We are in 1967 and the young American Kathrine Switzer is 20 years old. She runs. This may seem completely harmless to you, however, when she takes the start of the legendary Boston Marathon, the event is closed to women. She looks back on her race and tells us how her participation in this marathon helped free the woman … An astonishing testimony!
"I was 12 when I first started running. My dad advised me to run 1 mile a day so I had a chance at the high school hockey team."
In the 1960s, women could participate in races in a stadium, but they were not allowed to run more than 800m. However, since 1896, men have participated in 5000, 10000 and marathons without problem.
"Women, not able to run more than 800m"
At that time, sports medicine (an emerging discipline) was based very little on scientific studies, and decreed that women were not physically able to run long distances.
Kathrine Switzer, meanwhile, continued to run during her teenage years and enrolled in an athletics club. When, at 20, she asks her coach to participate in the Boston Marathon (the holy grail of distance for Americans), she shakes up the norm: no woman has ever officially participated.
How did Kathrine Switzer stand out?
"There was no official document that said the Boston Marathon excluded women. I signed up with my initials, and provided a medical certificate.
Then I took the start, dressed in gray jogging; it was snowing, I put on the hood of my sweatshirt (we were running in knitted jogging at the time, editor's note), which I then removed. The organizers must not have noticed me. "
Yes, but at the 3rd kilometer, the manager noticed her, got out of his vehicle, and pushed her violently to exclude her from the race.
"I didn't want to let go and stop there because I knew that if I finished, it would prove to the whole world that women are indeed capable of traveling this distance. I" https: //www.aufeminin. com / "I was well prepared, no way to give in to fear! So my boyfriend at the time pushed Jock Semple away (the marathon director) and my coach protected me. "
"And I got to the end in 4:20. This altercation unsettled me a bit, but I continued, guided by my determination.
The press bus was right next to me when I was attacked by the manager, and journalists were able to photograph the scene. This photo is now among the 100 photos that changed the world according to the Time ! "
© FreeToRun / Youtube
From a simple runner to an ambassador for the cause of women in sport
Kathrine Switzer then decides to make room for women in running her cause. "From a marathon we learn so much. I quickly recovered my energy and this episode both radicalized and inspired me to fight for women in running. It guided my life!"
After the Boston marathon, the federation expels Kathrine Switzer and does not validate her feat.
It was not until 1972 that the Boston marathon officially accepted women and 1984, so that they could run these 42.195 km at the Olympics!
K. Switzer's greatest victories
“My great pride was to win the New York Marathon in 1974. I also ran Boston seven times and reached the second step of the women's podium in 1975. The organizer even became a friend. But the victory of my life was to have contributed to making the marathon a female Olympic discipline for the Los Angeles Olympics.
I knew that if the world saw women succeed in completing one of the most difficult running events, and the most prestigious in Olympism, it would influence the image of women and their real abilities in the field. society."
And today, what role can sport play for women?
"There is still so much to be done. In many countries, women are not even allowed to go out on their own, or even to drive, study or play sports. I am working on solutions. to help them.
Running remains an easy sport to practice, no need for money. many African women also excel in running, and take advantage of this opportunity to gain ground in theempowerment feminine. With their endowments, they can help entire villages, act in favor of the education of women and children. It's a real social revolution. "
A marathon at its 70th anniversary …
It is rumored that Kathrine Switzer, the year of her 70th birthday, will once again take the start of the Boston Marathon. In 2017, 50 years after clearing the ground for women! Go Kathrine go!
Interview for marathonwoman.com
Free to run, the film on the epic of running
A film evokes this problem of the place of women in running, a sport from which they were long excluded for a long time.
Pierre Morath, by producing a documentary on the rise of running, retraces the steps of those who liberated the practice, talks about the formidable rise of the New York marathon …
His film Free to run deals with freedom, equality and running, and you come out with such energy that you could run a marathon!