Women's History Month: Earliest Women's Marathoners
In 1966, Roberta (Bobbi) Gibb did what no woman had ever done before: She ran the Boston Marathon, which men had been running every year since 1897. It was the first race she'd ever run, and she ran it again 1967 and 1968, winning both times, although women were not allowed to enter the race officially until 1972. Gibb received no official recognition for her wins until 1996. During the first decades of the twentieth century, many physicians believed that strenuous physical activities were harmful to women and girls, and in 1961 the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) banned women from competing in most U.S. road races. Most people assumed women were physically incapable of running 26.2 miles, which is what Will Cloney, the race director, told Gibb when he refused her application in 1966. The day of the race, Gibb dressed in a pair of Bermuda shorts and a hooded sweatshirt, and she hid in the bushes until she was able to blend in with a group of male runners on their way to the starting line. Less than a minute after she started running, her fellow runners realized they were running with a woman, and it didn't take much longer for the media and spectators to figure it out as well. They cheered her on to a 3:21 finish, and the next day she was all over the headlines. The following year, Gibb wasn't the only woman who ran the Boston Marathon. Kathrine Switzer became the first registered woman to run the race, although she registered under the name "K.V. Switzer." When race officials discovered her, one of them, Jock Semple, tried to physically force her off the course and rip her number off. Her boyfriend pushed him away, though, and Switzer finished the race. Since then, women's distance running has exploded in popularity; in 1980, women were 11% of all marathon finishers, and by 2012, they were at 42%. In 1972, the AAU finally allowed women to register for marathons, and women were able to compete in the Olympic marathon in 1984. If you're interested in reading more about the history of women's distance running, check out Kathrine Switzer's book, Marathon Woman: Running the Race To Revolutionize Women's Sports. If you're ready to train for and run in a marathon yourself, take a look at runner Kara Goucher's book, Kara Goucher's Running for Women: From First Steps to Marathons, and if you want to read about another woman's experiences with long-distance running, you should definitely check out Rachel Toor's book, Personal Record: A Love Affair with Running. Elisabeth @ Central