I just stood on the side of the road and waited for half the field to go past me so I could fall in with runners going at my pace.īill Rodgers, four-time Boston Marathon winner (1975, 1978, 1979, 1980) I didn’t have a number and no one tried to stop me. Everyone was chatting happily with me-the officials, the press. The Boston Marathon was his life, and he was just trying to protect its integrity when he saw Kathrine’s number in 1967.

He said his mother was a good athlete in her day. Jock had great respect for women athletes. Years later, he said he had seen me running without a number, so it was no problem at all. We talked about my grandfather, who was Scottish like Jock. We went to Jock’s office in the old Boston Garden to return it and talked for a long time. Several days later, my mother and I realized we still had it at our house. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to playīobbi Gibb, first woman to finish the Boston Marathon in 1966, ’67, and ’68Īfter I finished the Boston Marathon in 1966, some kind soul draped a wool blanket over my shoulders. Sometimes the worst things in your life can become the best things. Plus, he gave the world one of the most galvanizing photos in the women's rights movement. Almost every day of my life I thank him for attacking me, because he gave me this spark. Thus it was really Jock who gave me the inspiration to create more running opportunities for women.

But I wanted to prove him wrong on that point. And, sure, he was a product of his time and thought women shouldn't be running marathons. Sure, he was notorious for his bad temper. Kathrine Switzer, 1967 Boston Marathon finisher, author, TV commentator, race director, and founder of īy the time I got to Heartbreak Hill in the 1967 Boston Marathon, I realized Jock Semple was just an over-worked race director protecting his event from people he thought were not serious about running. Here, a number of veteran Boston runners remember the man in full. Without his energy and passion, the Boston Marathon might not have survived the lean years after World War II. Semple was born in Scotland, immigrated to the U.S., ran Boston a handful of times himself (with a best of 2:45:09 in 1947), and then served as volunteer race director through much of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. He was trying to rip off her numbers, as Amateur Athletic Union rules did not allow women to enter officially.

Jock Semple is best remembered as the apparent madman who chased after Kathrine Switzer 50 years ago in the 1967 Boston Marathon.

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