| By Debra Kirby |
Anyone remember when phrases like “You run like a girl!” were considered insults? Not anymore! I love when power is claimed by turning what is meant to be a negative into a positive. Two recent events are inspiring me right now:
- My 9-year-old granddaughter has joined her school’s Girls on the Run program, which will culminate in a 5K Run (“Not a race, Nana” says Grace) in June.
- Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon 50 years ago, ran it again this year – at the age of 70!
Want to learn more about Switzer’s groundbreaking 1967 run? Did you know a race official tried to physically pull her out of the race when he discovered she was a female? Ever wonder about the rationale for excluding women from the Boston Marathon and other long distance events? Check out Switzer’s topic page in Gale’s Biography In Context to learn more about this remarkable woman, who changed history for women runners by “running like a girl” 50 years ago.
Watch a 2016 interview with a Girls on the Run coach in Student Resources In Context:
In honor of Grace and Kathrine, I’m lacing up my running shoes first thing tomorrow morning and getting back into serious training. Maybe Grace and I will run a Marathon together some day!
About the Author
When Debra, a 30-year veteran of the publishing industry, is not working or reading, she can be found gardening, running, swimming, or pursuing the lifelong learning that is at the tip of her fingers via Gale databases.
Video: Girls on the Run morning interview.” Local Broadcast Video Content, 17 Nov. 2016. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A470467319/SUIC?u=gale&xid=2910d87d. Accessed 17 Apr. 2017.Air Jordan