Marathon sport is a passion that plays a significant role in a life of an individual. This idea was reflected in the story of Kathrine Switzer, a famous marathon runner that was admired by many aspiring athletes and individuals in the different parts of the world.
The running hero Kathrine Virginia “Kathy” Switzer was born in Amberg, Germany on January 5, 1947. She was the first ever woman completing an official marathon event in Boston in 1967. At that time women were not allowed to participate in long distance races. She enrolled as “K.V. Switzer” so nobody would suspect that a woman is racing. The race director recognized during the race that a women was wearing an official number and tried to take the number of. It was her friend, Tom Miller, who stopped him enabling Switzer to finish the marathon. This event took place in front of many cameras and the images circulated around the world. Many discussions started about women in pro sports leading to equality in the marathon sport.
Definitely, this important event in the history of marathon highly emphasized the ability and power of women in the sport of running. Kathy proves that woman can also show up her own abilities if she believes in it. Additionally, this reflects that women can also make bigger things and big changes if she will just focus and speaks out for herself.
Kathrine Switzer is the daughter of a respected major in the United States Army. Together with her family, Kathy went back in the United States in 1949. She is a graduate of George C. Marshall High School located in Fairfax County, Virginia. Aside from her remarkable achievements in the marathon sport, she also has an admirable academic attainment that totally makes her an icon of hope, determination and inspiration to other people especially women. She studied journalism at the Syracuse University, where she holds a bachelor degree in 1968 as well as a master’s degree in 1972.
Armed with her knowledge and skills acquired during her education, Kathy became a strong woman and truly attained the true marks of a good leader. The good thing about this running hero is that she stays humble despite her many success and inspiring events in her life. Meanwhile, aside from her successful marathon career, she is also an American author as well as a famous television commentator. The humble and heart-warming woman is also considered as a jack of all trades. She is very flexible and responsible enough to do the things that was required from her.
Kathrine Switzer
Definitely, Kathrine Switzer is very flexible in terms of doing her various works. She is very good in managing her time and efforts to perform on her top efficiency. In addition to this, she is also a popular and much admired speaker that greatly influences the lives of others. Her words of motivation and energetic and enthusiastic personality is very helpful to transform the lives of other people from poverty to abundance, from misery to happiness, illness to perfect health and most of all, from failure to success.
The latter marathon icon was the woman champion in the prestigious New York City Marathon in 1974. In this important event, Kathy records the best time of 3:07:29. In the 1975 Boston marathon, she made the best time of 2:51:37. Probably, this event was one of the best moments in her life thus she represents not just her country but also the women in the world.
In addition to this, she was also recognized as the Runner’s World Magazine’s Female Runner of the Decade on 1967-77. She also received an Emmy award for her outstanding performance as a television commentator. Being one of the most reputable authors, Kathrine Switzer wrote an inspiring book entitled ‘Running and Walking for Women over 40′ in 1997, which really became a sure hit in the market.
Kathrine Switzer
She also released ‘Marathon Woman’ in April 2007 which served as her memoir. The latter book was an important part in the 40th anniversary of her historic achievement in the Boston Marathon. Truly, Kathy has an exemplary works that inspire the world. Her Marathon Woman was awarded the Billie Award for Journalism for its inspiring and excellent content which features women in the competitive world of sports.
These days, every time that she visits the Boston Marathon, many female runners were truly glad and inspired to see her. Kathrine Switzer implied, “When I go to the Boston Marathon now, I have wet shoulders as women fall into my arms crying. They were weeping for joy because running has changed their lives. They feel they can do anything.”
Kathrine Switzer
It cannot be denied that Kathrine Switzer can be considered as an icon of inspiration, hope as well as motivation not just for the women but also for all aspiring runners in the world. Her achievements, courage and stamina truly prove to the world that nothing is impossible to you if you will just work hard on achieving it.
MOTIVATION
HEALTHY RUNNING
IMPROVE & ACHIEVE