5. Kathrine Switzer
Kathrine Switzer recalled talking about the Boston Marathon with her coach. Women were not allowed to compete but if they could, he said, she could be the one to do it. Switzer signed up for the competition under the name K.V. Switzer in 1967 just so she could do that. She is the first woman to participate in a famous runner’s competition.
Switzer recalled on her webpage that moments before the marathon, a racer named Tom commented that she should take off her lipstick so she would not be found out. She refused. When sports reporters questioned after the marathon, she told them that she likes to run, the longer, the better, and that she would come back to run even if her club is banned.
Kathrine Switzer is part of the reason why things changed for women who loved to run and participate in long distances. Not long after she ran in the Boston Marathon, officials lifted the ban on keeping women from competing.
Kathrine would make history again as a female runner. She took first place in the New York City Marathon in 1974. She would later participate in both the Boston Marathon in 2017 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her historic run.
