“I did it because Arnie Briggs said he didn’t believe any woman could ever run a marathon,” she said. Six months later in April of 1967, Switzer would become the first woman ever to register and complete the Boston Marathon. “The longest I’d ever run at that point – the autumn of 1966 – was three miles.”

Briggs would regale Switzer with stories of his marathon races while they ran, which made her desperate to finish one, despite not running long distances at all. He said no.” But he let Switzer train with the boys and soon she found herself running with veteran marathoner and volunteer coach Arnie Briggs. “I went to the men’s cross country coach and asked if I could run on the team. “There were no women’s sports at all at this university,” she said, speaking from the 2018 New York Marathon expo, where she’s partnered with New Zealand menstrual cup company Hello Cup to support women distance runners, particularly those facing the unenviable task running a marathon while on their period. Kathrine Switzer had run a lot of marathons since taking up long distance running at 18, while attending Syracuse University. Gabriela Andersen-Schiess stumbles on the final lap of the women’s marathon, 1984 (Photo: Ken Regan /ABC via Getty Images) She watched and wondered if as well as this being the first women’s marathon at the Olympic Games, it would also be the last. Switzer watched as Andersen-Schiess staggered sideways, arms flailing, head bobbing, and nearly toppled off the track. A medic rushed over to help but she waved him away, determined to finish at any cost. Her mind was clear and she knew she only had 300m to go, but her body wouldn’t listen. Instead, with the smothering heat of Los Angeles in August and running straight by the last water station, Andersen-Schiess was fading fast.

Then Switzerland’s Gabriela Andersen-Schiess stumbled into the stadium.Īndersen-Schiess was never expected to win, or even place well, but she went into the historic race expecting to finish strong.

A massive success for women runners all over the world. Twenty minutes later, all but eight of the 44 runners had crossed the line and Switzer’s broadcast was about to be cut.

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