Who was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon? Everything about Kathrine Switzer who created history despite being stopped by race officials

The Boston Marathon comes under the six World Marathon Majors and captivates the attention of thousands of enthusiasts every time. It is the world's oldest annual marathon and is renowned for its highly organized events. This event has been going on since 1897 and still has a strong hold on the marathon community. It consists of multiple interesting stories but the most famous of all is of Kathrine Switzer.

Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon on April 19, 1967. However, it was not a simple feat as it is for other men as Switzer stepped up and broke the stereotype that it was taboo for women to participate in sports. During the Boston Marathon, Switzer was ambushed by the members of the organization. They tried to pull her out of the race physically just because she was a woman.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Switzer recalled that she convinced ex-marathon runner Arnie Briggs about letting her in the Boston Marathon. She added that she had to prove the ex-marathon runner Arnie Briggs that despite being a woman, she was fit enough to run at the marathon. After some convincing, Briggs finally changed his mind,

"If any woman can do it, you can do it, but you'll have to show me in practice, and if you can I'll be the first person to take you to Boston," Briggs said.

Right after this, Kathrine Switzer was successful in proving her capabilities by running five miles more than the given distance. She finally registered in the Marathon with her initials 'K.V. Switzer'.

The incident with K.V. Switzer at the Boston Marathon

Kathrine Switzer ran at the Boston Marathon in 1967 and faced the most uncanny experience of her life. Recounting the supportive response from the runners from the start, Switzer said there was a turn of events for her as soon as she went two miles into the race.

Talking about the experience, Switzer recalled how the Press buses and journalists came in shouting at Switzer, asking her what she was trying to prove by running the marathon.

In another bus was the race co-director Jock Semple, who ran behind and screamed at her asking to get out of the race and hand him her race number '261' back. Switzer recounted,

"He's ripping at my numbers and trying to pull them off."

After getting grabbed by Semple, Kathrine Switzer was saved by her boyfriend Tom Miller, who was running beside her. Despite the anger from Semple and other people, who wanted her to stop just because she was a woman, Switzer decided to complete the race in any way possible.

"At that moment, I got really angry myself, which was great because I turned to my coach and I said, 'I'm going to finish this race on my hands and knees if I have to," Switzer said.

For the sake of every woman, Kathrine Switzer finished the race and became the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon. In 1972, women officially began running in the Boston Marathon, and in 1975, Kathrine finished second in the same marathon with a time of 2:51:37.