One of the many side bar stories of today’s Boston Marathon will be the return of Kathrine Switzer. Now 70 years old, Switzer will run the race 50 years after being the first woman to run Boston with an official bib number(261), even though she got the number against the wishes of race officials who tried to eject her after mile four.
After the 1967 Boston Marathon Switzer went on to be an accomplished marathoner, winning once in New York, and advocating for womens’ rights in sports.
The co-grand marshall of this year’s race is Bobbi Gibb, who is credited as the first woman to run Boston on the day of the race(1966), although she did it without being officially registered. Women were not allowed to enter officially until 1972. Her story was chronicled last year by well known Connecticut runner Amby Burfoot in Runner’s World.
Photos: Runner’s World and Boston Globe archive.
