BOSTON—Four miles into the 1967 Boston Marathon, a race official realized a woman was running—unheard of only because women were not allowed to enter the race. The official physically tried to stop Kathrine Switzer, grabbing at her race number.
But Switzer ran on and finished as the first woman to officially enter the Boston Marathon, forever changing the event that UW-Madison women ran in Monday.
It's been night and day,\ Switzer said. ""Then women were considered too fragile to do arduous sports, and it was dangerous and socially inappropriate if they tried. Now women are front and center.""
More than 20,000 athletes—men, women, elite and disabled—displayed their abilities throughout the 26.2 miles of the 110th Boston Marathon. This year, 7,625 women finished the marathon. Only eight women ran the 1972 marathon, the first to officially allow women to compete.
UW-Madison senior Krista Winter thanked Switzer for her example women runners.
""I think that running is an experience that everyone should have because it makes you appreciate your body and your ability,"" Winter said. ""A woman's body is just as capable to adapt to training as a man's body, so why shouldn't we be able to run too?""
Before the race she said her main goal was to finish with a smile.
""It's not about time,"" she said. ""Everybody knows that everybody has qualified for Boston, so I think a lot of it is just the experience and having fun. ... With the number of runners, it felt like a community.""
Winter said she achieved another goal—to average 8:30 per mile consistently through the race. She said her feet must have crossed the finish line at the exact same time as UW-Madison alumnus Stephanie Miller.
She said her marathoning influenced her to major in dietetics, much like fellow runner Christine Weisshaar who said her UW-Madison graduate studies in biomechanics have helped her running.
""It integrates into all my running,"" Weisshaar said.
Weisshaar ran Boston last year and called the hills ""brutal,"" but found strength in others to overcome the course.
""I think about individual people who have helped me throughout my life, in my training or in my career, so even though it's something I'm doing for myself, I try to give it meaning to other people,"" Weisshaar said.
UW-Madison sophomore Ashley Huth also said she worked with others. She met a UW-Madison alumnus at her qualifying marathon and ran nearly 22 miles with her at Boston before splitting up after a stretch of the course called ""Heartbreak Hill.""
Although she found the infamous incline challenging, Huth said going downhill was worse on her tight legs.
""I almost preferred running uphill at that point,"" she said.
Despite the hills, she said the 50 degree, partly sunny day was ""perfect"" running weather, especially compared to winter training.
""We're in Wisconsin where it's cold, and sometimes it's just not practical to do a long run outside,"" she said.
Instead of training outside, runners flock to indoor facilities on campus. UW-Madison law student Angela Verburg said she once ran 18 miles on Southeast Recreational Facilities treadmills to prepare for Boston, but nothing prepared her for the spectators.
""I couldn't believe the crowds,"" she said. ""It was deafening—all the screams.""
Approximately one million spectators lined the sides of the marathon, according to the Boston Athletic Association.
""I'm really honored to be a part of it,"" Verburg said. ""This is only my second marathon, so to be part of such an elite marathon is just really great.""
According to the woman who started it all, Boston should be an honor for every woman. ""Boston is the oldest continuously running marathon in the world,"" Switzer said. ""It is historically important and is the site of the women's running revolution—just like [the Revolutionary War's first battles] Lexington and Concord.""
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