By Wendy Ballard
While recently watching coverage of the 2008 track and field Olympic
Trials, I found myself overwhelmed with pride. As I watched the women's
trial events I became increasingly inspired not only as a woman but as an
athlete as well. Being a runner myself, I began to ponder the history of
women's distance running. To satisfy my own curiosity, I decided to do a
little research. Much to my surprise I discovered that women's official
acceptance in the sport of distance running occurred much later in history
than I had anticipated.
Women's desire for inclusion in distance running dates back to 1896.
Melpomene, a young Greek woman requested that she be allowed to participate
in the Olympic marathon. With her request denied, she ran the course
unofficially and finished with a time of 4:30. The first women's Olympic
marathon would not be run for another 88 years after Melopomene's
challenge.
Denied entry into the modern Olympic Games, women began holding the Women's
Olympic Games in 1922. The games were sponsored by the Federation Sportive
Feminine Internationale - the governing body for women in track and field
around the world. The first Olympiad for women was held in Paris in 1922.
After petitioning time and time again, women were granted an experimental
program of 5 track and field events in the 1928 Olympic Games. All 5
events were completed but because of the "exhausted" condition of some of
the female athletes at the end of the 800 meter final, the women's event
was dropped and would not be reinstated until 1960. Women were allowed to
run in the 1960 Rome Olympics, but the longest distance they were allowed
to run was the 800 meter event.
The decade of the 60's did not see much in the way of progress for women in
distance running. With women still being denied entrance into the majority
of races, many resort to covert action. After being denied entry into the
1966 Boston Marathon, Roberta Gibb hides in the bushes and jumps into the
race. She finished the race in 3:21:40 beating two thirds of the men. One
of the most dramatic incidences occurred in the 1967 Boston Marathon.
Female distance runner, Katherine Switzer signed up for the race under the
name K. Switzer. With race officials unaware of her gender, K. Switzer was
accepted to participate. After becoming aware of Katherine's presence,
race official Jock Semple chased her down during the race and attempted to
rip her number off and physically throw her out of the race. His actions
were caught in photos that were distributed around the world. Much to his
dismay, Mr. Semple's actions would single handedly ignite the women's
running revolution.
This revolution experienced great progress throughout the 70's and 80's.
In 1971, two of the most prestigious road races, the Boston and New York
Marathons, officially became open to women. Another milestone was
accomplished in 1984 when the women's marathon was added to the Olympic
Games.
The struggle for recognition and acceptance has taken almost a century.
Today, almost half of all marathoner's are women. As women continue to
make great strides in the world of distance running, I think it is
important to reflect back and remember those women who fought for
acceptance in what was then a predominantly male sport. It is because of
their courage, that I and many other women have the privilege of
participating in this sport. I think of this with great pride as I slip on
my running shoes and head out the door for a run.
