![]() ![]() That’s how I had started signing my name since I was 12-years-old. I was not trying to defraud anybody or fool anybody. Switzer when I registered for the Boston Marathon. But Kathrine was the first woman to enter and receive an official number: 261. HILLARY FRANK: In past years, a few other women had snuck into the Boston Marathon - most famously Bobbi Gibb - who had run faster times than many men. But today somewhere among the thousand pair of hairy legs, somewhere in the swirl of liniment vapor there was perfume and women.] MORGAN DEAN: By custom and rule it has been an all-male event. KATHRINE SWITZER: And I’m probably best known as the woman who broke the gender barrier at the Boston Marathon. HILLARY FRANK: But then… in 1967… Kathrine made running history. How do you top that?īRIAN MADDEN: This is Brian Madden, enjoying himself in New York.] Come on, give ‘em a little…īRIAN MADDEN: Thank you. MALE ANNOUNCER: High on the list of outstanding bowlers in the women’s division, noted for her beauty of form - of course that’s bowling form - is Tilly Taylor.]īRIAN MADDEN: Well, good luck to all of you girls - or is it women? I guess that’s the word.ĬAROL MANN: Brian, you can call us anything you want because we love ya. HILLARY FRANK: Not only was Kathrine up against doctors who didn’t take her running seriously - she was also up against an entire industry, and sports media who didn’t take women seriously. And he didn’t see it that way, obviously. KATHRINE SWITZER: I just remember walking out of the office and saying, “You know this is really such B.S.” You know, if you have children it’s going to be much more injurious to your system than running. HILLARY FRANK: This idea was something a lot of doctors believed at the time. I would definitely not recommend this because you could have a prolapsed uterus.” KATHRINE SWITZER: I mentioned to him that I was running and I’ll never forget because he was sitting across from me at his desk with a cigarette, and he said something like, “Why would an attractive woman like you want to be running a marathon? You really can impair your ability to conceive and your uterus, because you’re going to be constantly impacting it and pounding the pavement. HILLARY FRANK: Even her doctor thought it was a bad idea. You’re never going to have children, your uterus is going to fall out.” KATHRINE SWITZER: But people would say, “Oh, you know, you shouldn’t do that. HILLARY FRANK: So much so that in 1967 Kathrine found herself training to run a marathon. And so running in itself always made me feel totally confident, brave, courageous and at one with my total sense of capability. KATHRINE SWITZER: I never felt closer to my body, or to nature or to the universe or to God or whatever you want to call it than when I was running. And she made the team - but she fell in love with running. Her father told her she’d make it if she ran a mile every day. HILLARY FRANK: When Kathrine Switzer was starting high school in 1959 she wanted to get on the field hockey team. You’re going to grow hair on your chest.” KATHRINE SWITZER: And my girlfriends would say to me, “ You know if you do that you’re going to get big legs you’re going to look like a boy. LYNN BLACKSTONE: I remember an incidence running around with my running buddies, all women, and some guy came up and pinched one of us. LIZ FRANCESCHINI: And everybody’s dog would chase you and want to bite you. PAT BARRETT: They’d throw something out the window at you from a car you know, maybe like a piece of paper or a soda bottle. LIZ FRANCESCHINI: People would look and “What are they running from? Where are they going? Is there a problem?” ![]() KATHRINE SWITZER: When I was a young girl people even the milkman, the mailman would go to my mother and say, “Is there something wrong with your little girl? I see her out running.” Hillary Frank takes us behind the scenes of a secretly planned protest at the 1972 New York Marathon… that helped to turn running mainstream and allowed women to race as equals with men. And women were strongly discouraged from running because doctors believed it was bad for their health. And around the globe, there are more than one thousand marathons annually.īut before the 1970s, running was a fringe sport… no one made running shoes in the US - if you wanted them, you had to import a fancy German sneaker by a niche company called Adidas. In a matter of months, even an inexperienced runner can train for a marathon. JODY AVIRGAN: Running is the most popular form of exercise in the world today.
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