Inspirations - Kathrine Switzer

Since I signed up for the marathon, I subscribed to the Facebook pages of a bunch of running websites, magazines, clubs, etc. They always post great stuff, and I recently saw a post about Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially complete a marathon. She ran the 1967 Boston Marathon, and her story is amazing. Before I get into the Switzer story, I have to come clean about how ignorant I was about the start and trajectory of women's long distance running. Here is an interesting timeline:

1928 - Women are admitted into the track & field categories of the Olympics with the longest distance being 800 meters (about a half a mile).  Due to improper training, many women collapsed at the end of the race and Olympic officials deemed it too strenuous for women.

1928 Olympic 100 meter race 

(couldn't find pictures of the "disastrous" 800 meters)

1932-1960 - The Olympics ban any race over 200 meters for women

1960 - The 800 meter race for women is reintroduced to the Olympics

800m at 1965 Olympic Games

1966 - Roberta Gibb guerilla-style unofficially completes the Boston Marathon

Is that Sir Ian McKellan in number 103??

1967 - Kathrine Switzer officially completes the 1967 Boston Marathon

1973 - First all women's marathon held in Waldniel, West German

1979 - First women's marathon officially sanctioned by the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) in Tokyo

1984 - First women's marathon race held at the Olympics

Joan Benoit winning it for the U.S.A. in 2:24:52

I had no idea that the women's marathon was not an Olympic sport until my lifetime. 1984? Kind of fun that I'm running my marathon exactly 30 years after it's Olympic debut. Although I may have been blissfully ignorant of the newness of women's long distance running, it just goes to show how far it has come. More of my female friends have run marathons than my male friends. Ladies, we are kicking-ass!  

Okay, back to the two original ass-kickers:  Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb and Kathrine Switzer. Ms. Gibb did not officially enter the Boston Marathon in 1966. She hid in a bush at the start line and just ran it. Pretty ballsy. She was super fast too, finishing in 3 hours, 21 minutes and 30 seconds. From accounts I could find on the internet, it seems that her race was fairly uneventful, and she actually shook hands with John Volpe, the Governor of Massachusetts, at the finish line. So yes, Ms. Gibb is certainly inspiring, but I've decided to go with Kathrine Switzer as my inspiration for the month, because she had a HELL of a race. I encourage all of you to go to this website and read a full account in her own words, but I will give you a brief recap.  

Ms. Switzer started training with the Syracuse men's cross-country team and was taken under the wing of 50-year old Arnie Briggs, a university mail-man and avid marathon runner. He agreed to take her to the Boston marathon if she could prove to him she could run the distance. After a 31 mile run, they signed up together, along with her current boyfriend, Tom Miller and John Leonard from the cross-country team. They checked the rule book and nothing stated that women could not enter. As a J.D. Salinger fan, she signed up as K.V. Switzer.  

The day of the race started smoothly, and as other racers noticed her, she received many words of encouragement and excitement about a woman racing. The first 4 miles were great. Then, after hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around to find an official trying to swipe her numbers off her shirt and yelling, "Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!" Arnie knew the guy and tried to tell him that she was trained, but he wouldn't listen and it finally took her boyfriend Tom tackling him for the guy to leave her alone. Luckily, the press bus had caught up to their crew and was there to capture the madness.

Can you imagine?? Look at the FURY in that official's face!

A little too similar to this, right?

Apparently, he is fine with women crashing the marathon but not with one being officially registered? That face is only appropriate in reaction to someone simultaneously beating up a baby, puppy and kitten, or if you are a psycho trying to kill the incredibly annoying Shelley Duvall. 

 (Am I the only one that sometimes wishes he caught her? Anyone?)

Back to the story. They ran for it, all the while thinking that they would probably get arrested at the end of the race. On top of the commotion, the press bus kept close watch on her and kept asking her when she was planning on quitting, etc. Once the commotion subsided a bit, her boyfriend Tom yelled at her that his chances of going to the Olympics in the hammer-throw were now probably ruined and that it was all her fault. He then told her that she ran too slowly and took off ahead of the rest of them.  

So, at this point in the race, she has been physically assaulted, questioned and doubted repeatedly by the press and publicly lambasted and abandoned by her boyfriend. GEEZ. If those aren't reasons to curl up on the side of the road and call it quits, I don't know what is.  

So, things started out extremely rough, but she kept going with her trusty friends Arnie and John. They even passed a walking Tom who begged her to walk with him. She refused and finished in 4 hours and 20 minutes. Maybe not as fast as Ms. Gibbs but she never gave up in the face of so much negativity. After this incredible race, she went on to run other marathons and was key in bringing the women's marathon to the Olympics. Inspiration much?  

I'm a glass-half-empty kind of girl, so I know that Ms. Gibb's uneventful albeit inspirational race just won't do it for me when things get tough. I also won't find the necessary inspiration in Ms. Switzer's successful career after her first marathon. Instead, I'm going to remember that crazy Hollywood script of a race. I will remind myself that at least I don't have ignorant maniacs attacking me physically and emotionally nearly every step of the way. And if that still doesn't do it for me, I will just pretend the Face of Fury is after me and hopefully that will do the trick.