Women that Run

One of the reasons that I want to run a marathon is that I am so proud of my father for accomplishing this massive feat 30 years ago. It has always been something that he points to with pride, as a great achievement. Deservedly so. From the stories he and my Mum tell I can picture him running the route. I can picture the crowds and smell the sea air as he ran down through Clontarf past Dublin bay, past the Five Lamps to the finish line. I'm proud to say that there were women that ran in the Dublin marathon that year despite the fact that there was still not a global consensus about whether or not it was a good idea for women to run long distances.

The runners world book I have been reading has a chapter on the history of women's running. I was astonished to learn that the first time women were allowed to run a marathon in the Olympics was in 1984. The Olympic Charter stated that to be included in the Games, a women's sport must be widely practiced in at least twenty-five countries on at least two continents and it wasn't until 1984 that they agreed long distance running for women qualified in this way. I wouldn't be my mother's daughter if I wasn't outraged by this discrimination.

In the years leading up to the 1984 Olympics women fought hard to prove that there were no reasons they should not run these long distances. The Boston Marathon is one of the largest and most well known marathons outside of the Olympics. In 1966, Roberta Gibb hid behind a bush before the start of the marathon because she wasn't allowed to enter. She finished with an unofficial time of 3:21:25. Gibb had been inspired to run by the return of her race entry with a note saying that women were not physically capable of running a marathon.

In 1967, Katherine Switzer entered the marathon under the name K.V. Switzer. The officials didn't realize she was a woman until several miles into the race. They chased after her and tried to remove her race number and pictures of her team mates tackling the officials made the newspapers the next day. People were outraged and a cause was born. In 1972 women were officially allowed to compete in the Boston Marathon and Katherine Switzer became a leader in the fight to get the Olympics to create a Women's Marathon event. She teamed up with Avon to organize women's marathons around the world and these races and others (like the Dublin marathon) eventually led to the Olympic committee agreeing it was time to recognize women could run.

Today, in my experience, there is absolutely no discrimination between women and men running. I haven't noticed any difference in the reaction people have when I tell them I'm running a marathon or in the way in which the coaches at Team in Training treat me. Isn't it amazing how attitudes can change so much in such a short time.