News & Events

A part-time Wellingtonian and women’s running trailblazer has had a stadium named after her in France. Kathrine Switzer was the first registered woman to run in the Boston Marathon, and spends half of her time in Wellington and the rest in her native United States. The stadium, in Dunkirk, was named Stade d’Athlétisme Kathrine Switzer, or Kathrine Switzer Stadium, in…Read More

Hi Friends, All of us were shocked when Rosie Ruiz cheated in the 1980 Boston Marathon, especially me who was doing the coverage of the elite women in the race from a golf cart alongside and never saw her.  But I grabbed her afterward and interviewed her, it became an interview in which she incriminated…Read More

It was a chilly day in Boston on the morning of April 19, 1967. It had started to sleet, adding to the chill. Forgoing the more exposed t-shirt and shorts, most runners had decided to keep their sweatshirts and pants on. Among the runners was Kathrine Switzer, a 20-year-old woman, excited to run in her…Read More

She didn’t know it at the time, but a photograph of Kathrine Switzer running in the 1967 Boston Marathon would become an iconic image for sports and women’s equality. The image showed Switzer, No. 261, in the middle of several men, as a race official attempts to pull her off the course. Switzer’s boyfriend, however,…Read More

  She didn’t know it at the time, but a photograph of Kathrine Switzer running in the 1967 Boston Marathon would become an iconic image for sports and women’s equality. The image showed Switzer, No. 261, in the middle of several men, as a race official attempts to pull her off the course. Switzer’s boyfriend,…Read More

The controversy that swirled around this iconic event — a woman running in a men-only marathon — tends to diminish the athletic achievements of one of the world’s most renowned female runners. Kathrine went on to run Boston eight times, bettering her first time in 1967 of four hours 20 minutes down to 2 hours…Read More

Four hours, 20 minutes. That was how long it took Boston Marathon participant No. 261 to run 26.2 miles on April 19, 1967 — a run taht catapulted 20-year-old Kathrine Switzer from anonymity to historical icon in her sport and for gender equality. As the first woman to officially register complete the race as a…Read More

In a New York Times essay last March, Maine-based writer Caitlin Shetterly described her joy in gritty, cold winter runs and the way these runs often spark creative thoughts. “On a run, ideas will bubble up,” she wrote. “Like little ice floes in warming waters, they’ll drift unencumbered until I can see them gleaming in the sun.” Just…Read More

Last month, around 30,000 runners raced the Boston Marathon, with women making up about 45 percent of the field. But in 1967, there was only one woman with an official bib: Kathrine Switzer. Aside from training for months through the bleak winter, the 20-year-old journalism student had to break barriers, overcoming prejudice, criticism and ridicule just…Read More

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR News) – Tuesday morning the University of Lynchburg announced the commencement speakers for their spring graduation ceremonies. The University released the following information:  Kathrine Switzer will speak at our Undergraduate Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 18. In 1967, she became the first woman to enter and run the Boston Marathon, despite it being closed…Read More

Thousands of women ran in the Boston Marathon this year, but back in 1967, 20-year-old Kathrine Switzer was the only woman on the course. Her decision to participate in the marathon that morning sparked a social revolution that has given women across the world the motivation to run for over 50 years. In 1967, Switzer…Read More

Amediados de diciembre del 1966, y mientras trotaban bajo una feroz tormenta de nieve, Kathrine Switzer tuvo una fuerte discusión con su veterano entrenador, Arnie Briggs. Por aquel entonces, Switzer tenía 19 años, estudiaba periodismo deportivo en la Universidad de Siracusa, Nueva York, y, como la institución no tenía disciplinas deportivas para mujeres, ella practicaba…Read More

Most Kiwis wouldn’t guess that, nestled in the hills of Wellington, a global sporting superstar has made a home. Thousands of kilometres away from the US, where she’s mobbed by fans, the world’s most famous female marathon runner enjoys a more laid-back life of dinner parties, movie nights and pounding the pavements of the windy…Read More

Was there a moment in your career when you realized that you needed to reinvent yourself or alter the course of your career? How did you come to that decision? There were several, as life always throws you curve balls and you need to shift and adapt. At the time, these moments are usually something…Read More

On Friday, all 28 players on the United States women’s soccer team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation, an escalation in their increasingly public battle for equality. The players have said that they play more games than the men’s team — and win more of them — yet still receive less pay.…Read More

activebeauty: Warum war es Frauen damals verboten, Marathon zu laufen? Im Jahr 1967 gab es dazu nicht wirklich Regeln. Aber generell waren fast alle Sportarten den Männern vorbehalten. Frauen nahmen fast nie an Bewerben teil. Viele Leute glaubten: Eine Frau kann rein körperlich keine so weite Distanz schaffen. Oder sie würde sich dabei verletzen. Viele…Read More

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. What is something about you that would surprise people? Kathrine: I love to be in the garden and do gardening. And, I love to see the result. It’s kind…Read More

WASHINGTON — Running is about putting one foot in front of the other, no matter your age, say Kathrine Switzer and Roger Robinson — a husband and wife team known to many as royalty in the running world. In 1967, Switzer, now 71, became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as a numbered…Read More

Nearly a year after setting up a menstrual cup manufacturing business in Hawke’s Bay, two lifelong best friends have hit a huge deal to help female runners at this year’s New York Marathon. The Hello Cup is a reusable hygienic cup that is an alternative to traditional feminine sanitary products. It holds three times as…Read More

A mile and a half into Kathrine Switzer’s first Boston Marathon, she was attacked by a race official. It was 1967 and women didn’t run marathons. Not officially, at least. The race official ran up behind Switzer, shouting and clawing at her sweatshirt. He was trying to pull off her bib with her race number…Read More