She believes in herself and knows she can do more. “When a woman feels her own strength, it’s empowering. “Running and sports in general is transformational,” she said. This type of result is at the heart of Switzer’s years of advocacy.
“Most importantly, it inspired people around the world to embrace healthy and productive running lifestyles.” “The women’s Olympic marathon opened the door for many other women’s events and helped increase the number of female participants in all sports,” she said. With the series’ success under her belt, Switzer took her lobbying efforts to the Olympics, successfully helping secure the first women’s marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles games.
In 1977, she created the Avon International Running Circuit, a global series of women’s races that eventually grew to 400 races in 27 countries. She went on to win the New York City Marathon in 1974, and ran a PR of 2:51 at Boston in 1975, which ranked her sixth in the world.īoston launched her running career and also lit a spark in Switzer to advocate for women’s rights in sports. On an athletic level, Switzer was just getting started in Boston. RELATED: First Lady of Boston, the story of Roberta Gibb What began as an under-the-radar 26.2-mile run was soon to became an unstoppable stampede. “In my heart, I knew the marathon had changed me and that the incident on the course had radicalized me sufficiently to want to make changes in the sport for women.” “We stopped for coffee and saw the newspapers-my story was everywhere,” she said. It wasn’t until later that evening, on the five-hour drive back to her school, Syracuse University, did Switzer get an inkling of the stir she had caused. “But it slowly returned and by the end, I was feeling pretty good. “For a while after Semple intervened I was worried and nervous and had lost a lot of energy,” she said. PODCAST: Subscribe to The Runner’s World Show to hear an exclusive interview with Kathrine Switzer on April 13. Switzer continued on and finished in 4:20, becoming the first woman to do so with a bib number. Switzer’s coach, Arnie Briggs, and boyfriend at the time, Tom Miller, were running alongside her, and quickly ran interference.
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