Books
Marathon Woman
When I think of running, I think of Kathrine Switzer. In this autobiography, she shares with us the challenges she faced and the commitments she made that forced the running world to view women in an entirely new light.
—Billie Jean King
Proclaimed as ‘the most important running book of the last 10 years,’ by ‘Marathon & Beyond’ magazine, Marathon Woman, Running the Race to Revolutionize Women’s Sports is not really about running: it’s about overcoming the impossible and changing lives.
On April 4th, 2017 a new edition of Marathon Woman released in celebration of Kathrine’s 50th anniversary of her historic run as she returns to Boston on April 17th, 2017 to run with her a team of over a hundred members of the 261 Fearless, Inc Team. This new edition includes a new introduction by Kathrine.
Marathon Woman is the inspiring story about how one person really can make a difference, particularly if that person is Kathrine Switzer, who broke the gender barrier in the marathon, propelled women to the sport’s forefront and led the drive to get the women’s marathon into the Olympic Games. At the same time, Marathon Woman is powerfully insightful; often funny and a sometimes poignant social commentary as Switzer relates events of her life alongside one of the most turbulent eras in history.
Switzer first launched the hardcover edition of Marathon Woman in April 2007 on the occasion of her 40th Anniversary of her first running the Boston Marathon. In April 2008, Marathon Woman won the Billie Award for journalism for its inspiring portrayal of women in sports. In 2009, the updated softcover edition was released.
Marathon Woman, first published in 2007 in hardcover by Carroll & Graf, New York, was published in New Zealand in 2008 by Harper Collins, Ltd., and in Germany, in 2011 by spomedis in Hamburg. The American softcover edition (2009) is published by DaCapo Press, a part of Perseus Publishing.
Purchase an autographed copy of Marathon Woman. There are only a few first-edition hardcovers left — perfect for a special gift!
” There is an old saying – ‘never judge a book by its cover’, but one look at Marathon Woman and I knew I had to read this book. I was right. Kathrine Switzer looks you right in the eye and says, ‘We did it, now come with me to see just how it was done!”
—Lin Molloy, Reivew of Marathon Woman at Cool Running
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In Marathon Woman I speak frankly about what we all face—hard work, frustration, heartbreak, time constraint… and how we triumph anyway through the discovery of our own capability. Sometimes that triumph becomes greater than we ever could have imagined. The book also documents an incredible era, a time of huge and exciting social change that WE created, live in, and predicts much of our future. Hundreds of you—including many men who are surprised that Marathon Woman is not a ‘girlie’ book– have written saying you’ve loved and been inspired by this book. Thank you!
—Kathrine
26.2 Marathon Stories
26.2 Marathon Stories is among the top five running books ever.
—Amby Burfoot, Editor at Large, Runners World Magazine
“Over one million people will run in an organized marathon this year. And 50 million will be standing along the sidelines, cheering them on. From London and Berlin to New York and Tokyo, the same challenge will be issued and the same distance conquered—26.2 miles.
Husband and wife team Kathrine Switzer and Roger Robinson have faced that challenge many times, as champions and as joggers, on crowd-packed avenues or on remote trails. In 26.2 Marathon Stories, this formidable couple takes on the full measure of the marathon race, and in 26.2 entertaining and informative chapters vividly illuminates the epic distance that has immortalized heroes, ignited scandals, created a multi-billion dollar shoe industry and changed your life forever. Lavish full color photos of events and heroes from around the world will inspire you, but make no mistake: 26.2 Marathon Stories is not just a beautiful ‘coffee table’ book: it’s about why we run, and was named by ‘Runners World Magazine’ as “one of the best five running books ever”.
26.2 Marathon Stories (a Madison Press Book, 2006) is published in the US by Rodale Press, in New Zealand by Allen & Unwin, and in Germany (2008) as Faszination Marathon by Sudwest Verlag.
Purchase an autographed copy of 26.2 Marathon Stories
“It should be assigned a special place on every runner’s coffee table where it can be picked up again and again. It is not a book that demands you read all at once from cover to cover but should be savored in small portions like a delicious gourmet meal. But don’t be surprised if you can’t put it down until you have savored each one of the 26.2 chapters.
—Lindsey Molloy, Review of 26.2 Marathon Stories at Cool Running
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For anyone who has ever run a marathon or dreamed of doing so, 26.2 Marathon Stories is the ultimate tribute and the ultimate inspiration. For in truth, a marathon has no finish. Its effects are carried for life within the body, the memory, the life story and the self-image. The marathon’s long, inspiring history and its cultural importance in the modern world add another dimension, a deeper significance. To finish a marathon is to attain a small piece of immortality.
—Kathrine & Roger
Running and Walking for Women Over 40
For many over-forty women, this book will be a passport to the best years of their lives.—Joan Benoit Samuelson, Olympic Gold Medalist and Over-50 Women’s Marathon Champion
A consistent program of running or walking is the fastest, easiest, most time-efficient and least expensive road to overall fitness and self-esteem for women and men at any age. For women over forty it can be the key to the most fulfilling years life has in store.
Kathrine Switzer has been a pioneer in women’s fitness since 1967, when she became the first woman to officially enter the Boston Marathon. In the 80s and 90s, she led over a million women around the world to the starting line of fitness through her innovative running programs. Now she has blazed another trail with Running and Walking for Women Over 40…the Road to Sanity and Vanity, the first running and walking book and program designed specifically for women over forty. Now every woman can benefit from Kathrin’s highly personal, motivational, and step-by-step advice.
Purchase an autographed copy of Running and Walking for Women Over 40
I’ve been running for 53 years so of course Running and Walking for Women Over 40 is loaded with personal tips as well as sound scientific advice. I first published it in 1998 and there is a reason it has become a best-seller and is still going strong: it works!
For women beginning fitness programs at age forty, fifty and beyond, the results can be nothing sort of dramatic. For the first time they are reaching the body weight and physical condition they’ve always dreamed of. Women who have been reasonably active all their lives can also find a new and exciting road of fitness of ahead of them after age forty. Some even fine themselves outrunning women half their age…including their daughters!
—Kathrine
Running and Walking for Women Over 40 (St. Martin’s Press, 1998) is a best seller in the United States and also New Zealand (HarperCollins Publishers, 1999). It is also published in Australia, Germany (as Laufen Und Walking, Rowohlt Publishers, 2000) and in Hungary (as Fuss es Gyalogoj, egyvenen Folul is Fiatalon, Magyaraa Konyvklub Publishers, 2001). This book continues to be reprinted even today.
International Versions of Kathrine’s Book
