Katherine Switzer became the first woman to officially participate in the Boston Marathon on 19th April, 1967, when, disguised in a hooded sweatshirt and joggers, she ran under a race number she’d registered for without disclosing her first name.

Her gender was revealed mid-race, prompting a bizarre fracas as co-director Jock Semple, known for his stringent adherence to tradition, attempted to forcibly remove her from the event - a frenzy captured by photographers and splashed across the front and back of the next day’s newspapers, triggering a change in the previously male-only event.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how Switzer was in fact not *quite* the first woman to run the marathon; unearth a 1980 Boston victory that played into the hands of the anti-women brigade; and consider how Switzer’s stand continues to resonate as a symbol of defiance against gender barriers in sports, decades later...

Further Reading:

• ‘Kathrine Switzer: 50 years ago women were not allowed to run the marathon’ (ABC, 2017):

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-25/kathrine-switzer-50-years-ago-women-not-allowed-to-run-marathon/8287576

• ‘She was attacked 50 years ago for being a woman in the Boston Marathon. On Monday, she ran it again at 70’ (The Washington Post, 2017): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/04/17/fifty-years-ago-kathrine-switzer-was-attacked-as-she-ran-the-boston-marathon-the-reason-she-was-a-woman/

• ‘Kathrine Switzer: First Woman to Enter the Boston Marathon’ (MAKERS, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOGXvBAmTsY

Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!

Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.

Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Details

EXTRA: Badell's Second Letter

More from Today In History with The Retrospectors