running

Games On! Going the Distance

Sports post by Kaite Welsh on August 8, 2012 - 9:30am; tagged Olympics, running, sports.
Following Tiki Gelena’s record-breaking win for Ethiopia in the women’s marathon on Sunday, it’s easy to forget that women’s distance running has a relatively short history in the Olympics.

Tiki Gelena crossing the finish line
Ethiopia's Tiki Gelana crosses the finish line. Image: EPA
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Adventures in Feministory: Kathrine Switzer, the First Woman to Run the Boston Marathon

History post by Morgan Hecht on March 5, 2012 - 12:47pm; tagged Boston Marathon, Kathrine Switzer, running, Title IX, women in sports.

Kathrine Switzer wearing a black tshirt that reads Marathon Woman

In 1967, five years before the passing of Title IX  (which required gender equity for sports in public education), twenty-year-old Kathrine Switzer ran the Boston Marathon. During the race, Switzer was physically accosted by race director Jock Semple, who tried to pull her out of the race by force (an act that, if we'd been around in 1967, would have definitely earned him a Douchebag Decree). Not deterred, Switzer went on to finish the Boston Marathon with an unofficial time of 4:20 (she was disqualified as only male runners were recognized as finishers). Her work in advocating women's rights in sports led to the official inclusion of women runners in the 1972 Boston Marathon and the first-ever women's marathon at the 1984 Olympics. Switzer's efforts to get women running spanned 30 countries when she founded the Avon Running Global Women's Circuit, a series of races for women.  

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