Empowerment in a pair of running shoes: First woman to run the Boston Marathon shares her story on St. Louis Public Radio

Radio Interview with Kelly Moffit

The first woman to officially enter and run the Boston Marathon, in 1967, did so under the gender-neutral entry “K.V. Switzer.” When race officials found out she was a woman, one race director physically attacked her for wearing an official bib number in the race. That moment was caught on camera and made headlines around the world, later becoming one of Time-Life’s “100 Photos that Changed the World.” Her full name is Kathrine Switzer.

“My dad said ‘Honey, you should run a mile a day,’ when I was 12-years-old,” Switzer told “St. Louis on the Air” host Don Marsh on Monday. “He was hoping I would make my high school field hockey team. He had no idea that he gave me a victory under my belt that no one could ever take away from me. It was amazing, the empowerment, the self-esteem and sense-of-self that I got from this. And it translated to every area of my life.”

Listen to Interview Here