“Have you ever run a women’s marathon?”
The young woman who asked, a mother of five kids aged 3 to 14, holds a PhD in anatomy and neuroscience. Together she and I inched forward in an epic line to packet pickup for the inaugural Every Woman’s Marathon, held November 16, in Savannah, Georgia.
More than 7,000 women (and 140 men) had signed up for this new race, designed “for women, by women,” in the words of organizer Team Milk, to center and celebrate inclusivity and community; 42% of participants were first-timers.
How does a marathon promote community over competition?
Aside from the top three finishers, there were no age group awards, not even rankings in the results. The official cut-off was 7 hours 45 minutes, or a 17:45 pace.
In a genius marketing move, Team Milk brought in as “captains” some of the most sparkling luminaries in the women’s-running space.
Women’s running pioneer Kathrine Switzer (center) gamely posed for selfies at Every Woman’s Marathon in Savannah.
Kathrine Switzer, who famously completed the 1967 men-only Boston Marathon, despite an angry race organizer tackling her mid-race, offered perspective.
“When I won the New York City marathon in 1974,” Switzer said, “it was the first year that women were allowed to have their own credit card without a husband or father co-signing.”
Deena Kastor, 2004 bronze-medal Olympic marathoner, gave cooking demonstrations at the race expo and held the finish tape for the Every Woman’s Marathon winner along with Des Linden, 2018 Boston Marathon champ.
“There is so much power when women come together.”
So said Alison Mariella Désir, Harlem Run founder and author of Running While Black, who led an unofficial shakeout run around significant African American sites. “When you give women opportunity and money, they bring their whole community with them.”
‘Running While Black’ author Alison Mariella Désir (left) hugs a finisher of Every Woman’s Marathon. Photo credit: MilkPEP
Some members of a Savannah running club grumbled that women now participate in races more than men. (True: 53% to 47%, according to RunSignUp’s 2023 Trend Report.) Even though men could sign up for Every Woman’s Marathon, they said the marketing didn’t feel inclusive of men.
As it happens, the seeds of AMR were planted when founders Sarah and Dimity ran the 2007 Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco. Which was the last women-centric marathon in the U.S. (outside of Olympic Marathon Trials) and canceled after 2013. (Although there are vague rumblings of a rebirth of some sort in 2025.)
Another Mother Runner fan Pat Brockman (center) found Tish (far right) at the start of Every Woman’s Marathon.
Mother-daughter pairs, best running friends, and more than 300 members of Black Girls Run buzzed with electric excitement at the start of Every Woman’s Marathon. The rising sun turned the sky pink behind a full moon setting over the Bay Street Viaduct. The course wound through historic Carver Village, past the new Enmarket Arena, before taking runners around the Spanish-moss draped oak trees of picture-postcard downtown Savannah.
The hot, hot sun in the second half made some runners cranky (me), especially miles 20 to 22 on the Harry Truman Parkway.
The second half also circled the campus and track of Savannah State University, where adorable bedazzled cheerleaders and the SSU marching band lifted Every Woman’s (and man’s) spirits.
Have you ever run a women’s marathon? I had not. And I was still smiling as I crossed the finish line and collected my medal.
Still smiling! Another Mother Runner Tish at the finish of the inaugural Every Woman’s Marathon. Photo credit: Heather Mayer Irvine
And wait, who’s that greeting finishers?
“You’re Kathrine Switzer!” I yelled.
Kathrine Switzer hugged me, despite my sweat, and said, “I’m so proud of you!”
I got all choked up and said, “I’m so proud of YOU!”
By which I meant thank you. Thank you for paving the way for all women marathoners and runners. Moving a body through space without fear is a privilege that not every woman enjoys, as Switzer and Alison Mariella Désir remind us. We stand on the running shoes and podiums of all who dared to run before us.
Who needs a women’s marathon?
I wish credit would be given to Bobbi Gibbs who ran a very fast time of 3:21 in 1966 at Boston.
She didn’t have a coach, training plan, was surrounded by supportive ales during the race, and was welcomed at the end of the race by the mayor of Boston at the finish. So what if she didn’t “officially enter”- THIS is the kind of woman I patterned my running adventures after- not one who made a career out of being “the first woman to officially run Boston” just because she had a number on her sweat pants.
My first 10k was an all woman’s run in Phoenix in 1977- Bonne Bell series that took the country by storm and led thousands of women to start running. They were from all walks of life and all ethnic groups. Ran with gays and even a trans woman in the early 80s. No one questioned anything-we were all runners. All were accepted . More women were competing in sprint tris in the 90s than men, at least in Az. Why is this suddenly an issue? I don’t believe it ever was and I certainly never saw it (and don’t see it currently) in the hundreds of road, trail runs, triathlons and bike events I have competed in.
males….please it’s not about “us” verses “them”- those days were over in the 60s. I have been a runner since the early 70s and was never ostracized for being out there doing what I love to do.
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