TOP ATHLETES RUSHED THROUGH BEAN-TOWN FOR AN ANNUAL EVENT THAT’S BEEN RUNNING ON FOR 120 YEARS!
HELLO EVERYONE, I’M RICK JACKSON. THANKS FOR JOINING US TODAY.
LAST WEEK, THE WORLD’S BEST RUNNERS FLOCKED TO MASSACHUSETTS TO PUT THEIR BEST FEET FORWARD - IN THE BOSTON MARATHON. A MARATHON IS A RUNNING RACE WITH AN OFFICIAL DISTANCE OF ROUGHLY 26.2 MILES – A DISTANCE WITH HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE, DATING BACK TO ANCIENT GREECE. MARATHONS ARE HELD WORLDWIDE – BUT THE BOSTON MARATHON IS PERHAPS THE BEST-KNOWN – AND THE OLDEST. THE BOSTON RACE WAS FIRST HELD IN 1897.
IN ADDITION TO RUNNING, THE MARATHON ALSO INCLUDES SEPARATE RACES FOR ATHLETES WITH DISABILITIES, LIKE THE HAND-CYCLE RACE.
CURRENTLY, MEN AND WOMEN COMPETE IN SEPARATE RACES – BUT FOR A LONG TIME, WOMEN WERE BARRED FROM THE COMPETITION ALTOGETHER. IN 1967, THE FIRST OFFICIAL FEMALE RUNNER, KATHRINE SWITZER, COMPETED IN THE EVENT BY REGISTERING WITH ONLY HER INITIALS, AS NOT TO REVEAL HER GENDER. OFFICIALS ATTEMPTED TO RUN HER OFF THE TRACK WHEN THEY DISCOVERED SHE WAS A WOMAN, BUT SWITZER WAS EVENTUALLY ABLE TO COMPLETE THE RACE THROUGH THE SUPPORT OF HER FELLOW RUNNERS.
DURING LAST WEEK’S RACE – AND 50 YEARS SINCE HER UNAUTHORIZED RUN – KATHRINE SWITZER COMPETED ONCE AGAIN – THIS TIME, CHAMPIONED AS A GROUNDBREAKER.
Instructional Links
Website Article: Boston Athletic Association, Boston Marathon
Website: History.com, This Day in History, First Boston Marathon Held
Map: Google, Boston Marathon Route
Boston Discovery Guide | Links about the race.
Website Article: REI, How to Train for a Marathon | Info on what a marathon is & more.
Website Article: Kathrine Switzer, Marathon, Woman, The Real Story of Kathrine Switzer’s 1967 Boston Marathon