On This Day in History for April 19

Kathrine Switzer runs the Boston Marathon

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When I first ran “Heartbreak Hill” at mile 21 of the Boston Marathon, I searched for my wife in the spot we agreed to meet. When Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to ever officially run Boston, reached that same spot on April 19, 1967, she was saying “Fuck you, Jock Semple. Fuck you fuck you fuck you.”

--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: April 19, 1967--

Maybe not those exact words. I’ve interviewed Kathrine and don’t recall any profanity. But she did say she was “murdering Jock Semple in my mind.” The fuck is Jock Semple? Some background on that historic day: 

The previous year Bobbi Gibb, a woman, ran Boston unofficially, jumping out of the bushes at the beginning of the race. Bobbi applied and was rejected due to gender discrimination; Amateur Athletic Union rules said women were not allowed to run more than 1.5 miles competitively cuz too fragile or some patriarchal bullshit. 

Switzer was only 20 and thought she could just show up and run, but her coach, Arnie Briggs, insisted it be official. It was sheer luck that allowed her to run. Kathrine used her initials, because she was tired of her first name being misspelled with an additional “e”. She wasn’t trying to break barriers; Gibb had already run Boston. The lucky use of K.V. Switzer got her accepted. 

The other bit of luck was shitty weather. Her bulky tracksuit meant officials at the start line didn’t realize a woman was about to run the race. But her gender anonymity wouldn’t last. Race official Jock Semple saw Kathrine run by at the two-mile mark and was misogynistically fucking pissed. He attacked her, trying to rip the race bib that bore the number 261 from her chest, yelling, “Give me those numbers and get the hell out of my race!” 

“I was terrified and yelled for help,” Kathrine told me. Her boyfriend was running alongside and tackled Semple, knocking him away. The photos of that moment remain iconic. But it nearly ended there. History was almost not made. “My first instinct was to step off the course, because I was afraid and embarrassed,” she said. Then she realized if she quit, people would say women are quitters; they can’t do it. “I put my head down and decided I would finish on my hands and knees if that was what it took.” 

Not only did Kathrine finish the race, she became a lifelong champion of women’s running. She was instrumental in getting women to officially run Boston in 1972, even making peace with Semple. Switzer also played a key role in getting the women’s marathon included as an event in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. 

Kathrine ran Boston many more times, including in 2017 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her triumphant first marathon. She was wearing the same bib number she donned in 1967: #261. 

The book is now available! Get On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down.