The eldest of them all, and in fact every annual marathon, is Boston, held for the first time in 1897. With only 15 participants to begin with, the level of competition could hardly have been lower. But while that fact may help your chances of winning, it unfortunately can’t make running the marathon distance any easier. (Hence the 5 who didn’t quite make it across the finish line). John McDermott of the USA was Boston’s first champion, the only one of the 10 to dip below 3 hours, and it was then a 1 hour and 15 minute wait for the officials until home time.
But it’s the people who weren’t there that day who came to define the Boston marathon. The ones we had to wait nearly 100 years to see. The makers, and breakers, of its history. Women. They broke several rules in those early days, some for the better, some for the worse, but there’s no doubting the impact they made. The Boston Marathon is a pioneer in two senses: of the distance, and of the female gender. And in the latter case, the year was 1966 and that female’s name, was Roberta Gibb.
A leap of faith
The marathon had been running for 69 years and she for two. A length of time that may pale in comparison, but not in significance. Those were two years spent training for what she had hoped would be her chance, her moment. But those hopes crashed and burned as they often do in the face of reality and that face was saying no. Women weren’t allowed to run more than a mile and a half competitively, weren’t allowed to define their own physical capabilities, and so the Boston Marathon was kept out of reach.
That is, unless you take a leap of faith. Or in Roberta’s case, a leap out of the bushes and into the crowd of Boston Marathon participants. When Roberta Gibb crossed the finish line, the distance she’d covered was not only one of miles but one of huge social progress. Dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and her brother’s shorts, the men saw through her disguise. But while the officials were pulling her back it was the runners who pushed her forward, driving her towards that line she was more than capable of crossing. Actions speak louder than words, and hers certainly did over the statement denying her participation. When she went on to run in Boston again the next year, and the one after, the number of women only grew. Until eventually, in 1972, women were officially allowed to race, and race they did.
The 2026 edition of the Boston Marathon will mark 60 years since Roberta Gibb’s run, and what a privilege it is that the women of today are still able, quite literally, to follow in her footsteps.
Stolen spotlight
There is another woman in the history of the Boston Marathon who made her mark. Although instead, this was for seeing the path Roberta Gibb had paved for women, and, decidedly, not taking it. Like Roberta Gibb she too jumped out of the crowd, but not at the startline, at about one mile to go instead. It was 1980, 14 years since the first Boston Marathon female participant. And if the other runners could spot a woman in disguise, they could also catch a winner in a lie.
The problem was she did it wrong. Rosie Ruiz didn’t intend to come first, the plan was to blend in with the crowd somewhere around the middle. Except in the end she couldn’t stand out less if she tried, because not only was she declared the winner, but in 2:31:56. The 3rd fastest female time ever. That fact alone, was enough to send any underlying suspicions straight into overdrive. What was waiting for Rosie Ruiz on the other side of that finish line was a world of scrutiny: how did she manage to knock 25 minutes off her previous PB? How can a marathon runner that good, not know a thing about split times? Why wasn’t she that tired? Or that sweaty? Wait- did anyone actually see her run?
A victory for women
The answer to that last question would be no, because she most definitely did not run the 1980 Boston Marathon. Not the full length at least. Rosie Ruiz was disqualified 8 days later and Jacqueline Gareau declared the winner in 2:34:28, a new course record for Boston, and a legitimate one at that. But the damage had already been done: Jacqueline Gareau didn’t cross the finish line in victory, she crossed it in defeat. You only get one moment, and hers was stolen. Much like the women who’d come before her, recognition for her achievements was earned, but not immediately given.
Both Roberta Gibb and Rosie Ruiz ended up running the Boston Marathon unofficially. But while one was for the right reasons and the other the wrong, the message to take from both is still one of empowerment. Because even when you stoop down low, the Jacqueline Gareau’s of the world end up looking just that bit higher.
Written by- Rosana Ercilla
