
The first woman to finish the Boston Marathon in 1967 has run it again at age 70 - ColinWright
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/04/17/fifty-years-ago-kathrine-switzer-was-attacked-as-she-ran-the-boston-marathon-the-reason-she-was-a-woman/
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acjohnson55
50 years ago, her actions were audacious, and the backlash probably seemed
acceptable to many, if not most, people.

What things today are we going to be deeply embarrassed about 50 years from
now? I have a few guesses:

\- Our abysmal stewardship of the environment

\- Mass incarceration

\- The death penalty

\- Domestic surveillance

\- Police militarization and lack of accountability

\- The drug war

\- Transgender oppression (e.g. NC bathroom bill)

\- The travel ban

\- That we elected a president who bragged about grabbing unknown women by
their genitals

~~~
mcculley
Once we have a suitable way to grow meat or a meat substitute, future
generations will be repulsed by the way we currently treat animals in
industrial farming.

~~~
accountyaccount
It's kind of surprising that a lot more people aren't now?

~~~
fixxer
If your teeth are like mine, then they are sharp at the front, designed for
the cutting and tearing of flesh.

Industrial farming is about as humane as any other method for killing I've
seen/practiced.

People argue that hunting keeps one more connected with the concept of meat as
quarry, but the end result is the same. I shot a scimitar oryx through the
heart a few years ago (before the ban) and it still ran 100 yards before it
dropped. I'm pretty sure stun guns and captive bolt pistols remove the concept
of pain faster.

~~~
hobarrera
Our teeth and mouths are shaped mostly to cut and tear fruit, not flesh.

Most of our metabolism is tailored towards fruit. That doesn't mean it has
issues with meat: it'll deal quite well.

But anatomic capability and morality are totally unrelated. My body is well-
designed to rape women, but I won't use that as an argument to do so either.

~~~
fixxer
Lol. Comparing incisors to ability to rape. What a fucking douchebag.

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adenadel
Boston: The Documentary is being released nationwide in select theaters for a
single day (tomorrow). I highly recommend you all see it. I was able to attend
the premier in Boston and it was incredible. There wasn't a dry eye in the
room. Kathrine Switzer (the woman featured in the article, who was the first
woman to officially run Boston with a bib) and Bobbi Gibb (the first woman to
run Boston) are both interviewed. The documentary covers the entire history of
the marathon and is also in large part about the 2013 bombing.

[http://bostonmarathonfilm.com/](http://bostonmarathonfilm.com/)

~~~
hanley
I'm confused about the single day release. Will it also be available afterward
for streaming?

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openasocket
My first thought at looking at those pictures is just how small-minded and
petty this is. What on Earth was he hoping to accomplish? At first I thought
it was some random weirdo, but then I read the article and realized _he 's the
co-director of the marathon_!

~~~
js2
Both Katherine Switzer and Bobbi Gibb defend him. The explanation is that
Boston was an accredited marathon and that Switzer had obtained her entry via
false pretenses. He was conerned that if he allowed her to finish with her
bib, the entire race could be discredited. So he was defending his race. It
wasn't that she was running it that upset him, but that she was trying to do
so as an official entrant against the rules.

At least, that's the explanation I heard from Bobbi Gibb on Sunday.

~~~
jonshariat
I wonder what it takes to get accreditation?

All I can think of is 1\. Verified distance

~~~
js2
I had heard that at the time the race was under the auspices of the AAU. But
I'm not sure if that's exactly correct. Switzer writes that Semple was upset
about having been duped:

 _Runner No. 261 had violated the sacred code of the institution that was his
baby. She deserved to be punished – and if Cloney couldn’t do the job, then
Jock Semple would. “This wasn’t just about me being a girl,” Switzer said.
“Jock probably would have left me alone if I was just running along like
Bobbi. It was the number that got him. I had made him look like a fool.”_

These days U.S. road races are run under the rules of U.S.A Track and Field
(USATF) which is an affiliate of the IAAF. The rules only really matter though
if the course is to be record eligible. Many of your local 5K/10K charity runs
may not be certified.

Regarding Boston, to run it one first has to complete a marathon in a
qualifying time on a course that is certified by the USATF/IAAF. This
basically means the course is correclty measured for distance, has a
certification number, and follows the USATF/IAAF rules. Here's the
certification procedure:

[http://www.usatf.org/Products-/-Services/Course-
Certificatio...](http://www.usatf.org/Products-/-Services/Course-
Certifications/USATF-Certified-Courses/Certify-Your-Course.aspx)

Interstingly, the Boston Marathon is not eligible for setting world records
since its net downhill is greater than the allowable amount.

------
nobleach
My wife just ran her first Boston Marathon this year. It was an honor for her
to run with Kathrine Switzer. Something my 36 year old wife knows to be
common, was not the case just a short time ago. While I'm sad it's taken us so
long to get here. I'm excited that we've proven that we can grow.

~~~
js2
Congrats to your wife. The heat this year was extra challenging. I hope she
did well and I'll bet she's already making plans for next year.

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holtalanm
Shows how far we have come as a nation when it comes to equal rights. When she
ran the first time, there was blatant discrimination against her because of
her gender. Nowadays, it ain't no thang.

~~~
jbmorgado
I'm not sure how the Boston marathon works, but in other marathons there is
also a blatant gender discrimination, after all, you have separate start and
ending and prizes for men and women.

If we aim for total indiscrimination, shouldn't we just have a single
category, let anyone run as long as they don't have any unfair external
advantage and just give prizes and recognition to the first places?

EDIT: I find it funny that some people got worked out for me writing it "out
loud" the truth that positive gender discrimination in favour of one gender is
also actually gender discrimination against other gender.

~~~
Fezzik
I wouldn't say it is gender discrimination (today) so much as acknowledging
the undeniable difference in physical capabilities of the sexes. The fastest
female marathoners do not even remotely compete with the top men - top men run
just a smidge over 2 hours, with the top women running 2:15:00+. Maybe someday
there will be an equalizing of physical abilities, but that end does not seem
to be in sight.

In fact, I don't think there is a single professional sport where women would
even finish in the top 10 when competing against male opponents.

In the same vein, most sports have recreational, amateur, professional, and
masters (older people) competitions, because there are undeniable physical
differences between the old and the young. It doesn't have anything to do with
ageism or discrimination. I mean, I can off-the-couch trounce any octogenarian
in (probably?) any sport - pitting the two of us against one another is not
really a competition, or fun, for either one of us.

~~~
jbmorgado
I see, aren't we denying people that are better at the job to compete this way
just because of their gender? Clearly this must be gender discrimination.

Let me explain: If I divide a competition between 100 men and 100 women
instead of the 200 best humans and then give prizes to the 3 best men and 3
best women instead of the 6 best humans, I'm actually denying place to 100 men
and denying 3 men a prize just because of their gender (assuming as true your
predicate that men timings are clearly superior to woman).

Isn't it funny how this is not gender based discrimination?

~~~
whafro
In the Boston marathon, only the elite runners (a few dozen) are segmented by
gender/sex, and elite women are the first to leave, followed by the elite men,
followed by the top qualifying times of either gender.

From watching the race along the road yesterday, there were no elite men who
caught the main pack of women (though a few straggling women did fall back
into the elite male pack). Following that, while it was mostly a male non-
elite pack at the beginning, there were a few women scattered throughout, and
then it was fairly blended about 15 minutes later.

So while they stagger men and women to prevent interference in the race at the
very highest levels (and a woman crosses the finish line first), women below
that tier have a ton of opportunity to push themselves against men.

Edit: Also, they do track overall finishers, time-wise, regardless of gender.
So a woman might see that she was the 4th finisher in her division (young
women), and 16th overall.

~~~
js2
Thank you for cheering yesterday. This was my third Boston. The Boston
Marathon is an experience that in my mind is unique in sport.

The analogy I make is this. It's like getting to play on the field after the
Super Bowl or World Series or World Cup just after the pros leave the field
with a bunch of other amateurs while the crowd is still there cheering for
you.

I can't think of another sport where you get to participate on the same field
of play right after the pros and the fans are still there for you.

In Boston especially the entire city treats the runners like royalty the whole
weekend and Marathon Monday. Everyone asks how you did. It's truly amazing and
I'm honored and thankful I can participate.

I've run other big city marathons including New York and Chicago and while
they are great races too, there's really nothing like Boston.

So again, thank you. And if you're a runner of any sort and the marathon is at
all appealing to you, do the work you have to do to get to Boston. Making that
left turn on Boylston and running to that finish ... I just have no words to
describe the thrill.

~~~
stygiansonic
Great way to sum up the experience of the Boston Marathon; glad to hear from
another HNer who also did Boston yesterday.

I agree that if you're at all interested in marathons, the effort to qualify
for and run in Boston is well worth it. I've done it a few times and the
experience is never short of magical.

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hprotagonist
and 04:41 is a damn respectable time at any age!

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draw_down
I suppose the bit in the headline about her being attacked 50 years ago was
too political? Too much like "clickbait"?

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signa11
iirc, they are retiring her bib number as well. only the second time this has
been done.

------
poorman
The number of notable alumni from Syracuse never ceases to amaze me.

------
akerro
Gives hope to woman in Muslim countries they will be allowed to drive cars
again.

~~~
lucisferre
You mean "country" there is only one country where women can't drive cars.
Saudi Arabia. Your comment implies there is a widespread problem with muslim
countries banning women from driving, which would be incorrect.

~~~
yequalsx
akerro got it factually incorrect and may be trolling. However, the gist of
the point is correct. Womens' rights in predominantly Muslim countries are
lagging quite a bit.

~~~
AlexandrB
I think it's more accurate to say that women's rights in underdeveloped
countries and dictatorships are lagging quite a bit. Whether Muslim or
Christian.

E.g. the rollback of domestic abuse laws in Russia.

~~~
yequalsx
There is no question, at least in my mind, that womens' rights in Muslim
controlled countries lag very far behind those is non-Muslim majority
countries on average.

~~~
AlexandrB
The fundamental question is whether this is correlation or causation.

For example, in general more secular countries (regardless of religion) have
"better" women's rights. However does this mean that religion causes
mistreatment of women? Or is it that more developed countries are generally
both more secular and have more women's rights?

Predominantly Christian western countries have dominated the 21st century as
much through historical accident as through merit. Had the Renaissance began
in Constantinople instead of Florence we may be living in a very different
world today and questioning why all these Christian countries have such a poor
track record on women's rights.

