When Kathrine Switzer stepped up to the start line at the Boston Marathon in 1967, she knew she had done everything she could to train for the moment.
The then-20-year-old Switzer, a Syracuse University student, had spent months working alongside cross-country assistant coach Arnie Briggs, logging hundreds of miles in preparation for the big day to prove that she could do it.
Nearly 60 years later, ahead of the 2026 Boston Marathon, Switzer caught up with PEOPLE to talk about her experience and share what made her keep going even after she “was attacked in the race.”