11/04/24
April 03, 2012
You've Run a Long Way, Baby: The Boston Marathon is about to celebrate 40 years of women competing in the event, but a woman snuck in five years earlier. In 1967, Syracuse college student Kathrine Switzer crashed the marathon, which had been all-male for 70 years. When race organizer Jock Semple saw her, he chased her down, grabbed her and yelled, "Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!" Her boyfriend foiled Semple with an impressive block. Afterwards, a stunned Switzer kept running and told herself, "I'm going to finish this race on my hands and knees if I have to, because nobody believes that I can do this."
They thought women could only run 1.5 miles!
I hadn't seen these photos before. That old coot wasn't expecting her to have blockers.
posted by rcade at 08:43 PM on April 03, 2012
I love this. Thanks for sharing it.
posted by evixir at 09:36 PM on April 03, 2012
Oh my, yes, a famous photo indeed. You know, the next time someone is getting together one of those "moments in sports" photo collections, this really should be in there. As we document and remember the history of sports, it's important to remember this kind of struggle as well as the more usual triumphs and tragedies.