Long-distance footraces, known as marathons, are celebrated events in American culture. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of people come together to test their endurance and to take part in good-natured competition. One of the world's most famous marathons takes place every year in Boston, Massachusetts. Incredibly, women have only been able to officially run in the Boston Marathon since 1972. Before that time, it was widely believed that women's bodies and minds were not strong enough for long-distance running. The idea of women running in marathons was so strange to people that the Boston Marathon didn't even have a rule barring women. People just assumed that only men would sign up for the race. In 1967, however, a young woman named Kathrine Switzer changed all that. As a twenty-year-old student, Switzer registered for the marathon under the name “K. V. Switzer.” Because she didn't write Kathrine, race officials did not know that “K. V.” was, in fact, a woman. On the day of the race, Switzer, dressed in a sweatsuit and proudly wearing the number 261, set off with her boyfriend, Tom Miller. Two miles in, however, trouble struck. The race director, Jock Semple, realized that a woman was running in the marathon as an official entrant. He became furious. He was so angry that he joined the other runners on the route and came running after Switzer. Photographs of the event show Semple's frustration as he tried to rip off Switzer's numbers and disqualify her. Witnesses reported that he shouted, “Give me those numbers and get out of my race!” Luckily, Switzer avoided Semple. This was in part because her boyfriend blocked the director's attempts to rip off her race number. Although she was scared and angry about what had happened, Switzer continued to run until she finished the race. Her final time was four hours, twenty minutes. Today, Switzer continues to attend the annual Boston Marathon as a journalist. The female athletes who flock to Boston to run in this world-famous race owe a debt to Switzer for helping the world realize that women could indeed compete and enjoy long-distance running. All races since then have invited women to participate as equals. Because of Switzer’s courage and love of running, she helped other women discover their abilities, too.
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