Running historians - Can you tell me why / how Katherine Switzer became as or more famous than Bobbi Gibb?

Basically, there are two reasons.

The first is the well-circulated photo of Switzer being attacked during the race by a BAA official who tried to drag her off the course. Her rather large boyfriend fought the guy off. It's actually a sequence of three or four photos, pretty dramatic stuff, and Switzer appeared quite alarmed. The photos have circulated everywhere for decades.

The second is the profound difference in personalities between Gibb and Switzer. Gibb is apparently somewhat private and not a self-publicizer. Switzer, on the other hand, has been a journalist and broadcaster and public speaker. She's one of the founders of the old Avon Women's Running series and is one of the people who deserves credit for getting the women's marathon into the Olympics. She's also extremely gracious on a ersonal level.

So Switzer's got the photos of her race, and she puts herself out there publicly. That's pretty much the difference.

I would say primarily because these photos were all over the news.

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--raa4RDz4--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/xs2vzcvsbz6zcqvaltfi.jpg

Because of this photo (and others in series):

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/kathy-switzer-roughed-up-by-jock-semple-during-boston-mararthon-picture-id111902635

During the swelling of women's lib movement, this was like raw meat slapped in front of the general media. Semple was simplistically portrayed as the evil misogynist, but he apparently took ANY bandits seriously, and was acting as his Irish demeanor deemed appropriate.

Other women were banditing marathons before Gibb. It was Switzer that brought the equality of entry opportunity into the light.

One side note is that when this happened, the longest Olympic distance for women was 800m. 16 years later was the first women's Olympic marathon.

Actually, even more reasons...

Switzer actually ENTERED the race. She had a numbered bib and was an official starter and finisher.

Gibb jumped in and ran with no entry.

Ask Kathrine she is a great interview subject.

http://kathrineswitzer.com/contact/interview/

There's also something to be said for being an "official" finisher--and Katherine was the first official women's finisher. It's not about who was faster. Gibb obviously was. It's that Gibb didn't force race organizers to confront their official anti-female policy by wearing a race number; instead, she was content to be a bandit. By procuring an official entry, Switzer provoked the race director, leading to the series of famous photographs--and to the publicity that helped the sport evolve to accept women into the race 5 years later. It also elicited a hyperbolic, sexist response from the race organizer that included his declaration that he would spank Switzer if she was his daughter.

Bottom line: Switzer is famous and gets accolades because she took the heat for competing. She didn't bandit. She rubbed the race's nose in its ridiculous policy.

It's not always the person who's first who gets credit. Just as we credit Thomas Edison with creating the light bulb because his was the first practical bulb, Switzer gets credited for forcing the BAA to take a real look at their policy.

I read about her in Julia Lucases instagram a few weeks ago and thought the saem thing. It seems like shes more of a free spirit and Katherine Switzer was motivated for political reasons

rojo wrote:

I'll start by saying that I'm male and wasn't alive in 1966 or 1967. But I'd always thought Katherine Switzer was the first woman to run Boston.

Not true at all.

This is not news which is all that unknown.

Switzer was the first official finisher. Roberta Gibb finishing the race the year prior has always been part of the story.

The pics and Switzer's natural tendency to be more media savvy have made KS more well known but the Gibb story has always been out there.

Bobbi Gibb was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, in 1966. It's hard to believe that only 50 years ago, prevalent thought was that a woman's fragile body couldn't withstand 26 miles. Road races wouldn't accept women for the liability, fearing a woman might actually die on their course Bobbi Gibb grew up running around with a pack of neighborhood kids, and when the time came for her to grow up and stay indoors cooking and cleaning, she couldn't adjust. "I could see coming down the line that I was going to have to live in a box as a woman - literally, locked in a house," said Gibbs. "We were expected to be housewives, and that's all...we weren't expected to have minds, and we weren't expected to have bodies that ran." In 1964 Bobbi watched her first Marathon, and she was entranced. "Something inside of me said, 'I am going to run this race.'" With no guidance, she challenged herself to run a little farther each day, always with the faint anxiety that the effort could kill her, as the world said it would. She took solitary road trips to run the American wilds of the Rockies, the Great Plaines, the cliffs of the Pacific Coast. She ran in nurse's shoes and eventually reached up to 40 miles in a stretch. Bobbi started the 1966 Boston Marathon in a hooded sweatshirt to conceal her gender. The day was too hot but she didn't dare take it off and risk being thrown from the race. But it didn’t take long for her fellow runners to noticed that there was a woman running amongst them. When they did, rather than turning against her, they formed a protective pack around her. They told her that if any official or spectator wanted to remove her from the race, they'd have to go through them first. Bobbi took off her sweatshirt. The news spread fast through the spectators, and the race became a victory march through Boston. Men and women alike poured into the streets to await her arrival with screaming, crying, roaring support. Bobbi Gibb finished the 1966 Boston Marathon in 3:21:40, beating 2/3 of the field. "It had nothing to do with sports,” said Gibb. “I knew nothing of the sporting world. I never stopped running when normal girls would..." Thank you for that, Ms. Gibb. A photo posted by Julia Lucas (@justrunjulia) on Mar 8, 2016 at 4:23am PST

the real question is why did they try to restrict entries to men? Were they uneducated enough to believe a woman couldn't run a marathon? Were they just sexist?

[quote]rojo wrote:

I'll start by saying that I'm male and wasn't alive in 1966 or 1967. But I'd always thought Katherine Switzer was the first woman to run Boston.

Not true at all.

Switzer ran the race in 1967 with a number she got by putting down her name a KV Switzer so they wouldn't know she was a woman.[quote]

This has been pretty well answered by several others so there's no need to repeat why Bobbi Gibb is lesser known. But I think it's worth mentioning that Katherine has always maintained that she did not use initials on the entry form to conceal her gender. She's said that she always used her initials rather than first names when she signed her name.

SoCal Pete wrote:

It also elicited a hyperbolic..

Haha, thanks, I had a good laugh at that bit.

More on Bobbi. She tried to enter Boston but was refused.

http://www.runningpast.com/gibb_story.htm

SoCal Pete wrote:

. It's that Gibb didn't force race organizers to confront their official anti-female policy by wearing a race number; instead, she was content to be a bandit.

and

Any Which Way But Loose wrote:

Actually, even more reasons...

Switzer actually ENTERED the race. She had a numbered bib and was an official starter and finisher.

Gibb jumped in and ran with no entry.

I don't think those criticism of Gibb are valid form what I've read. Gibb tried to enter in 1966.

Competitor wrote:

She found that her request for an application to that year's Boston Marathon had been denied. She couldn't believe the words she read.

"This is an AAU Men's Division race only," wrote race director Will Cloney. "Women aren't allowed, and furthermore are not physiologically able."

That's why I find it interesting. So there's something about the fact that Switzer was an official finisher. Even though Gibb tried to get an entry, was denied and finished the year before with a lot of fanfare, there's something about being an official finisher - at least in the 1960s.

It seems weird to me but I guess it happens in modern times. We all lots of pro athletes beat their women, but when we see it on video, we freak out more.

I was googling around on letsrun and found an interesting post pointing out that in the Civil Right movement, Rosa Parks wasn't the first black woman arrested for being upset with the bus policies at the time. It was Claudette Colvin.

YOu can read about her and find out why she's less famous here:

The post about the situation was here:

I'm sure there were other black women besides Rosa Parks that wouldn't sit on the back of the bus but when it becomes an official and public thing, it's different.

So yeah, publicity creates fame.

kvothe wrote:

the real question is why did they try to restrict entries to men? Were they uneducated enough to believe a woman couldn't run a marathon? Were they just sexist?

It wasn't just women who weren't allowed in the race. Several others groups were also not allowed. I believe at that time they also did not allow anyone over 40. There is zero press coverage of the first master runner banditing the race.

A question. Did that big boyfriend of Switzers from the famous photos finish the race? Seems as if he was there to make sure no one stopped her. I find it difficult to believe neither she nor her coach knew that women were not allowed. Not many people just put down initials when entering a race. Maybe when signing the waiver but not the rest of it.

That was my understanding - I have heard of both women.

In most articles about Switzer now it mentions she was not the first woman to run but the first to run registered. I have read articles on Gibb too and it emphasises Switzer wanted to become a speaker and Gibbs less so.

The photos are famous and also part of the point of her message was doing it with a bib which was a completely different level of rebellion and the main thing that angered the race organiser.