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First Woman To Officially Run Boston Marathon Runs Again, 50 Years Later

Kathrine Switzer, running the Boston Marathon in 1967, is attacked by the race director.
Boston Herald
Kathrine Switzer, running the Boston Marathon in 1967, is attacked by the race director.

When Kathrine Switzer ran the Boston Marathon in 1967, she didn't set out to make history. She focused on the same things that occupy the minds of many marathon runners: pace, timing, nutrition and exhaustion.

But when a truck full of press and the race director began harassing her, two miles into the race, Switzer became a key figure in running history. Switzer was the first woman to enter the race officially. The race director opposed her entry, and he tried to tear her number off her shirt. 

"I was terrified, scared and exceptionally humiliated," she recalls. Switzer's then-boyfriend, a former All-American football player, tackled the race director. Switzer's coach yelled for her to continue running, and she took off.  

Switzer completed the race, but the press was relentless. "But don't forget, I had the support of the men in the race," Switzer said. "Race directors loved it and they invited me to their races."

Portrait of Kathrine Switzer, the fist official female finisher of the Boston Marathon. Ms. Switzer will run the 2017 Boston Marathon, 50 years after her first race.
Credit Courtesy of JoanBarker Images/ 2011
Portrait of Kathrine Switzer, the first official female finisher of the Boston Marathon. Switzer will run the 2017 Boston Marathon 50 years after her first race.

Switzer will run the 2017 Boston Marathon on the 50th anniversary of her iconic race. She is training with the 261 Fearless Foundation, an organization that encourages women's empowerment through running. 

Host Frank Stasio talked with Switzer about the marathon, her life since that race and training for the Boston Marathon again 50 years later. "Running has been the hub of my life," she said.  

Kathrine Switzer speaks tomorrow night at the Girls On The Run of the Triangle gala event. 

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Laura Lee was the managing editor of The State of Things until mid February 2017. Born and raised in Monroe, North Carolina, Laura returned to the Old North state in 2013 after several years in Washington, DC. She received her B.A. in political science and international studies from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2002 and her J.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law in 2007.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.