ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Author, broadcaster and accomplished runner Kathrine Switzer will be the speaker at the St. Luke’s Half Marathon and 5k Pasta Dinner, April 28, 2012, and will be on hand throughout the weekend to share her inspirational stories as a pioneer in women’s running.
Switzer is most famously known as the first woman to run the Boston marathon with an official race number, entering the race as “K.V. Switzer” in 1967 at a time when many believed women were incapable of running the 26.2 miles. Her ruse was discovered by a race official who attempted to physically remove her from the race.
Motivated by the incident, she went on to run 35 marathons, won the 1974 New York City Marathon, and ran her personal best of 2:51.33 by finishing 2nd in the 1975 Boston Marathon. At the time, it was the 6th best women’s marathon time in the world, and 3rd in the United States.
Off the racecourse, Switzer’s career has included creating programs in 27 countries for over 1 million women that led to the inclusion of the women’s marathon as an official event in the Olympic Games, changing forever the face of sports, health and opportunities for women around the world.
“Forty[-six] years ago April 19, Jock Semple tried to throw me out of the Boston Marathon because I was a woman,” said Switzer. “In the years since then, women’s running has grown to the point where there are now more women participating in races than men, and the women marathoners have become the biggest stars of the sport. This is nothing short of a social revolution and it has been a privilege being a part of making it happen.”
Switzer was recently named a Hero of Running in the January 2012 issue of Runners World (http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-560–14141-0,00.html) as well as inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame (http://www.greatwomen.org/news-and-events/current-news).
“Kathrine represents everything that is right about running,” said Neal Novak, race director of the St. Luke’s Half Marathon and 5k. “The iconic image of Jock Semple trying to forcibly remove her from the Boston Marathon captures the struggle that women faced in our sport. Considering our half marathon participants are nearly 60% women, we thought it more than fitting to have Kathrine join us for the weekend.”
Switzer has written two books, Marathon Woman and Running and Walking for Women Over 40: The Road to Sanity and Vanity, and her articles have appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Parade, Women Today, Runners World, Running Times.
Switzer will be on hand for the St. Luke’s Youth Run, April 28, 3 p.m. in downtown Allentown. She will be present at the half marathon and 5k on Sunday, April 29 to hand out awards and meet with runners.
Tickets for the pasta dinner at Allentown Brew Works are $30 and are available at stlukeshalfmarathon.com. Past speakers have included Soledad O’Brien, Joan Benoit-Samuelson, Ryan Hall, Billy Mills, Sarah Reinertsen and Chris McDougall.