This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first time a woman ran the Boston Marathon. Bobbi Gibb ran as a bandit, since the BAA didn’t let women register back then, but she wasn’t just fooling around. After two years of training focused on the race, Gibb ran Boston in 3:21:40. She went on to run the next two years, joined by other women, and Gibb finished as the fastest woman each time.
Gibb has gone on to become a painter and sculptor. She will be at the Boston Marathon this year to celebrate the anniversary.
In her short book remembering the race, To Boston With Love, Gibb writes about running over 60 miles alongside the horses during a three-day race in Vermont:
Nowadays horses and runners strive to do the 100 miles in a single day.