…Kathrine Switzer, marathon woman
Kathrine Switzer is best known as the woman who challenged the all-male tradition of the 1967 Boston Marathon and became the first woman to officially enter and run the event despite being physically attacked by a race official.
Irate race official Jock Semple tried forcibly to remove Kathrine Switzer from the then all-male Boston Marathon simply because she was a woman. Luckily for Switzer, her boyfriend bounced the official out of the race instead and she went on to finish.
As a television commentator, she has covered the Olympics, world and national championships; the New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles marathons; and every televised edition of the Boston Marathon for 36 consecutive years. And, at age 67, she still runs marathons…
