Bobbi Gibb is thought to be the first woman to complete an official marathon. Yes, before Kathryn Switzer in 1967 – but also at Boston. Roberta Gibb crossed that iconic finish line for the first time in 1966. But unlike Switzer in 1967, who wrote her initial on the entry form and was thus granted a race bib, Bobbi completed Boston as a ‘bandit’.
Bandits have long competed in races; they are runners who don’t secure official entries but still jump in at the start. Why? At that time, the longest distance a woman was allowed to run was one and a half miles.
Bobbi had applied for the race in 1966, but her application was rejected. She received a letter from race director Will Cloney, stating women were not physiologically capable of running the marathon distance.
To prove race organisers wrong, Bobbi lined up for the 1966 race anyway, disguising her sex with baggy clothes over a swimming costume. When men racing around her realised she was a woman they supported and encouraged her, so she abandoned her baggy top, revealing she was female and was met with cheers from the crowds.
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