Her medical clearance required for the race stated her full name. Her application was accepted and she was officially entered in the Boston Marathon. 

The Boston Marathon is always run on Patriot’s Day, the third Monday in April. 

At the starting line on April 19th, 1967, Kathrine, accompanied by Coach Arnie, her boyfriend Big Tom, and Arnie’s friend John, were warmly greeted by the male runners all around. A few miles into the marathon, a press vehicle drove up, and race director Jock Semple jumped out. A large, imposing man, he began to physically and verbally attack Switzer, screaming that “no woman can be in this race!” He tried to rip her number off, and she managed to avoid him though she was in complete shock from the unexpected onslaught. Tom stepped with a body block that sent Semple to the curb, and the foursome ran on, worried about reprisal, or possible arrest. Tom accused Kathrine of causing him to get in trouble and ruining his Olympic chances for track and field, ripped up his own race numbers, and took off. Kathrine would eventually pass him, still on the course, and though he begged her to slow up and stay with him, she chose to continue running. 

She had begun to understand, not only from Semple’s attack, but from the variety of reactions of female spectators (loud cheers, frozen silence, hostility), that her finishing Boston was infinitely more than simply running a race, and certainly not a stunt which some were suspicious of. It was about finishing strong, and showing what women were capable of. 

Kathrine was so focused on what this race had come to mean, and still processing all that had happened, that they were up and over Heartbreak Hill without her even realizing it. She might have not only been the first woman to officially run Boston, but also the first person to be unaware of Heartbreak Hill!

Keep in mind that back then, there were no aid stations, and they did not drink or eat. Kathrine finished in 4 hours 20 minutes - quite a decent time. Her feet were so covered in blisters that she was treated by a doctor at the finish line. She, and the pictures of Semple attacking her, became national news. Check out this video of the story from Kathrine herself.

Following Boston, Kathrine became a lifelong advocate for women’s running. She also trained intensely, and would eventually run the 6th fastest time in the world (at the time) at Boston - a 2:51 in 1975, and she won the New York City Marathon - 3:07 in 1974. She remains the last resident of New York to win the New York City Marathon, and her margin of victory over the next woman finisher (27:14) remains the biggest margin of victory in that race. In 2017, at the age of 70, Kathrine Switzer ran Boston, 50 years after her first running of it. Her time was 4:45. 

Switzer went on to champion women’s running, traveling globally to promote races as the founder of Avon Running Global Women’s Circuit. Those races, over 400 in 27 countries, for over a million women, were a factor in her successful lobbying to finally have the women’s marathon event in the 1984 Olympics. Kathrine, fittingly, was commentator, as Joan Benoit Samuelson decisively won the day.

I think of Kathrine Switzer on cold snowy training mornings, knowing that my modern technical gear keeps me dry. On long runs, I have a vest I can stuff with hydration and food. I know I can enter any race I want to and the race director will not try to rip my number off. 

My weeks of early runs, long work days, and volunteer work on evenings and weekends for the things I’m passionate about also remind me of her. She put in more time than I, and sacrificed her health at one point. Her accomplishment of inspiring women all over the world to run, and bringing the women’s marathon to the Olympics, created opportunities for women, and allowed many to believe in themselves, some for the first time. 


Sources/Learn More
Kathrine Switzer website
Marathon Woman by Kathrine Switzer

This year, the Boston Marathon will be run on April 21st.