Kathrine Switzer

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Kathy Switzer athletics

Kathrine Switzer at the 2011 Berlin Marathon Expo.jpg
Kathrine Switzer at the Berlin Marathon 2011

nation United StatesUnited States United States
birthday 5th January 1947 (age 73)
place of birth Amberg , Germany
Career
Best performance 2:51:37 h (marathon)
status active
last change: October 5th, 2018

Kathrine Switzer ( Kathrine Virginia "Kathy" Switzer ; born January 5, 1947 in Amberg ) is an American pioneer of the marathon for women, who is now active as a book author and television commentator.

Career

She was born in Germany as the daughter of a major in the United States Army . In 1949 the family returned to the USA.

1967 Boston Marathon

At the age of twelve, she started running a mile every day to improve her performance as a hockey player. As a journalism student at Syracuse University , she trained with the male athletics team. She explained to Arnie Briggs, the cross-country team's supervisor , who had already taken part in the Boston Marathon 15 times , that she wanted to start this race in 1967 . At that time women were officially only allowed to compete up to 800 m . Since they are known as "K. V. Switzer ”, along with Briggs and Switzer's friend and later first husband, the hammer thrower Tom Miller, no one suspected the organization of the race. It ran with the number 261.
After a few miles, the race director Jock Semple discovered on April 19, 1967 at the 71st running of the endurance classic in Boston that a woman was wearing an official starting number and tried to tear the number off Switzer. However, Miller came to his girlfriend's help and pushed Semple aside so that Switzer could continue the race and crossed the finish line after four hours and 20 minutes. The tussle had taken place right in front of the press bus, so the photos of this incident went around the world and sparked heated discussions about women's sports. Although Switzer was excluded from the Amateur Athletic Union two days after the race , he continued to run unofficially.

At the 1970 Boston Marathon she was fifth and in 1971 third.

In 1972 women were officially admitted to Boston for the first time and Switzer finished third in 3:29:51 h. In the same year, she and Fred Lebow , the founder of the New York City Marathon , started the Crazylegs Mini Marathon (now the New York Mini 10K ), the first street race for women only.

In 1973 she was fourth in Boston, second in the New York City Marathon and won the Maryland Marathon .

1974 New York City Marathon winner

In 1974 she finished fifth in Boston and won in both New York City and Maryland. In 1975 she finished second in Boston with her personal best of 2:51:37 h and seventh in New York City.

In 1977 she won over the cosmetics company Avon with the concept of an international women's run series. The Avon Marathon , which was held annually from 1978 to 1984 , made a significant contribution to the women's marathon becoming part of the 1984 Olympic Games , which Switzer had promoted since she was accredited as a journalist at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. In 1987 she married the third time, New Zealand professor of literature and runner Roger Robinson. In addition to her work as a run organizer, she works as a book author and television commentator.

On the occasion of the publication of the German translation of her autobiography, she ran a competition over the 42.195 km distance for the 39th time at the Berlin Marathon in 2011 . With a time of 4:36:32 h, she finished 56th in the W60 age group.

2017 Boston Marathon

50 years after her marathon debut, Switzer started again at the Boston Marathon on April 17, 2017 at the age of 70 and completed the distance in 4:44:31 hours. The organizer gave it the same starting number as in 1967, number 261.

“I'm really excited about the anniversary. 50 years later, women make up almost half of the field in Boston. "

- Kathrine Switzer

Publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Starting number 261 - the forbidden woman (April 17, 2017)
  2. ↑ Heiko Old Körper: Kathrine Switzer: Interview with the marathon pioneer . In: Runner's World . April 15, 2007
  3. ^ Friedhard Teuffel: The right to run . In: Der Tagesspiegel . May 11, 2007
  4. ↑ Susanne Decker: Knowledge question: Which woman outwitted the organizing committee of the Boston Marathon? In: Planet Knowledge . June 1, 2009
  5. ↑ Michaela Widder: Pioneer runs with her "granddaughters" . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . September 23, 2011
  6. ↑ Ursula Thomas-Stein: Run in freedom . In: Der Tagesspiegel . September 23, 2011
  7. ↑ K. Bühler: Marathon pioneer Kathrine Switzer: "I wanted to show that women can do it" . January 14, 2020
  8. ↑ Official results. Retrieved June 23, 2017 (English).
  9. ↑ Women at the marathon: It started with a street fight , Der Tagesspiegel on April 18, 2017, accessed on April 19, 2017
  10. ↑ Marathon pioneer runs top time at the age of 70 , Die Welt on April 18, 2017, accessed on April 19, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Switzer, Kathrine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Switzer, Kathrine Virginia; Switzer, Kathy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pioneer of women's marathons
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH On the mountain