International Women's Day

Apparently it is National Woman's Day... whoduhthunk?

Therefore, in honor of National Women's Day I will direct you to this website http://www.marathonwoman.com/

On April 19, 1967 a woman... yes, a woman ran the Boston Marathon.  She was the FIRST woman to officially run the marathon- with a bib.  She signed her name K. Switzer on her registration which was placed in a pile of other registration forms.  When the media noticed a girl, of all things, running in this historic race, they went crazy.  The race director was incensed, jumped off the media truck and tried to forcibly remove her from the race.  The guy she was running with body checked the race director and she went on to finish the race.

What's important here is to note that this sparked a women's running boom and Katherine Switzer was a champion for women's rights to participate in sports.

For years, women were seen as unfit to run.  The medical community said their uteruses would fall out and the religious authorities saw it as immoral or unladylike.  Well, it just so happens that through the years women have dominated the field in both marathon and ultra-marathon distances, often making up just over 50% of the entire field of participants.  In ultra-marathon distances, more women finish the longer distances than do men.  Being an avid marathoner, I have run behind many women, and I can attest to the fact that the many, many women who are much faster than I are NOT... repeating NOT leaving their unteruses behind.

So, in honor of National Women's Day, I say, you are woman and I can hear the roar.  Take whatever you've got, get out there and show us sweaty, smelly men a thing or two about endurance.  Enjoy your day!  And don't forget to say a Thanks to K. Switzer!