1 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: Pushkin. This summer, Pushkin is going to the Olympics. Shows 2 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: across the network have got all sorts of stories to share, 3 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,640 Speaker 1: including the latest on sports science in What's Your Problem, 4 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: a suite of swimmers on slight change of plans, a 5 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,479 Speaker 1: Happiness Lab, conversation with a coach who coaches the coaches, 6 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: and an epic season of revisionist history about why in 7 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:40,279 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty six America participated in Hitler's Olympics. Here on 8 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: cautionary Tales. Loyal listeners will already have heard the Battle 9 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: of Boots and Brothers featuring Adidas and Puma, with guest 10 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: appearances from Dick Fosbury, Jesse Owens and Pele. And now 11 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: sit back and listen to a cautionary tale about what 12 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: happens when women try to run long distance. Jasmine Paris 13 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: had sworn she'd never attempt the Spine Race. She was 14 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: a champion long distance runner, but the Spine Race was 15 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: something else. Two hundred and sixty eight miles up the 16 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: Pennine Way, the spine of England, carrying your bedding and 17 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: all your food and anything else you might need on 18 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: your back. Jasmine Paris had never raced over such a 19 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 1: long distance. The Spine Race is held in January, when 20 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: it's dark for sixteen hours a day. It's cold enough 21 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,400 Speaker 1: that the route is often covered with snow, but not 22 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: quite cold enough to stay dry. Everything everything gets wet. 23 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,119 Speaker 1: It's easy to lose your way as you whind through 24 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: and over the hills and moorlands of northern England, especially 25 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: if you're running at night. The race sounds hard, and 26 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: in practice it's nearly impossible. The first year it was 27 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: held in twenty twelve, eleven competitors tried their luck. Only 28 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: three finished. The fastest took nearly a week. The race 29 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: doesn't include enforced rest breaks, so if you keep running 30 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: while others are eating or sleeping, you can gain an 31 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: advantage if you can keep going. One runner described the 32 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: effects of sleep deprivation. I was totally confused. I didn't 33 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: know where I was, what I was doing, and I 34 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 1: didn't know I was taking part in this event. I 35 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: simply followed the footprints in the snow ahead of me. 36 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: It slowly dawned on me what I was doing, and 37 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: I repeated to myself a few times the Spine Race. 38 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: The Spine Race, at least Jasmine Paris was used to 39 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: sleep deprivation. She had a one year old daughter, she 40 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: was still breastfeeding and planned to pump milk during rest stops. 41 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: This was twenty nineteen, at which time the race was 42 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: a firm fixture in the ultramarathon calendar. There were more 43 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: than one hundred entrants, each with a GPS tracker and 44 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: an emergency button to summon help. In the half darkness 45 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: of half past eight the morning of Sunday, the thirteenth 46 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,519 Speaker 1: of January, the contestants lined up. Some of them had 47 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 1: finished the race again and again, such as the twenty 48 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 1: thirteen winner Eugenie Rossello's Sole or the course record holder 49 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: Ian Keith. Both were favorites to win. Others had failed 50 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: to finish before but had come back to try again. 51 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: The Spine Race is brutal anyone man or woman, course 52 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: record holder or breastfeeding mum. Anyone can qualify to start, 53 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean everyone is going to make it 54 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: to the finish. I'm Tim Harford and you're listening to 55 00:03:54,760 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: cautionary tales for sheer myth making about distance running. You 56 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: can't beat the marathon. After the Greeks unexpectedly smashed an 57 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: invading Persian Army at the Battle of Marathon. A chap 58 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: called Philippides ran twenty six miles to Athens with the 59 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: good news, and then, so the story goes, collapsed and died. 60 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,279 Speaker 1: Thus began the legend of the marathon. This is a 61 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: race so grueling, a challenge so overwhelming that it could 62 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: literally kill you. The idea of the marathon as the 63 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: ultimate test of human endurance was embellished still further in 64 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: the London Olympics of nineteen Ohio, when a little Italian 65 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: pastry chef by the name of Drando Pietri entered the 66 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: stadium for the final lap with a comfortable lead. He 67 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: stopped as if stunned by the cheering, and began to 68 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 1: stagger towards the finish line, falling, blacking out, rousing himself 69 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: and staggering forward again. The creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir 70 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: Arthur Conan Doyle, was on hand to describe the scenes. 71 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 1: It is horrible and yet fascinating, this struggle between a 72 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: set purpose and an utterly exhausted frame. Pietri kept going 73 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: and falling and rising again. He was right in front 74 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: of Doyle when he fell for what seemed the last time, 75 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: amid stooping figures and grasping hands. I caught a glimpse 76 00:05:54,279 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: of the haggard yellow face, the glazed expressionless eyes, long 77 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:05,559 Speaker 1: black hair streaked across the brow. Surely he is done now, 78 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 1: he cannot rise again. And rise again he did, with 79 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:16,839 Speaker 1: the assistance of numerous onlookers, his final desperate stagger across 80 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: the finish line immortalized by the camera. Pietr was, of 81 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: course disqualified for being helped to finish, and the legend 82 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: of the horrors of the marathon only grew. Philippides and 83 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:38,039 Speaker 1: Dorando Pietry were, of course men. Women weren't allowed to 84 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 1: compete in the first Olympics, let alone in the marathon. 85 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: If it could kill a man, can you imagine what 86 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: it would do to the fragile frame of a woman. 87 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: The International Olympic Committee were reluctant to let women compete 88 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,480 Speaker 1: in any events at all, and when they were finally 89 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: persuaded to admit female athletes in nineteen twenty eight, the 90 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: longest women's race was eight hundred meters. It was a disaster. 91 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: The newspapers of the day reported the disturbing scenes. The 92 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: New York Evening Post below us on the cinderpath were 93 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: eleven wretched women, five of whom dropped out before the finish, 94 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: while five collapsed after reaching the tape. Only six out 95 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: of eleven finishers, that's nearly as bad as the first 96 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: Spine race. The Chicago Tribune added that one finisher collapsed 97 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: into unconsciousness and required medical attention. A press syndicate reporter 98 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: commented it was not a very edifying spectacle to see 99 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: a group of fine girls running themselves into a state 100 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: of exhaustion. Other writers described the race as a disgrace 101 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: or dangerous, or opined that two hundred meters was surely 102 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 1: the maximum distance a woman could attempt without premature aging 103 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: anddamage to her reproductive capacity. But this is all, of 104 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: course nonsense, not just the stuff about damage to reproductive capacity, 105 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: all of it. There weren't eleven women in the race. 106 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: There were nine. Not only did the gold medalist, Lena 107 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: Radkebatschawer break the world record, but so did the silver 108 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: and bronze medalists and the three women behind them, Which is, 109 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: I suppose what happens when an event doesn't have many precedents. 110 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: Nobody dropped out and nobody needed a doctor, no matter, 111 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: Rather than celebrating the greatest women's middle distance race in history. 112 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: The pundits wrote whatever sensationalized nonsense they felt like writing. 113 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: The International Olympic Committee used the fuss as an excuse 114 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: to keep the women's eight hundred meters out of the 115 00:08:54,200 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: Olympics for the next three decades. The Spine Race starts 116 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: with a steep scramble uphill, and at first there was 117 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 1: a group of contenders all moving together, Eugenie Rossello, Sole, 118 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: Ian Keith, Jasmine Paris and a few others. At the 119 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: top was the confusing and directionless Peat moorland of kinder Scout, 120 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: the highest area in the peak district. Eugenie made a 121 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: break and accelerated off into the mist. There were days 122 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: of running ahead of them, and the rest of the 123 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: group felt confident that their reel him in over time. 124 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: It was tough going rain, a strong headwind, a difficult terrain, 125 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: and nearly fifty miles to the first checkpoint. By the 126 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: time they arrived, Paris and Keith the court, Sole and 127 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 1: all three had broken away from the field. They unpacked 128 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: food from their rucksacks, shoveling whatever they could manage into 129 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: their mouths. Jasmine Paris took a few minutes to express 130 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: some breast milk she really didn't fancy developing mastitis, and 131 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: then the three of them headed out together into the darkness. 132 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:20,959 Speaker 1: The distance to the next checkpoint sixty one miles. If 133 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: women couldn't be allowed to run eight hundred meters until 134 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty, you can imagine what the male dominated athletic 135 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: establishment of the nineteen sixties thought of the idea of 136 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:36,720 Speaker 1: women running a marathon. But there were a few independent, 137 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 1: spirited women who liked to run, then, naturally enough, their 138 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: thoughts turned to that iconic distance. One of those women 139 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:49,080 Speaker 1: was Catherine Switzer. As a girl, she told her father 140 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 1: she wanted to be a cheerleader. You don't want to 141 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 1: be a cheerleader, honey, he told her. Cheerleaders cheer for 142 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: other people. You want people to cheer for you. He 143 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: encouraged her to run a mile each day to get 144 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:07,079 Speaker 1: fit for sports, and she did. She became a journalism 145 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: student at Syracuse, where there were no women's sports teams 146 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: at all, So she asked to train with a men's 147 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:17,839 Speaker 1: cross country team. Sure, said the head coach, and then 148 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 1: she heard him laughing with the other coaches behind her 149 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: back that only made her more determined. More encouraging was 150 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: volunteer coach Arney Briggs, the university mailman and, at fifty 151 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: years of age, the veteran of fifteen Boston marathons. He 152 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,439 Speaker 1: was full of stories about the classic marathon, which had 153 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: first been held in the late eighteen hundreds, and one 154 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:46,439 Speaker 1: December night, on a miserable training run through a snow storm, 155 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: as cars skidded and honked around, Catherine heard one too 156 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:55,679 Speaker 1: many of those tales. Let's quit talking about the Boston 157 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: Marathon and run the damn thing. No woman can run 158 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 1: the Boston Marathon. Why not, I'm running ten miles a night, 159 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 1: Arnie relented. No dame ever ran the Boston Marathon. If 160 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 1: any woman could do it, you could, but you'd have 161 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: to prove it to me if you ran the distance 162 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: in practice, I'd be the first to take you to Boston. 163 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: Now you're talking, she thought, a few months later, and 164 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:25,560 Speaker 1: three weeks before the marathon, they ran thirty one miles 165 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:30,559 Speaker 1: in training. Arnie turned gray and passed out, but Catherine 166 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: was feeling great. The next day, at Arne's insistence, she 167 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: signed up for the race, signing her name as she 168 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:46,079 Speaker 1: always did, Ka V Switzer. She and Arnie checked the 169 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: rule book. There was nothing forbidding women to enter. Arne 170 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: signed up too, as did Catherine's boyfriend, Big Tom Miller, 171 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: all two hundred and thirty five pounds of him. He 172 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: was a promising hammer thrower, had been a serious college 173 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: football player. And no, he wasn't planning on training. He 174 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 1: was pretty fit anyway, and if a girl can run 175 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: a marathon, I can run a marathon. On Wednesday, April nineteenth, 176 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty seven, racedown, it was snowing. Most of the 177 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 1: field were running in track suits. There were seven hundred 178 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: and forty one entrance, and Katherine pinned her number to 179 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 1: her sweatshirt with pride Kay Switzer two sixty one. From 180 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: the other runners, she got a few looks of surprise, 181 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 1: but a warm welcome. Hey, you're going to go the 182 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 1: whole way. Gosh, it's great to see a girl here. 183 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: Can you give me some tips to get my wife 184 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: to run? She'd love it if I could just get 185 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: her started. Arnie was beaming. Big Tom unmissible in his 186 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: bright orange Syracuse sweatshirt, wasn't happy that Katherine was wearing lipstick, 187 00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: which might attract attention. Take it off, he said, I shan't, 188 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: she replied. The crowd of runners squeezed closer and closer 189 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,480 Speaker 1: together as they approached the start, and then they were 190 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: off and feeling great. Just four miles later, the fun 191 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: would stop. Cautionary tales will be back after the break. 192 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: Catherine Switzer was running with her little group, including coach 193 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: Arnie and boyfriend Big Tom, feeling good and acknowledging the 194 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: encouragement of the other runners. But the four mile mark, 195 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: the press truck pulled alongside the little group to allow 196 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: photographers a good shot of that Dane who was running 197 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 1: the marathon. Then Switzer recalled a man with an overcoat 198 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: and felt hat was there in the middle of the road, 199 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: shaking his finger at me. He said something to me 200 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 1: as I passed and reached out for my hand, catching 201 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: my glove instead and pulling it off. He was it 202 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: the tester a crank, but he was wearing an official's ribbon. 203 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: Moments later, I heard the scraping noise of leather shoes 204 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: coming up fast behind me. When a runner hears that 205 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: kind of noise, it's usually danger. Instinctively, I jerked my 206 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: head around quickly and looked square into the most vicious face. 207 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: I'd ever seen a big man, a huge man with 208 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:33,080 Speaker 1: bad teeth, was set to pounds. But before I could react, 209 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: he grabbed my shoulder and flung me back, screaming, get 210 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: the hell out of my race and give me those numbers. 211 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: Catherine was terrified. She realized she'd wet her pants in fear, 212 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: and she turned to sprint away as the furious official 213 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: tried to rip the number off her sweatshirt. The press 214 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 1: truck was still there, the cameras were whirring and clicking, 215 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: and then, seemingly from nowhere, two hundred and thirty five 216 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: pounds of orange clad college football player who crashed into 217 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: the official, who flew sideways and landed on the roadside 218 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: in a crumpled heap. Oh God, thought Catherine, Big Tom's 219 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 1: killed him. We're in trouble. Run like hell, yelled Arnie, 220 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: and they sprinted away from the scene, with a press 221 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 1: truck in pursuit, cameras still clicking. It was an extraordinary scene, 222 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: and perhaps the strangest thing about it. Katherine Switzer wasn't 223 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: the first woman to run a marathon. She wasn't the 224 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: first woman to run the Boston Marathon. In fact, she 225 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: wasn't even the leading woman in this race. A mile 226 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: ahead of her, Roberta. Bobby Gibb was making serene progress 227 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: without an irate race official insight. Bobby Gibb hadn't exactly 228 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: been welcomed into the Boston Marathon. She'd applied to run 229 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: the marathon the previous year, nineteen sixty six, and been 230 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,679 Speaker 1: firmly rejected with a letter that explained to her women 231 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: are not physiologically capable of running a marathon. GiB crumpled 232 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: the letter and hurled it to the floor. It was ridiculous. 233 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: Bobby Gibb was regularly doing forty mile runs in the 234 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: countryside near Boston. I didn't know what to do. I 235 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: didn't have a coach, no books, nothing, I didn't have 236 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: any way of measuring distance, so I just went by time. 237 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: She told the BBC, my boyfriend would drop me off 238 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: on his motorbike and I'd run home. So two months 239 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:42,200 Speaker 1: after throwing away the rejection letter, Bobby Gibb found herself 240 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 1: crouching in a bush near the start of the marathon. 241 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:49,840 Speaker 1: Once half the men had started running, she stepped onto 242 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 1: the course and joined the crowd, disguised in a hoodie 243 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: and her brother's shorts. In nineteen sixty six. The race 244 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: was on a warm Ai April day before long, Bobby 245 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 1: Gibb shucked off her hoodie and was running in a 246 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,679 Speaker 1: strappy vest top. I was so nervous, GiB recalled. I 247 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: didn't know what would happen. I thought I might even 248 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 1: be arrested. The men around her were quick to allay 249 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: her fears. They told her we won't let them. She 250 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: had no race number. She was running for the joy 251 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: of it, her long blonde ponytails swinging with the rhythm, 252 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: and the crowds cheering her as the news spread along 253 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:34,640 Speaker 1: the course. As she passed the women's university Wellesley College, 254 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: the students roared their approval. As the distance grew, GiB 255 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: was scything through the field. She set her sub three 256 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: hour pace for much of the race, fast enough to 257 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: challenge for the first Olympic gold, but in the last 258 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,640 Speaker 1: few miles her feet were shredded by the brand new 259 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: pair of men's running shoes she was wearing and training. 260 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,200 Speaker 1: She usually woren no nurse's shoes because at a time 261 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:06,439 Speaker 1: when sports shoe companies were engaged in cutthroat competition to 262 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,639 Speaker 1: sell shoes to men, nobody could be bothered to make 263 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: running shoes for women. She slowed markedly, but kept going 264 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,080 Speaker 1: to cross the line in three hours, twenty one minutes 265 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:22,479 Speaker 1: and forty seconds. She didn't have a number, and she 266 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: didn't get an official timestamp, but she'd done it, and 267 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: two thirds of the men were still behind her. Maybe 268 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 1: the women couldn't just cover the distance. Maybe they could 269 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: teach the men a thing or two. In nineteen fifty four, 270 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: the women's record for a mile was a minute slower 271 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:49,920 Speaker 1: than the men's record. Just days after Roger Banister broke 272 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: the four minute mile in Oxford, Diane Leather broke the 273 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: five minute mile not far away in Birmingham. By nineteen 274 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 1: ninety two, the men's le over the women had narrowed 275 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 1: from one minute to just twenty six seconds. The women 276 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: were catching up, and two scientists, Brian Whipp and Susan Ward, 277 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 1: published research claiming that if the rate of improvement in 278 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:20,199 Speaker 1: elite women's running continued, then over the marathon distance, the 279 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:23,679 Speaker 1: top women would be faster than the top men. As 280 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: soon as nineteen ninety eight, that didn't happen, and neither 281 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: does it look like it will. But what is true 282 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: is that over long distances, the typical female competitor has 283 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:41,639 Speaker 1: never been closer to her male counterpart. In twenty twenty, 284 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: the International Association of Ultra Runners published the State of 285 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: Ultra Running twenty twenty, all about running over very long distances. 286 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,560 Speaker 1: This report contained an eye catching claim once the race 287 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,399 Speaker 1: is more than one hundred and ninety five miles, that 288 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: seven and a half marathons, the women run faster than 289 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 1: the men. I looked into this claim with my colleagues 290 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 1: from the BBC program more or less, and it's not 291 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 1: quite what it might seem at first sight. These aren't 292 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,359 Speaker 1: the world record times, they're the average times, which really 293 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,680 Speaker 1: tell you something about what kind of person tries an 294 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: ultra distance. In fact, the average speed of runners in 295 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: ultramarathons is getting slower. Why because more and more people 296 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 1: who are less and less superhuman for giving these distances 297 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:39,640 Speaker 1: a try. More than five times as many men as 298 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 1: women run in races longer than fifty miles. So when 299 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:46,639 Speaker 1: the report says that the women are faster at the 300 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:51,640 Speaker 1: extreme distances, what they're saying is that the average female competitor, 301 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:56,159 Speaker 1: one of a tiny handful of unbelievably badass women, is 302 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,679 Speaker 1: faster than the average male competitor who comes from a 303 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 1: much larger pool, someone who might be operating under the 304 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:08,640 Speaker 1: Big Tom school of race preparation. If a girl can 305 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:13,360 Speaker 1: run a marathon, I can run a marathon. We've seen 306 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: a rapid improvement in women's times across all distances, and 307 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: there's no mystery as to why women weren't able to 308 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,480 Speaker 1: compete for Olympic gold even over eight hundred meters until 309 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,880 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty. They were being told in the nineteen sixties 310 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: that not only were they forbidden to run a marathon, 311 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: but that it would be dangerous for them to try. 312 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: The teenage Katherine Switzer was told by her friends that 313 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: running even a mile a day might make her infertile 314 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 1: or turn her into a man. It took a determined 315 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: young woman to run at all, let alone attempt a marathon. 316 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,160 Speaker 1: No wonder that once the world saw pioneers such as 317 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:58,199 Speaker 1: Bobby Gibb and Katherine Switzer, more women felt able to 318 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: run long distances, and more organizations felt obliged to allow 319 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: them and later to support them. And no wonder that 320 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:12,919 Speaker 1: when all this finally belatedly happened, women's times quickly improved, 321 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: and the irony was that it's in the very races 322 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: that women were told were impossible to complete, that they're 323 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: getting closest to the men. The ultra distances. Those extreme 324 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:30,720 Speaker 1: distances give women a fighting chance. The result becomes dependent 325 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 1: less on lung capacity and muscle mass, where men have 326 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: a clear advantage, and more on luck, on resilience, and 327 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:42,600 Speaker 1: on a tolerance for pain. But they don't. When the 328 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:46,919 Speaker 1: human body is pushed to such extremes, anything can happen, 329 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:55,399 Speaker 1: and sometimes it does. By the time they reached the 330 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: second Spine Race checkpoint, the course record holder Ian Keith 331 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 1: had dropped back a little. Eugenie Rozello Sole and Jasmine 332 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 1: Paris were running together. Paris tried to lose Solay after 333 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,640 Speaker 1: the checkpoint. I was feeling strong and keen to run 334 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: on my own for a bit, but he caught up 335 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: with her by twilight at the end of the second day, 336 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 1: and they ran on together through the darkness, the path 337 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: ahead illuminated by their head torches. Checkpoint four was well 338 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,959 Speaker 1: over half way through the race, but there was still 339 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: more than eighty miles to go. It was a moment 340 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: to stop and to think ahead. As she wolfed down 341 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:41,720 Speaker 1: Lasagna Jasmine Paris looked over at Eugenie. He was getting 342 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: a massage and perhaps a little nap. There were still 343 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:49,119 Speaker 1: one and a half hours of daylight left. She pulled 344 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:53,879 Speaker 1: on her shoes, shouldered her rucksack, and set out to 345 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:58,920 Speaker 1: try to put some distance between them. Cautionary tales would 346 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:16,920 Speaker 1: be back for the break. Shortly after Bobby Gibb crossed 347 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 1: the sun kissed finish line of the nineteen sixty six 348 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: Boston Marathon, the state governor warmly shook her hand and 349 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,159 Speaker 1: she was invited by her fellow runners for the traditional 350 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,240 Speaker 1: post race stue. It all seemed to be going well 351 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 1: until she was turned away at the door of the 352 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:40,400 Speaker 1: dining room. Sorry, men, only that figures. Bobby Gibb decided 353 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,560 Speaker 1: that next year she'd do it all again. In the 354 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: wintry cold of the nineteen sixty seven race, GiB didn't 355 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,439 Speaker 1: match the pace of her first run, but she still 356 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,920 Speaker 1: comfortably beat the three and a half hour mark. As 357 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:57,439 Speaker 1: she crossed the finish line again, running without a number 358 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,119 Speaker 1: or an official entry, she had no idea of the 359 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,520 Speaker 1: drama that had been unfolding behind her on the course. 360 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 1: As the race officials tangled with Catherine Switzer. It turns 361 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:13,440 Speaker 1: out that registering for the race was the problem. Switzer 362 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: had assumed it was the right thing to do, but 363 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,439 Speaker 1: the short tempered race director was panicking that it'd be 364 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 1: sanctioned by the Athletics Union. She watched in shock and 365 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 1: amazement as the race director tried to rip her numbers 366 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,679 Speaker 1: off and her massive boyfriend body checked him into the 367 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: next county. Catherine felt like she was going to puke. 368 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 1: This wasn't what she'd imagined. Was all going horribly wrong. 369 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,480 Speaker 1: The press truck was still tracking her, given the incredible 370 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: scene that had just unfolded, The journalists were yelling out 371 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,520 Speaker 1: hostile questions. This was obviously just a stunt, so when 372 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: was she going to drop out? But as they kept running, 373 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,160 Speaker 1: her nausea drained away, to be replaced by cold anger. 374 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: The race director had tried to fit physically rip her 375 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,239 Speaker 1: out of the race. Screw him. There was absolutely no 376 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: way that anyone was going to stop her from finishing. 377 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: The official bus drove past again, the race director, thankfully 378 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,399 Speaker 1: very much alive, puce with rage and shaking his fist. 379 00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: Catherine started to worry that they'd be arrested, and above all, 380 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:24,639 Speaker 1: she was worried that she wouldn't be able to finish. 381 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,919 Speaker 1: She told her coach Arnie that she was determined to 382 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:32,119 Speaker 1: go the distance, even if she had to crawl, and 383 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:36,639 Speaker 1: Arnie told her, fine, just slowed down a little. It 384 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:40,639 Speaker 1: was cold and wet, and the official had pulled off 385 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,160 Speaker 1: her gloves so her left hand was freezing. And then 386 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: Big Tom spoke up, you're getting me into all kinds 387 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,959 Speaker 1: of trouble. What are you talking about, Tom, I've hit 388 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,560 Speaker 1: an official. Now I'll get kicked out of the Athletics Union. 389 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: I didn't hit the official. You hit the official. Tom. 390 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:01,440 Speaker 1: Oh great, Yeah, thanks a lot for nothing. I should 391 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: never have come to Boston. It was your idea to 392 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,960 Speaker 1: come to Boston. And with that Tom ripped off his 393 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 1: numbers and hissed, you run too slow anyway, and he 394 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:16,680 Speaker 1: sped away up the course, man handled by an official, 395 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:22,639 Speaker 1: harassed by photographers, wet pants, cold hand, dumped by her boyfriend, 396 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: and only twenty miles to go. But as the miles 397 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: went past, the adrenaline drained away and Catherine found her pace. 398 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 1: She began to enjoy the run again and some way 399 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: passed the halfway mark, looming out of the mist ahead 400 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: of her was the unmistakable orange sweatshirt of Big Tom. 401 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:51,200 Speaker 1: He was walking and as Catherine ran past, he begged 402 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,360 Speaker 1: her to give him a moment to catch his breath. 403 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: Walk with me a while. I'll get it back. Sorry, Tom, 404 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: said Catherine. She had her momentum, She had her race 405 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: to finish. She ran on the Spine Race final checkpoint, 406 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: forty two miles to go. Jasmine Paris had a decision 407 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,960 Speaker 1: to make. She had been running for three days, and 408 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 1: she'd had three hours of sleep. She was starting to hallucinate. 409 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:29,400 Speaker 1: She'd seen a tree bend down into a yoga pose. 410 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:34,200 Speaker 1: She saw a bright pink pig running across the moors. 411 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: Like other runners in previous years, should go through phases 412 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 1: of forgetting that she was even in a race at 413 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: alone leading it. So should she get some rest an 414 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:52,160 Speaker 1: hour of sleep, or should she press her advantage trying 415 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,880 Speaker 1: to extend her lead. After grabbing some more food and 416 00:29:55,920 --> 00:30:01,719 Speaker 1: a strong coffee, she pressed on. When Eugenie arrived at 417 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:06,080 Speaker 1: the checkpoint, he asked where Jasmine was. No, no, no, 418 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:13,320 Speaker 1: she's gone, said one of the checkpoint volunteers. Gone. Wow. 419 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 1: Eugenie soaked his feet in a basin of water, put 420 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 1: his head in his hands. The course record holder Ian 421 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:30,479 Speaker 1: Keith was hours behind them both. When Catherine Switzer and 422 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:34,080 Speaker 1: her coach Arne crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon, 423 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:39,240 Speaker 1: there weren't many spectators left. It was cold and wet, 424 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:43,360 Speaker 1: and they'd been running for more than four hours. There 425 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: were a few grumpy journalists who ordinarily would have gone 426 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: indoors to file their stories an hour ago, but had 427 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 1: been told to wait and get an interview with that 428 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: crazy Dame. Catherine had been slower than she'd hoped, but 429 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: under the circumstances, get to the finish line was an achievement. Enough. 430 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 1: Her feet were bleeding so badly that the race doctor 431 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: was shocked, but a rule, Catherine felt great. All they 432 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: had to do then was wait another hour for Big 433 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:24,280 Speaker 1: Tom to cross the finish line. Neither Bobby Gibb nor 434 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 1: Catherine Switzer set out to change the world, but between 435 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 1: them they did. The photograph of Bobby Gibb running down 436 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: the home stretch in nineteen sixty six was inspirational, but 437 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: even more iconic was the image of Switzer being attacked 438 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: by a race official. In nineteen sixty seven, he gave 439 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 1: the world one of the most galvanizing photos in women's 440 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: rights history, said Switzer, and it's hard to disagree. Both 441 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:58,960 Speaker 1: photographs and both women provided leverage to campaigners who persuaded 442 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: the authorities to chase the rules. In nineteen seventy two, 443 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:09,040 Speaker 1: Nina Cusick was the first woman to officially win a 444 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:14,080 Speaker 1: Boston Marathon, while Bobby Gibb has been retrospectively recognized as 445 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 1: a three time winner. GiB told the BBC back then, 446 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 1: men weren't allowed to have feelings and women weren't allowed 447 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: to have a brain. What if a man wants to knit, 448 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,479 Speaker 1: is he any less of a man? No? What if 449 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 1: a woman wants to drive a truck? Is she any 450 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: less of a woman? No? All people can be who 451 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 1: they want to be. The Spine Race had started on 452 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 1: Sunday morning. By Wednesday evening, Jasmine Paris was limping down 453 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 1: off the final summit towards the finish line. Every step 454 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:58,600 Speaker 1: was agonizing. She had developed tendonitis on both legs and 455 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:02,360 Speaker 1: her pace was flagging. She kept looking over her shoulder 456 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:07,160 Speaker 1: at the horizon, looking for Eugenie Rosello sole I kept 457 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 1: expecting him to catch me because I felt that I 458 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,400 Speaker 1: was going so slowly on that last day, I kept 459 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 1: falling asleep and thinking he must be just behind me. 460 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 1: Eugenie was not just behind her. Sleep deprived, exhausted, and 461 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:27,400 Speaker 1: dangerously cold, he pushed his emergency Buttom to quit the 462 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:31,320 Speaker 1: race and summon help. With two hundred and sixty four 463 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:37,040 Speaker 1: miles completed and four miles to go, and by then 464 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:43,240 Speaker 1: Jasmine Paris had long since finished after the solitude of 465 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:47,600 Speaker 1: the Pennine Way, the finish line was bewildering a crowd 466 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: of people, the flashes of cameras, a very clingy cuddle 467 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 1: with her daughter Rowan, a shower, and then the fish 468 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 1: and chips Jasmine had been dreaming of, and the breast 469 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: feed that Rowan had been demanding. Dazed, Jasmine started to 470 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:08,800 Speaker 1: realize why people were quite so excited. She had obliterated 471 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:13,200 Speaker 1: Ian Keith's course record by more than twelve hours, about 472 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 1: fifty miles. Ian Keith himself wouldn't win the men's race 473 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 1: until the next morning, fifteen hours later. Still, there wasn't 474 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: too much time to celebrate. Jasmine's PhD thesis was due 475 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: in ten weeks. It wasn't going to write itself. Key 476 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,360 Speaker 1: sources for this episode were Jasmine Paris's first hand account 477 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:53,040 Speaker 1: of the Spine race, Olivier Gieberteau's feature article about Bobby Gibb, 478 00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:58,799 Speaker 1: and Catherine Switzer's autobiography Marathon Woman. For a full list 479 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: of our sources, see the show notes Timharford dot com. 480 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:16,080 Speaker 1: Cautionary Tales is written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright. 481 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,880 Speaker 1: It's produced by Alice Fines with support from Marilyn Rust. 482 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:22,920 Speaker 1: The sound design and original music is the work of 483 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:27,840 Speaker 1: Pascal Wise. Sarah Nix edited the scripts. It features the 484 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:32,200 Speaker 1: voice talents of Ben Crowe, Melanie Guttridge, Stella Harford, Jammas 485 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 1: Saunders and Rufus Wright. The show also wouldn't have been 486 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:40,600 Speaker 1: possible without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Ryan Dilly, Greta Cohne, 487 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:46,440 Speaker 1: Eric's handler, Carrie Brody, and Christina Sullivan. Cautionary Tales is 488 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:51,239 Speaker 1: a production of Pushkin Industries. It's recorded at Wardoor Studios 489 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:54,560 Speaker 1: in London by Tom Berry. If you like the show, 490 00:35:54,920 --> 00:36:00,040 Speaker 1: please remember to share, rate and review, tell your friends, 491 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:01,920 Speaker 1: and if you want to hear the show ad free, 492 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:05,239 Speaker 1: sign up for Pushkin Plus on the show page in 493 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin dot fm, slash plus