Kathrine Switzer - One of the first woman to run the Boston Marathon before women were legally allowed

Kathrine Switzer - One of the first woman to run the Boston Marathon before women were legally allowed

In 1967, 20-year-old Kathrine Switzer from Syracuse, New York, crashed the Boston marathon by entering the historically all-male event by entering as “K. Switzer.” She ran along with her then-boyfriend and her coach and was tackled mid-run by the organizer of the event who yelled, “Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!” at her when he spotted her from the press truck. It wasn’t until 5 years later in 1972 that women were allowed to run the race, and it wasn’t until the 1984 in Los Angeles that women could compete in marathons at an Olympic level.

Kathrine Switzer on the prejudices women athletes faced, her historic Boston Marathon run, and the doors it opened for other women athletes. Switzer’s ongoing campaign to help women around the globe empower themselves through the simple act of running made her a 2011 Inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.