The Runner Who Claimed Her Place

In 1967, Kathrine Switzer entered the Boston Marathon at a time when women were not officially welcomed in the race. She registered as K. V. Switzer, not to disguise herself as someone else, but because the entry process did not clearly forbid her from running.

During the race, a race official noticed her and tried to pull her from the course. Switzer’s coach and other runners helped keep her moving. She continued through the miles, not as a symbol at every moment, but as a runner finding her rhythm and finishing what she had begun.

Switzer completed the marathon in about four hours and twenty minutes. Later, she worked to expand opportunities for women in distance running, including helping establish the Avon International Running Circuit. Her action changed the story attached to her identity: she was not merely someone asking whether she belonged. She became someone who ran.

The meaning of her run was larger than a single finish, yet it began with a simple act: putting one foot in front of the other and letting the action reveal a new identity. Tomorrow can hold that same kind of experiment, with movement chosen as something I get to inhabit rather than something I must prove.