In 1966, Bobbi Gibb had tried to enter the race officially and had been rejected by BAA Director Will Cloney with the explanation that women were physiologically incapable of running 26 miles. This exclusion of women from a premier athletic event was already drawing high-profile challenges. But it was widely understood that women were prohibited from running in official competition: the rules of the AAU, which governed the Marathon, declared that women could not compete in AAU-sanctioned races over a mile and a half. Technically, the rule book for the Boston Marathon made no mention of gender. If you ran the distance in practice, I’d be the first to take you to Boston.' By the winter of 1967, Switzer was training for the upcoming Boston Marathon, tackling courses in Syracuse and on the roads between Syracuse and Cazenovia, New York, 20 miles away. Briggs insisted a marathon was too far for a 'fragile woman' to run, but he conceded to Switzer: 'If any woman could do it, you could, but you would have to prove it to me. Permission was granted, and cross-country assistant coach Arnie Briggs began training with her. She earned a bachelor's degree there in 1968 and a master's degree in 1972.Īfter transferring from Lynchburg to Syracuse, Switzer sought permission to train with the men's cross-country running program. She transferred to Syracuse University in 1967, where she studied journalism and English literature. Marshall High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, then attended Lynchburg College. Her family returned to the United States in 1949. Switzer was born in Amberg, Germany, the daughter of a major in the United States Army.

Īs a result of her run, the AAU banned women from competing in races against men, and it was not until 1972 that the Boston Marathon established an official women's race. After knocking down Switzer's trainer and fellow runner, Arnie Briggs, when he tried to protect her, Semple was shoved to the ground by Switzer's boyfriend, Thomas Miller, who was running with her, and she completed the race. During her run race manager Jock Semple assaulted Switzer, trying to grab her bib number and thereby remove her from official competition. In 1967 she became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as an officially registered competitor. Kathrine Virginia Switzer (born January 5, 1947) is an American marathon runner, author, and television commentator.

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