Although not the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon –that was Roberta “Bobbi” Gibb who ran unofficially in 1966 and clocked 3:27:17– Switzer was the first woman to run the race with an official number issued by the Boston Athletic Association. Entered only as “K.V. Switzer” in the 1967 edition of the race, her ruse was discovered by a race official, Jock Semple, whose attempt to bodily remove her from the course was captured in the now-famous photo, below.
“Forty years ago April 19, Jock Semple tried to throw me out of the Boston Marathon because I was a woman,” said Switzer in an e-mail message. “In the few years since then, women’s running has grown to the point where there are now more women participating in races than men, and the women marathoners have become the biggest stars of the sport. This is nothing short of a social revolution and it has been a privilege being a part of making it happen; my memoir reflects much of this inspiring history.”
