This week, we analyzed Mary Wollstonecraft’s letter entitled, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.” The letter addressed Wollstonecraft’s opinions on women being treated as objects, not being well educated, etc. One thing was brought up during the discussion that I found particularly interesting. In the 1700s, it was thought to be dangerous for women to exercise, or even walk, for fear that something bad would happen to them. I have decided to focus this post on Katherine Switzer, the first woman to run in the Boston Marathon. 

In 1967, Switzer was 20 years old and registered for the Boston Marathon. At the time, women were seen as weak, and nobody thought they were capable of running a marathon, so she used the name “K.V. Switzer” to hide her gender. Once the race director realized that Switzer was not a man, he tried to physically remove her (there are photos of this). However, Switzer was able to avoid the director, and finished the race in 4 hours and 20 minutes. After her courageous actions, women were officially allowed to enter the race in 1972.

Throughout her lifetime, Switzer completed a total of 36 marathons aside from Boston and now, over 58% of marathon runners are women. In 2017, she ran the Boston marathon again at the age of 70, wearing her original number- 261. Her time was slower by just 25 minutes! Race organizers have since then retired her number in honor of her and the moment she changed history.