Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to enter the Boston Marathon officially using her race number in 1967.
Switzer registered as “K. V. Switzer,” because the Boston Marathon entry form did not explicitly state that women were barred. Race director Jock Semple tried to remove her during the event, but Switzer’s teammates and supporters helped her continue. She finished in 4:20:47.
The story helped expose the exclusion of women from major road races. Switzer later became a leading advocate for women’s running and helped establish the Avon International Running Circuit, which promoted women’s road racing worldwide.
Bobbi Gibb had run Boston unofficially in 1966, one year before Switzer’s official entry. Joan Benoit won the first women’s Olympic marathon in 1984, while Nina Kuscsik won the first officially sanctioned Boston women’s division in 1972.