Switzer went on to become a fierce competitor and a champion for women’s rights in sports, which she recounts in her 2007 memoir, Marathon Woman (Carroll & Graf). A huge part of that progress has to do with Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially enter and run Boston in 1967. While equal gender representation in marathons has now become routine, races in the not-so-distant past looked vastly different.

Also, those fields were about the same size: 14,675 men completed the race, while 11,982 women finished. Both the men’s and women’s races ranged from world-class athletes to time-qualifier squeakers to charity runners. This past April, 26,657 runners crossed the 2019 Boston Marathon finish line. She also played a key role in establishing the first women’s Olympic Marathon in 1984.Switzer, now 72, is best-known for becoming the first woman to officially register and run the Boston Marathon.Kathrine Switzer’s best-selling memoir, Marathon Woman, is set to be adapted into a film by Chastain Film Capital.

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