fuckyeahfeminists: This past weekend, one of our local NPR affiliates, WBUR, broadcast an interview with the first woman ever to officially register and run in the Boston Marathon, in 1967: Kathrine Switzer (click through for audio). Her running coach scoffed at the idea when she first brought up the possibility, but when she ran thirty miles with him in training he was forced to think again. They registered her by initial only (women weren’t officially allowed to race in the marathon until 1972) and she completed the race despite the fact that she was heckled verbally by officials and one man completely lost it and tried to rip her number off her back. My mom ran a marathon in Chicago back in the 1970s. She also ran regularly for exercise when she was pregnant with me. The people who saw her jogging on the track harassed her about endangering my health, and she remembers Runner’s World magazine publishing letters to the editor by men complaining that women’s sweat was unattractive. Today, more than 11,000 women are participating in the marathon at all levels of skill … and I for one am grateful we live in a time and place where this is no longer viewed as remarkable or repugnant. (via Marathon Monday: Remembering 1967′s Historic First - The Pursuit of Harpyness) View high resolution

fuckyeahfeminists:

This past weekend, one of our local NPR affiliates, WBUR, broadcast an interview with the first woman ever to officially register and run in the Boston Marathon, in 1967: Kathrine Switzer (click through for audio). Her running coach scoffed at the idea when she first brought up the possibility, but when she ran thirty miles with him in training he was forced to think again. They registered her by initial only (women weren’t officially allowed to race in the marathon until 1972) and she completed the race despite the fact that she was heckled verbally by officials and one man completely lost it and tried to rip her number off her back.

My mom ran a marathon in Chicago back in the 1970s. She also ran regularly for exercise when she was pregnant with me. The people who saw her jogging on the track harassed her about endangering my health, and she remembers Runner’s World magazine publishing letters to the editor by men complaining that women’s sweat was unattractive. Today, more than 11,000 women are participating in the marathon at all levels of skill … and I for one am grateful we live in a time and place where this is no longer viewed as remarkable or repugnant.

(via Marathon Monday: Remembering 1967′s Historic First - The Pursuit of Harpyness)

(Reblogged from fuckyeahfeminists)

Notes

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  9. fionaruddy reblogged this from foreversavage and added:
    Inspiration. Yes. Just registered for...Detroit Free Press Marathon. So scared. So...
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  24. nomadictude reblogged this from laughingteeth and added:
    Motivation for me to run my 13.1 miles in October—a marathon devoted just to female runners.
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  29. caseymcdermott reblogged this from thatkindofwoman and added:
    a few weeks late, but this is too good to pass over.
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  34. raeosunshinex reblogged this from juststaystoked and added:
    I remember reading this book about her in my mom’s bed when I was like, 10. Haha.
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