‘Get The Hell Out Of My Race’: The First Woman To Run The Boston Marathon On How She’s Silenced Critics Over The Years

On April 17, Kathrine will run the Boston Marathon for the ninth time. While much has changed in the last 50 years, other things have stayed the same, including the fact that female runners must still fight back against sexism—and at times, take extra precautions to ensure safety. Below, Kathrine shares the prejudiced statements she’s heard over the past five decades—and how she’s overcome them. 

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“Give me those numbers and get the hell out of my race!” 

That’s what race official Jock Semple screamed at Kathrine 50 years ago, as he tried to remove her bib. “I was blindsided by it,” Kathrine says. “I was terrified and yelled for help.” But, she says, “I realized he was a product of his time and that he would learn. The guys who were running were all very supporting and that meant the world to me, but I wondered why other women weren’t running. That’s when the eureka moment came: I realized other women would be there if they only had the opportunity. So, by the end of the race, I was resolved. I had a purpose.”

“In 1972, [women] were official for the first time. We could run with bib numbers. The official [that year] huffed and puffed and said if we ran his race we had to meet the men’s qualifying time, and six of us did. We impressed him so much that year that in 1973 [that same official] came up to me at the start line, and I thought he was going to hit me because he came bowling up to me. He grabbed me, turned me around to the TV cameras, and put a kiss on my cheek and said in his Scottish brogue, ‘Come on lass, let’s get a wee bit of notoriety.’ That was his apology.”

“A ‘woman’s place’ in athletics is ‘extracurricular’”

“At Syracuse University, where I was a student, ‘women’s place’ in athletics was a ‘play day’ or ‘extra-curricular,’ whereas the men had full-ride scholarships, hundreds of them, in many different sports. There was also the issue of health, because everyone was concerned that women would somehow be too weak or too fragile, or would injure themselves, or would turn into men, or lesbians—dearie me!—or be unable to bear children.”

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“Get in the car or I’m going to grab you.”

“During training, there were derogatory remarks. There were people shouting out the windows of their cars at me or making smacking noises with their lips, or obscene gestures or throwing things at me like beer cans,” Kathrine says of her training runs back in the day. “Some people would say ‘You better watch out or I’m going to blankety-blank you.’ Or I’d have someone trolling behind me for miles and miles in a car saying, ‘Get in the car or I’m going to grab you.’ It was really scary stuff, and it still happens now, but it’s way less than it was. It still puts you on your guard. I always carried a can of dog spray, but not just for the dogs.” 

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“Women won’t want to run in the Olympics.”

“This was a lot more difficult because I was dealing with federations in different countries who sometimes never encountered a women’s sports event, much less a women’s-only road race,” Kathrine says of her quest to get the Olympic Games to include the women’s marathon as an event. “They couldn’t believe women would want to run, and they tried to convince me not to organize it. But once they saw I was going ahead and I wanted their cooperation, they acquiesced and were stunned to see how successful the event was.”

“To me, it was as important as getting women the right to vote. The vote is about intellectual and social acceptance, and the marathon is physical acceptance. People now realize women can do anything. More important, women themselves realize they can do anything.”

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“I can’t stand seeing women sweat.”

“People would say, ‘You shouldn’t do that you might hurt yourself. You shouldn’t do that you might—whisper-whisper—change. I can’t stand seeing women sweat! You shouldn’t be out running; you should be home making dinner for your husband.’ But there were great comments too. Many women said, ‘Come on honey, do it for all of us.’ But now, the best thing is, when I’m out training, they don’t say anything at all! Which is perfect. It’s because women’s running now is normal.”

And now…”It’s a social revolution!”

“Everything has changed! It’s a social revolution! Millions of women are empowered and the trend for running is continuing around the world and will continue to grow even bigger with my foundation 261 Fearless. These women are not running to lose five pounds, or to become Olympic athletes. They are running because it gives them a sense of self-worth, self-esteem, and fearlessness. They are empowered.” 

The number 261 was on Kathine’s bib in 1967, and she has received letters from around the world from racers who put 261 on their backs because it made them feel fearless in the face of adversity.  

And so, Kathrine worked with partners to “create a non-judgemental running community for women to run and walk together.” The site, www.261Fearless.org, provides information for women anywhere in the world to create such communities. 

James Fell is an internationally-syndicated fitness columnist. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.