Why female runners owe it all to Kathrine Switzer

In 1967, Switzer was the first official woman to run a marathon. Despite backlash, millions of women across the world now owe their runner's high to her.

On Sunday afternoon, I was sitting in the kitchen with my mother as we looked at return flights to London, looking at the depressing amount of money we'd be spending on tests —  and the amount of days I'd have to spend in quarantine.

And then Woman's Hour came on. They were interviewing a woman who had defied all gender norms, to become the first woman ever to run a marathon. The woman was Kathrine Switzer, and the image of Boston Marathon manager, Jock Semple trying to shove her out of the race, is perhaps what ironically made her catch the eyes of the nation.

I couldn't believe I'd never heard her story before. So I decided to do a deep dive into her life.

Inspired by her father since the age of 12, Switzer started her running life with a mile a day, until she joined her school's hockey team, and then the boy's track team. A child of the 50s, she wasn't allowed to run officially, and she was never as fast as the boys. But her coach Arnie Briggs, who'd run the Boston Marathon over 20 times , pushed her harder than ever before. He didn't think that a woman would ever have the motivation to complete 26 miles, but he saw something in her that made him want to prove that concept wrong.

Today, Switzer is known to most people as marathon women. And I realised, sitting in my kitchen yesterday, that the only thing that got me through lockdown, the one thing that has kept my mental health afloat, and one of the biggest goals I have in life, they're all thanks to her. I wouldn't be a runner today if it weren't for her. Because it may still be frowned upon. She changed the way men look at women for their physical capacity, and I can't thank her enough for that.

"If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon."

I will, Switzer. But I will now be able to run one too because of you.