Who was the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon?

The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by several cities in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is always held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, inspired by the success of the first marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events.

Women were not allowed to enter the Boston Marathon officially until 1972. Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb is recognized by the race organizers as the first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon (in 1966). In 1967, Kathrine Switzer, who had registered as "K. V. Switzer", was the first woman to run and finish with a race number. She finished despite an infamous incident in which race official Jock Semple tried to rip off her numbers and eject her from the race. In 1996 the B.A.A. retroactively recognized as champions the unofficial women's leaders of 1966 through 1971.

In 2015, about 46 percent of the entrants were female.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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13 Comments

Marian Spitzig

You did not say legally. Katherine Switzer had a legal bib number on.

carlthedad

You ask who was the first woman to finish the Marathon, not the first to be officially recognized by the marathon comity.that would be Katherine Virginia Switzer in 1967.

klmilles

Gibb ran in 1967, also, and beat Switzer's time by about an hour. Legit number or not.

rkcorrigan

Wrong answer again. Switzer completed it in 1967. Gibb completed it but not until 1972. This question needs to be either corrected or dropped.

Lisa Rodrigues

In 1967, Kathrine Switzer, who had registered as "K. V. Switzer", was the first woman to run and finish with a race number.

JohnnyRoulette

And then there was that Rosie woman who took the subway for much of the race

maewall

This is why I don't like wikipedia

Barcud coch

The answer to the question is correct from what I’ve read.

Special Patrol Group

williamrlaughlin, The question does not ask if she completed all steps. She is recognised as the first women tof complete the Boston marathon .... simple.

blucherfamily

According to everything I can find, including Wikipedia, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon in 1967. The key word here is 'complete'. Bobbi Gibb did run the course a year earlier, but she was not registered. The first step in running the Marathon is entry or registration, so any one with out this can run the course, but cannot be considered an official starter or finisher. If the question had said run or complete the Boston Marathon course the the answer would be Bobbi Gibb. It didn't, it said complete the Boston Marathon, which Bobbi Gibb certainly did not because she was not an official entrant. The correct answer is therefore Katherine Switzer who registered as K.A. Switzer and therefore was an official entrant.

Special Patrol Group

Answer RIGHT ... Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb is recognized by the race organizers as the first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon (in 1966). The race organizers state that she is first so how can it be wrong .... except it and admit that you are all wrong.