By Emily Tarinelli ’25
Sports Editor
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
After two years of postponements, cancellations and virtual participation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 126th Boston Marathon returned to its regular Patriot’s Day schedule on April 18, 2022. The race — which, according to the Associated Press, consisted of over 28,000 runners — celebrated more than just a return to normalcy. The race also marked the 50th anniversary of women’s official participation in the event.
This year’s winner of the women’s division was 28-year-old Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya, the Associated Press reported. The victory came down to the last 385 yards, where Jepchirchir pulled ahead of Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh, according to ESPN. The pair remained neck-and-neck throughout the race, stealing the lead from each other eight times in the last mile, AP News said. Jepchirchir finished four seconds ahead of Yeshaneh with a time of 2:21:01 hours.
“I was feeling she was strong. I pushed it,” Jepchirchir told the Associated Press. “I fell behind. But I didn’t lose hope.”
According to the Daily Free Press, Switzerland’s Manuela Schar won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:41:08 hours.
As reported by The Guardian, women were barred from competing in the Boston Marathon until 1972. While this year’s race marked the 50th anniversary of Nina Kuscsik’s win in the first official women’s division, women began running in the marathon unofficially in 1966. This period — between 1966 and 1972 — was initially branded as the Boston Marathon’s “Unofficial Era,” but is now widely called the “Pioneer Era.”
According to the Associated Press, Bobbi Gibb is recognized as the first woman to run in the Boston Marathon. Gibb participated in 1966 as a “bandit,” a term given to unregistered runners.
In 1967, Kathrine Switzer officially registered for the race as “KV Switzer.” For some time, she was not given trouble because the sign-up form did not inquire about gender, according to The Guardian. However, when Jock Semple, the race director, saw her on the course, he attempted to physically push her off the road.
At long last, in 1972, eight women lined up beside the male competitors as the first official female runners in the marathon, WBUR reported.
This year, over 12,000 women entered the race. The lineup was particularly strong: Jepchirchir, who is an Olympic gold medalist, competed against Joyciline Jepkosgei and Degitu Azimeraw, who all brought “personal bests under [two] hours, 18 minutes — two minutes faster than the Boston course record,” according to WBUR.
“Oh, my God. It’s so cool. I mean, like, that fires me up so much, just knowing the high level of competition we’re going to have here,” Molly Seidel, an Olympic bronze medalist, told WBUR. “It’s always fun to get to the race and just know that you’re up against the best in the world.”