Women were afraid and they would never even imagine running a marathon in 1967. Kathrine Switzer More Quotes by Kathrine Switzer More Quotes From Kathrine Switzer All you need is the courage to believe in yourself and put one foot in front of the other. Kathrine Switzer feet believe needs If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon. Kathrine Switzer faith running sports When I was first running marathons, we were sailing on a flat earth. We were afraid we'd get big legs, grow mustaches, not get boyfriends, not be able to have babies. Women thought that something would happen to them, that they'd break down or turn into men, something shadowy, when they were only limited by their own society's sense of limitations. Kathrine Switzer running baby sports If you feel positive, you have a sense of hope. If you have hope, you can have courage. Kathrine Switzer have-courage having-hope feels Life is for participating, not for spectating. Kathrine Switzer participating marathon life-is I always say that talent and capability is everywhere, all it needs is opportunity. Kathrine Switzer talent opportunity needs I said that there's going to come a day in our lives when women's running is as popular and as men's. Looking back, I obviously had a great sense of vision. And I was right. Kathrine Switzer vision running men Triumph over adversity that's what the marathon is all about. Nothing in life can't triumph after that Kathrine Switzer marathon triumph adversity When I go to the Boston Marathon now, I have wet shoulders—women fall into my arms crying. They're weeping for joy because running has changed their lives. They feel they can do anything. Kathrine Switzer boston running fall When I finished the Boston race in 1967, there were two things I wanted to do. I wanted to become a better athlete because my first marathon was 4:20. In those days, that was considered a jogging time and I knew people were going to tease me. But I was more fascinated with what women could do if they only had the chance. Kathrine Switzer race athlete two Talent is everywhere, it only needs the opportunity. Kathrine Switzer leadership opportunity sports I could feel my anger dissipating as the miles went by--you can't run and stay mad! Kathrine Switzer miles mad running There is an expression among even the most advanced runners that getting your shoes on is the hardest part of any workout Kathrine Switzer workout running motivational Women is out because she's getting in her daily dose of empowerment, freedom and fearlessness. She has put on her freedom wings for 20 minutes or two hours. That's going to make her whole day right and her whole future hold up and seem entirely possible. The sense of her not having any limits, or any restrictions, to me, is so liberating. She doesn't have to prove anything. Kathrine Switzer empowerment wings two At the finish line of the 1967 Boston Marathon, one crabby journalist said it was just a one-off deal and women weren't going to run. Only a 20-year-old who had just run a marathon and was shot full of endorphin would say this but I said that there's going to come a day in our lives when women's running is as popular and as men's. Kathrine Switzer boston running men What I've done in this older part of my life is I started foundation called 261 Fearless, named after my old ,1967 Boston Marathon, bib number.I thought we could create training and a communicative, non-judgmental platform, in a movement to let them know they're not alone. Then fearless women can reach out to help women who are fearful and take that first step using the vehicle of running because it's transformational. It works for every woman every time. Kathrine Switzer boston running numbers I do forgive people when they get it right, even people who in the past I thought were unforgivable. Kathrine Switzer forgiving people past When I forgave Jock Semple on Heartbreak Hill, I also got really cross with women. I couldn't understand why they didn't get it, why they didn't know that running was so cool and why they weren't in the race as well. Then I thought to myself "How stupid can you be? You've had so much encouragement and motivation and these women haven't." Kathrine Switzer motivation encouragement running I don't have any kids of my own, quite by choice. There are two reasons for that. One, I had a sense of obligation for what my life would be and a vision of how to get that accomplished and it didn't include children. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that if you have them, they deserve 100 per cent of your attention. Kathrine Switzer two kids children A picture, of Jock Semple kissed me,appeared in The New York Times the next day after Boston Marathon in 1973, and the caption was "The end of an era." Kathrine Switzer boston next-day new-york
