In 1967, photos of a furious race official lunging at a woman mid-stride were plastered across the front pages of newspapers worldwide. That woman was Kathrine Switzer— the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon despite being told it was impossible. What began as a personal challenge soon became a global reckoning, sparking a pivotal moment in the fight for gender equality in sports. Follow us on Instagram @watchhercookpodcast Sources: Marathon Woman The woman who crashed the boston marathon Breaking barriers for women in sports Kathrine Switzer- Hall of Fame Bobbi Gibb: The Boston marathon pioneer Bobbi Gibb Marathon Pioneer- Sports Museum Before Title IX: How women sports teams got their start How title IX changed the landscape of sports Policing the bodies of women athletes is nothing new Women’s sports history Debunking women’s running myths 216 fearless Facts and myths about Atalanta, goddess of running Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who was Atalanta and why is her story significant?
In ancient Greek mythology lived the heroine Atalanta. Her name, meaning unswaying and enduring, echoes the very essence of who she was. Uninterested in the roles women were expected to play, Atalanta was unwavering in her identity and unafraid to be herself.
She was abandoned at birth by her father who longed for a son, and raised by bears in the wilderness, growing up to become one of the most skilled hunters and fastest runners in the land. She was independent and untamed, and was warned that marriage would be her downfall.
Determined to preserve her freedom, she vowed only to marry a man who could beat her in a race, knowing full well that no one could. Suitors lined up for the challenge, but all were defeated, losing their lives in the process.
It wasn't until Hipponomes, with the help of the goddess Aphrodite and a handful of golden apples, finally distracted and outran her that she was reluctantly claimed as a wife. But what made Antolanta timeless isn't how her story ends, it's what she stood for. Her myth is less about love and loss and more about agency, strength, and the right to choose your own path.
She was a heroine who embraced her non-traditional gifts and used them without apology. Her story lives on in every woman who dares to run her own race. A reminder that being true to yourself is the greatest victory of all. This is Watch Her Cook.
Hello everyone, I'm Cassie. And I'm Danielle. Welcome back to Watch Her Cook, a podcast dedicated to sharing the incredible lives of women who have taken their power back throughout history. What did you think of my little intro today? It threw me back to high school. I haven't thought about Greek mythology that much, but it reminded me of my Greek mythology class in ninth grade. Wow.
The last time I talked about Greek mythology was I did a maid of honor speech for my best friend, Netea, last summer. And I talked about the myth of people being split in half and searching for their soulmate and yada, yada. So that was my last dance with Greek mythology. But I really loved this story. And it's one that I don't remember learning about in ninth grade mythology class.
And I think the sentiment is something that so many people can relate to and just her standing up for what she wants. And I'm not a runner, but I can relate to her story because I feel like marriage will be my downfall. Just saying. That's the spirit.
Well, I think if you're married to the right person, it's not a downfall. It's just making sure that you don't lose yourself in your marriage.
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Chapter 2: How did Kathrine Switzer become the first woman to run the Boston Marathon?
I would say the most well-known.
Yeah. And of course, we're talking about some women today. So let's get into it. Katherine Switzer, a 20-year-old college student with a passion for running, never set out to make history. But in 1967, when she stood at the starting line of the Boston Marathon, her decision to run would challenge a deeply held belief in sports, that women had no place in long-distance events like the marathon.
What unfolded that day would provoke headlines, spark conversation, and forever change the course of women's athletics.
Katherine was born on January 5, 1947, in Amberg, Germany, where her father was stationed as a US Army major. In 1949, her family returned to the US, where she grew up in Fairfax County, Virginia. She discovered sports as a teenager, playing field hockey and basketball, along with running a mile every day.
After high school, Catherine attended Lynchburg College before transferring to Syracuse University in 1966, where she studied journalism and English literature, with aspirations of becoming a sports writer.
Once she arrived, she was disappointed to discover that Syracuse didn't offer intercollegiate sports programs for women. This was not unusual for the time. Before we continue Catherine's story, let's discuss the broader history of women in modern sports for a moment.
We want to paint a picture of some of the challenges women faced, though the full history of the inequality women have faced in sports is complex.
For most of modern history, women were actively excluded from sports, not just socially, but medically and politically. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the US, prevailing ideas about femininity and the female body painted sports as dangerous for women.
One of the most persistent myths was that vigorous physical activity could damage a woman's reproductive organs, particularly the uterus. Some even believe that too much exertion could cause infertility or even for the uterus to fall out, making women unfit for childbirth. These beliefs were used to justify bans or limitations on women's participation in everything from running to cycling.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did women face in early modern sports?
harm any form of childbirth or whatever in the future it's like we wouldn't have gotten to this point because like we would have been knocked out of existence survival of the fittest you know if we we wouldn't have survived we wouldn't be here yeah no it's like okay it's just wild but that was even common thought accepted widely accepted thought yeah yeah
It always kind of brings me back to that astronaut who was a woman who went up to space and she had her period. So they sent a thousand tampons or something.
Yeah. They're like, we don't know what's going on with you under your skirt, but you can have a thousand. And then asked if it was enough. Yeah. For what? A week or something that it was. I don't know. We should look into that more because we talk about it a lot.
While not everyone agreed with this whole concept of women can't do any form of exercise, some educators and physicians argued that exercise could be healthy and beneficial for women as long as it remained within, quote, the appropriate bounds, meaning light, non-competitive, and feminine. Beyond health concerns, sport was also seen as a domain to shape masculinity.
Allowing women into this space was viewed as threatening to both the sport and the status quo. Female athletes who did break through were often accused of being too masculine, while at the same time, held to beauty standards male athletes never faced. While some women found ways to participate, often in middle or upper class settings like tennis or golf, access was extremely limited.
White women began slowly gaining entry to certain sports institutions in the early 20th century. But for Black, Indigenous, and other women of color, opportunities were even scarcer. They were often barred entirely from mainstream athletic clubs, leagues, and college teams due to segregation, racism, and underfunding.
Instead, they created their own spaces, thriving in community-run leagues, historically Black colleges, tribal schools, and local clubs.
A significant shift took place with the passage of Title IX in 1972, a U.S. legislation that prohibited sex-based discrimination in educational programs or activities that received federal funding. Prior to Title IX, fewer than 32,000 women participated in college sports, making up less than 16% of all college athletes.
By 2020, that number was seven times larger, with women now representing 44% of all NCAA athletes, which stands for the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Similarly, in 1972, only 7% of girls were involved in high school sports. By 2019, girls accounted for 43% of all high school athletes. But the fight is far from over.
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Chapter 4: What impact did Title IX have on women's sports?
You can do this, but... There was always a but. And to see once that but was removed through Title IX, just that jump in statistics clearly shows the interest and willingness and eagerness. of women to participate in sports and it's like that barrier was just once it was taken down at least partially the influx of women who are just like totally stoked to be involved
Yeah, you just know that once that barrier was shot down, there were so many women that were like, finally, this is my time to do this. I've wanted to do this. And I think that it's also important to recognize that sports aren't just about being athletic or participating in a game. Sports are such a big part of community.
So many, I remember in high school when I played sports, I did volleyball and tennis, and then I also did the dance team. There was so much, yeah, of course you love what you're doing, but there's so much friendship that's built there. You learn so much about working with other people. There's so much community. It gives you this really exciting activity to do.
You know, it's just, it's so much, it's so, sports are so fulfilling. And to take that and say that women should not be allowed in that space is really upsetting.
I had no idea you did dance team. I agree with everything you just said, but I'm kind of hung up. Surprise. Four years in, or more, still learning more about you.
Yeah, I'm full of secrets and surprises. How long did that last? I was on dance team for four years and then I took dance lessons outside of that. Yeah.
I've never seen you dance other than like at a live music show at a bar or something.
I mean, this is my high school career, so it's been a long time, but I'm also love swing dancing. I'm actually pretty good at swing dancing.
Okay. That is kind of, I don't know, it's just like the formal, the formality of a dance team. I did not know you were on. Yeah. And we just talked about, I think it was last week on National Park After Dark, we talked about a little bit of my sport or my sports career, my soccer years. Yeah. Yeah. You were a sports girl for a while too. Yay, sports. I love them. Okay.
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Chapter 5: How did Kathrine Switzer train for the Boston Marathon?
In 1964, her father took her to her first marathon and she fell in love with it. The following year, Bobby wrote to the Boston Athletic Association requesting an official entry for the 1966 race. But instead of receiving her race number in the mail, she opened up a rejection letter from the race director, Will Cloney. The letter read, quote,
Furthermore, the Boston Marathon is a men's division event. The rules of international sports and the Amateur Athletic Union do not allow women to run races more than the sanctioned one and a half miles. Sorry we could not be more of help. Sincerely, Will Cloney. Let's just take a moment.
She can't. Let's just take a moment.
She will. Hold on a minute. Okay. I have so much to say about this.
Right.
Okay. First of all, the audacity. First things first. Secondly, women are not physiologically capable of running a marathon by whose standards? Who invented that?
This is still, they still think that their uteruses are going to fall out if they run for more than 1.5 miles.
At 1.75, uteruses are falling. Gone. They're out of you.
On the ground.
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Chapter 6: Who was Bobbi Gibb and how did she influence women's participation in marathons?
And that is really shown in this particular scenario because, yeah, on paper, Will Clooney is saying no because this is the regulation. But in practice, when she's there and surrounded by real-life people,
overwhelmingly she's supported it like that shows such a disparity and disconnect between things that can be applied in a lot of different areas that I think is really important to keep in mind just in life in general that you know real people in real life circumstances like are often very different than certain policies in place right a very good point um
So pivoting back to Catherine's story, we've talked about Bobby. She was the first person to unofficially run the Boston Marathon. But Catherine is preparing to do that officially. And the days leading up to the race, shortly after signing up, Catherine's boyfriend, an ex-American football player and nationally-ranked
hammer thrower, who they called Big Tom Miller, announced that he was also going to run but didn't need to train because, quote, if a girl can run a marathon, I can run a marathon. John Leonard, a friend from the cross-country team, also signed up and completed their team of four.
How does one get into competitive hammer throwing? Just a sad question. I've never heard of that before.
Does anyone know? How do we sign up? But also imagine the person that you... have a relationship with, seeing all the work that you're doing and knows your aspirations to run this and knows the training that you're doing and how hard to come out publicly and say, if a girl can do it, I can do it.
It's like, it's not if a girl can do it, you're saying if my partner, the person I am supposed to love and care about the most can do it, then it's easy. Yeah. It's just such a dig. It is such a dig.
And it's very patronizing. And also, yeah, your partner is supposed to be your number one supporter. Like they are supposed to be the loudest voice in the room in support of you, not as someone who's digging at you and being like, yeah, well, I can do it. And, you know, like it's just not a good look to have.
Not a good look. Not a fan of Big Tom already. The day before the marathon, they all piled into Arnie's car bound for Boston. It was a five-hour ride, but the excitement in the car made it feel even longer. After arriving, Arnie insisted on driving them along the marathon course, excited to point out all the sights that he admired.
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