50 YEARS AGO, SHE CHANGED THE WORLD FOR WOMEN: BOBBI GIBB, THE FIRST WOMAN TO RUN THE BOSTON MARATHON
BOBBI GIBB didn't intend to make a statement at the 1966 Boston Marathon, or to become a hero of the women's movement. She just loved running -- a rather odd thing in an era, the 60s, when women didn't do sports or were even allowed to run distances over 1.5 miles. Any longer was thought to injure their reproductive organs. But when her application to run the 1966 Boston Marathon was rejected because it was a "men's only event" according the race director, Gibb got ticked-off. Now she realized that she had to run in order to make a point: Women can run — and run well. In fact, women could do anything hey wanted; all the restrictions and stereotypes of women in that era were bogus. If Gibb could finish and finish well, she would inspire women to throw off their shackles and men to encourage them. Here is the story of the 50th Anniversary of her barrier-breaking run:
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bandrunning.competitor.com/2016/03/boston-marathon/the-real-story-of-the-first-woman-to-run-the-boston-marathon_146715 …
bandirunning.competitor.com/2016/03/boston-marathon/the-real-story-of-the-first-woman-to-run-the-boston-marathon_146715 …
posted by Roy M. Wallack @ 3:15 PM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Bobbi. I hope you are still running. I started at 66 years old 12 years ago and it has transformed my life. Your Boston run is known as a pillar of female emancipation and so it should be, but I am fascinated that you did it not to prove women could do it, but just because you loved running. I hope we will both be running at 100. Robert
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