When a Boton Marathon organizer was enraged by a woman participant.. 50 years ago

[question everything]

(snip)

Switzer registered using just her initials. She wore baggy clothes as protection from the snow. It wasn’t until the race began that officials noticed a woman running among the men.

“All of a sudden I heard a scraping sound… and I turned and I suddenly looked into the face of the angriest guy I had ever seen. This guy was out of control. He was snarling at me,” Switzer recalled.

That out-of-control guy was one of the race organizers, Jock Semple.

And he grabbed me and he screamed, ‘Get the hell out of my race.’ I was just terrified,” Switzer said. “He said, ‘Give me those numbers, give me those numbers!’ He went after the one on my back and as he went for that, my burly boyfriend who was running alongside -- 235 pound, ex-All American football player -- took out the official just like that and sent him flying. And my coach said, ‘Run like hell.’”

The moment galvanized Switzer and set her on a new course as an advocate for women’s athletics. “I was so terrified and embarrassed and humiliated, but then I said, ‘No, I’ve got to finish this race because if I don’t, nobody is going to believe women should be taken seriously,” she said.

More..

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/boston-marathon-kathrine-switzer-first-official-female-runner-legacy/

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For the young women who proudly claim that they are "not feminists."

[delisen]

1. A Great Reminder. and from where inside him did Semple's fury well up?

Just 50 years ago and she had to register with her initials to hide her gender.

Let's remember where we would be without the Switzer's and men such as her boyfriend.

Reminder that Women's rights are Human rights and we are all in this together.

[Warpy]

2. Semple's outraged overreaction and Switzer's humiliation

did provoke change, Semple himself doing an about face once the committee knuckled under to massive pressure and changed the sexist rule. He became one of the staunchest supporters of having women in the race once he realized that women were qualified and interested in the sport and not just there to grab headlines.

[sheshe2]

3. I was on the route today.

She passed right in front of me. #261. So proud to see her.

[niyad]

4. I remember the outrage and, gasp. . .horror--a WOMAN--how DARE she???? my frist thought was,

the assholes are afraid she will show them up. to this day, I think that attitude still prevails.

[lostnfound]

5. A sign of the times more than an indictment of that one man

If you read descriptions of him, the Boston Marathon meant everything to him, he loved running and he zealously worked to keep the race as a serious Marathon when attention-seekers would show up dressed like a clown etc.
He did not perceive or recognize her as a serious runner. He can be faulted for stereotype or blindness to the possibilities...but she was dressed a little oddly in the puffy sweats.

He made up for it by his support for women runnersjust a few years later. I believe in forgiveness and one moment doesn't define a life.