Still Running (weakly). Issue 129

PAST – inspiration – “Get the hell out of my race!” the burly Boston Marathon race director, Jock Semple, shouted as he ran towards Kathrine Switzer, snatching at her number and trying to drag her off the course.

It was 1967, and women weren’t supposed to run marathons.  Kathrine had entered under the name, “K.V. Switzer,” to avoid detection, but when Semple spotted her during the race, it took Switzer’s coach and boyfriend to intervene, tackling Semple and allowing Switzer to continue to the finish line.

At the time, women could only run up to 800 metres in the Olympics, and the first women’s marathon was not on the Olympic programme until 1984.  (The first steeplechase not till 2008!)

Switzer was a pioneer, becoming the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon with an official entry, though Bobbi (Roberta) Gibb had run and finished without a number in 1966.

Gibb had trained hard, covering up to 40 miles a day, but had her Boston Marathon entry refused on predictable grounds.  Undaunted, after a three-night, four-day bus ride from her home in San Diego, she got to the start-line wearing a hooded sweatshirt and hid in the bushes, before jumping into the field at the last moment.

During the early miles, emboldened by the other runners’ support, she took off her hoody, enabling the crowds to spot her and the press to begin to sense that there was a story here.

Now, one of the most famous landmarks on the Boston course is Wellesley College at halfway, where, by tradition, the female students form a “screech tunnel” to spur the runners on.  Years later, one student recalled that there was something different about the race in 1966.

“The word spread that a woman was running.  For once, we fell silent and scanned every face, until a ripple of recognition shot through the lines and we cheered as we never had before, sensing that this woman had done more than just break the gender barrier in a famous race.”

In 1996, at the 100th Boston Marathon, the race officially recognised Gibb’s three wins in 1966, 1967 and 1968.  They awarded her a medal and had her name inscribed with those of the other winners on the Boston Marathon Memorial.

As for Kathrine Switzer: “Old Jock Semple and I became the best of friends,” she told a reporter in 2015.  (Semple had died in 1988, by then a staunch supporter of female participation.) 

And in 2017, on the 50th anniversary of her most famous race, she ran Boston again, with race officials assigning her the same number – 261 – as half a century before.  They then retired that number (except if she would run the race again) in tribute.

PRESENT – perspiration – Today, unfortunately, women still struggle for equality of opportunity.  Though parkrun participation and London Marathon applications show an almost 50/50 split between men and women, the female runner now faces more distressing challenges.

Women exercising outside, especially after dark, face harassment of many different kinds – from staring and comments to being chased, physically confronted and worse.  Sport England has set up the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign, to highlight the problem, with the slogan, #LetsLiftTheCurfew. 

The possible solutions divide into what women can do and what men can do.

Of course, behind all of this there is the absolute conviction that women should not have to change their behaviour, that the streets should be safe, that men should not be so aggressive, ignorant or just plain unthinking.

Women have traditionally been encouraged to adopt ‘defensive’ measures, such as not running alone, avoiding secluded areas, staying on well-lit streets with people around, letting someone know where they’re going, dressing in a certain way, and not running with earbuds in.

To this, I would now add the advice that, if you have online apps that track your runs, vary them as much as you can – or make sure that the only people who can see your activity are friends.  There have been cases of stalkers following women online in this way, noticing a pattern to their routes, and lying in wait for them the next time.

Sport England also asks that, if, as a woman, you are the subject of harassment, to please report it, so that a pattern of the perpetrator’s behaviour can be built up. 

Again, let me stress that I am sure that all reasonable men would agree that this should be a non- or a past problem – that women should be free to exercise where and when they like, wearing what they like, without the slightest fear.

You should not have to impose restrictions on yourself to solve a problem that is not of your making.

FUTURE – suggestion – What about men?  It all comes down to what you do, as a man, if you encounter a lone female runner (or walker), especially at night.

In simple terms, I think it is incumbent upon each man to act in a way that puts the woman as much at their ease as possible.

What does this look like in practice?

If you are walking towards a female runner, cross the road or give them the widest berth that the environment allows.  And try and show them that you are doing so at the earliest possible opportunity.

If you are male runner who is going to overtake a female from behind, again – but even more so – cross the road, give them a wide berth, go a different way.

If you are a male runner who is following a female runner – even by some distance – do not stay in that position, take another route.

In all of these situations, it is probably best to say nothing.  It is only natural for a woman to worry that one ‘innocent’ remark could be the prelude to something more threatening.

Remarks that men think are casual – or friendly or funny or even supportive or positive – and that are indeed fine to say to someone that you know in an environment that is not threatening – are of course so very different directed to a lone woman by a strange man in the dark in the middle of nowhere.

The only exception to this could be if you are passing a lone female from behind, and they have not heard you, and you are in a situation where there is no possible means of avoidance – it is a narrow path with walls either side, say – then something like, “Passing on your right,” is acceptable.

There are of course other situations in which men encounter lone female runners – a group of males coming out of a pub springs to mind – but I would hope that I do not have to say here that it is imperative that you keep a respectful silence, and that you certainly do not stare, and that you make it clear, if necessary, that you are not going to be anywhere near in their way.

If it weren’t for us men, there wouldn’t be a problem.  It would be great to think that the world can change and that this issue can disappear, but until it does, guys, let’s do all we can to minimise and eradicate it.

Let’s be part of the solution.