Overview

Today, millions of women and girls around the world enjoy running and entering races. It wasn't always so: In 1961, when Julia Chase edged to the start of a Connecticut 5-miler, officials tried to push her off the road. At the 1966 Boston Marathon, Roberta Gibb hid behind a forsythia bush, worried that police might arrest her. The next year at Boston, Kathrine Switzer was assaulted mid-race by a furious race organizer. In the mid-60s, Indianapolis high schooler Cheryl Bridges was told not to run anywhere near the boys' track team because she might distract them. When Charlotte Lettis signed up for the University of Massachusetts cross-country team in the fall of 1971, she was told to use the men's locker room. First Ladies of Running tells the inspiring stories of these and other runners who refused to give up despite the cultural and sports barriers they faced. Legends such as Doris Brown, Francie Larrieu, Mary Decker, Jackie Hansen, Miki Gorman, and Grete Waitz are chronicled by Runner's World editor Amby Burfoot. Burfoot even runs the 1994 Marine Corps Marathon with Oprah Winfrey, whose successful finish opened the floodgates for other women runners.

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Amby Burfoot has been a Runner's World editor since 1978. He won the 1968 Boston Marathon, has run more than 110,000 miles in his life, and is the author or coauthor of several books. He lives in Mystic, Connecticut. AudioFile Earphones Award winner Elizabeth Wiley is a seasoned actor, dialect coach, theater professor, and dedicated narrator. In addition to her growing portfolio of audiobooks, her voice can be heard in The Idea of America, Colonial Williamsburg's virtual learning curriculum; in Paul Meier's e-textbook Speaking Shakespeare; and modeling U.S.-English on one of the world's top language learning products.

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