Tennis champion Serena Williams does. Olympic gold medalist and two-time Boston Marathon winner Joan Benoit Samuelson didn’t, and still doesn’t. And when actress Katie Holmes crossed the finish line of the recent New York City Marathon, she may have, judging by some photos.
…Still, Travers herself always wears lipstick when she runs. “I have to wear lip balm with sunscreen anyway, so why not wear some with tint? I channel Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially enter and run the Boston Marathon (in 1967).” Switzer wore lipstick, though her boyfriend warned her to remove it because “somebody might see you are a girl and not let you run,” she recounted in her book “Marathon Woman.” She was nearly thrown out by a race official.
“In the early days, I was trying to show people that you can be feminine and still be an athlete,” Switzer said. “That’s not an issue now. In industrialized nations, we revere our women athletes and don’t feel that they’re any less feminine because they’re not wearing makeup. But I like dressing up and looking good, so in a race I always wear makeup. When I train alone, though, I don’t – unless I’m with my husband and planning a seduction afterwards.”
