Editing Marathon (section)

==History==
===Origin===
[[File:Phidippides.jpg|thumb|[[Luc-Olivier Merson]]'s 1869 painting depicting the runner announcing the victory at the [[Battle of Marathon]] to the people of [[Athens]]]]

The name ''Marathon'' comes from the legend of [[Pheidippides]], the Greek messenger. The legend states that while he was taking part in the [[Battle of Marathon]], which took place in August or September 490 BC,<ref>{{cite web|title=Astronomers Unravel Marathon Mystery|url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/press-releases/astronomers-unravel-marathon-mystery-2/|website=Sky & Telescope|access-date=21 March 2017|date=19 July 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211130116/http://www.skyandtelescope.com/press-releases/astronomers-unravel-marathon-mystery-2/|archive-date=11 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> he witnessed a Persian vessel changing its course towards [[Athens]] as the battle was near a victorious end for the Greek army. He interpreted this as an attempt by the defeated [[Persians]] to rush into the city to claim a false victory or simply raid,<ref name=galloway>{{cite web |url = http://www.jeffgalloway.com/retreats/athens.html |title=Retreats&nbsp;— Athens |publisher=Jeffgalloway.com |access-date=22 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601183948/http://jeffgalloway.com/retreats/athens.html |archive-date= 1 June 2009 }}</ref> hence claiming their authority over Greek land. It was said that he ran the entire distance to Athens without stopping, discarding his weapons and even clothes to lose as much weight as possible, and burst into the [[Athenian Assembly|assembly]], exclaiming "we have won!", before collapsing and dying.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/faq10.html |title=Ancient Olympics FAQ 10 |publisher=Perseus.tufts.edu |access-date=22 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720020404/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/faq10.html |archive-date=20 July 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appeared in [[Plutarch]]'s ''On the Glory of Athens'' in the first century AD, which quoted from [[Heraclides Ponticus]]'s lost work, giving the runner's name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles.<ref>Moralia 347C</ref> Satirist [[Lucian of Samosata]] gave one of the earliest accounts similar to the modern version of the story, but its historical veracity is disputed based on its tongue-in-cheek writing and the runner being referred to as Philippides and not Pheidippides.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Myth of Pheidippides and the Marathon |url=http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/sports/2010/april/Myth-of-Pheidippides-and-the-Marathon.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106143318/http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/sports/2010/april/Myth-of-Pheidippides-and-the-Marathon.html |archive-date=6 November 2018 |access-date=7 May 2019 |website=findingdulcinea.com|date=4 November 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:texts_and_library:essays:a-slip-of-the-tongue-in-salutation#section3|title=A slip of the tongue in salutation, Chapter 3; The Works of Lucian of Samosata. Translated by Fowler, H.W. and F.G.; Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1905|website=The Lucian of Samosata Project}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0516%3Asection%3D3|title=The Greek original of the text of Chapter 3|website=Lucian, Pro lapsu inter salutandum @ perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

There is debate about the historical accuracy of this legend.<ref name=Prologue>{{cite web |url=http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/prologue.cfm |title=Prologue: The Legend |publisher=Marathonguide.com |access-date=22 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416112356/http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/prologue.cfm |archive-date=16 April 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Holland, Tom (2007) ''Persian Fire'', Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, {{ISBN|0307386988}}.</ref> The Greek historian [[Herodotus]], the main source for the [[Greco-Persian Wars]], mentioned Philippides as the messenger who ran from [[Athens]] to [[Sparta]] asking for help, and then ran back, a distance of over {{convert|240|km|mi}} each way.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coolrunning.co.nz/articles/2002a007.html#appendix |title=The Great Marathon Myth |publisher=Cool Running New Zealand |last=Kemp |first=Ian |date=27 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204100836/http://www.coolrunning.co.nz/articles/2002a007.html |archive-date=4 December 2016}}</ref> In some Herodotus manuscripts, the name of the runner between Athens and Sparta is given as Philippides. Herodotus makes no mention of a messenger sent from Marathon to Athens and relates that the main part of the Athenian army, having fought and won the grueling battle and fearing a naval raid by the Persian fleet against an undefended Athens, marched quickly back from the battle to Athens, arriving the same day.<ref>Herodotus, ''The Histories'' Herodotus makes no mention of a runner following the battle runner, and such a runner is mentioned only in much later sources, Nowadays the story of the "Marathon runner" is generally rejected as a fiction, possibly arising from confusion with the runner sent to Sparta before the battle. (Penguin Books: New York, 1977) p. 425.</ref>

{{wikisource|Pheidippides}}
In 1879, [[Robert Browning]] wrote the poem ''Pheidippides''. Browning's poem, his composite story, became part of late 19th-century popular culture and was accepted as a historical legend.<ref name="pheidip">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/oct-26-truth-about-pheidippides-and-early-years-marathon-history|title=The Truth about Pheidippides and the Early Years of Marathon History|last=Burfoot|first=Amby|date=26 October 2010|magazine=Runner's World|access-date=25 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225062715/http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/oct-26-truth-about-pheidippides-and-early-years-marathon-history|archive-date=25 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Mount Pentelicus]] stands between Marathon and Athens, which means that Philippides would have had to run around the mountain, either to the north or to the south. The latter and more obvious route is followed by the modern Marathon-Athens highway ([[Greek National Road 83|EO83]]–[[Greek National Road 54|EO54]]), which follows the lay of the land southwards from Marathon Bay and along the coast, then takes a gentle but protracted climb westwards towards the eastern approach to Athens, between the foothills of Mounts [[Hymettus]] and [[Penteli, Greece|Penteli]], and then gently downhill to Athens proper. As it existed when the Olympics were revived in 1896, this route was approximately {{convert|40|km|mi}} long. It was the approximate distance originally used for marathon races. However, there have been suggestions that Philippides might have followed another route: a westward climb along the eastern and northern slopes of Mount Penteli to the [[Dionysos, Greece|pass of Dionysos]], and then a straight southward downhill path to Athens. This route is slightly shorter, {{convert|35|km|mi}}, but includes a very steep climb over the first {{convert|5|km|mi}}.
[[File:Soldat_Marathon_Cortot_Louvre_LP243.jpg|thumb|''The Soldier of Marathon Announcing the Victory'' (1834) by [[Jean-Pierre Cortot]]; [[Louvre]], Paris]]

===Modern Olympic marathon===
{{main|Marathons at the Olympics}}

When the modern Olympics [[1896 Summer Olympics|began in 1896]], the initiators and organizers were looking for a great popularizing event, recalling the glory of [[ancient Greece]]. The idea of a marathon race came from [[Michel Bréal]], who wanted the event to feature in the [[1896 Summer Olympics|first modern Olympic Games]] in 1896 in Athens. This idea was heavily supported by [[Pierre de Coubertin]], the founder of the modern Olympics, as well as by the [[Greeks]].<ref name="m-run-ency-2002">{{cite book|author1=Richard Benyo|author2=Joe Henderson|title=Running Encyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/runningencyclope00rich|url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=Human Kinetics|isbn=9780736037341|pages=[https://archive.org/details/runningencyclope00rich/page/250 250]|access-date=6 April 2017}}</ref> A selection race for the Olympic marathon was held on 22 March 1896 ([[Gregorian calendar|Gregorian]]){{efn|This date is specified as 10 March in some sources as Greece used the [[Julian calendar]] at the time.}} that was won by [[Charilaos Vasilakos]] in 3 hours and 18 minutes.<ref name="m-bijkerk-young">{{cite journal|url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv7n1/JOHv7n1d.pdf|title=That Memorable First Marathon|author1=Anthony Bijkerk|author2=David C. Young|journal=Journal of Olympic History|publisher=[[International Society of Olympic Historians|ISOH]]|page=27|date=Winter 1999|access-date=6 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912011834/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv7n1/JOHv7n1d.pdf|archive-date=12 September 2016|url-status=dead}}. Results summary: page 27, annotation 3.</ref> The winner of the [[Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics&nbsp;– Men's marathon|first Olympic marathon]], on 10 April 1896 (a male-only race), was [[Spyridon Louis]], a Greek water-carrier, in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds.<ref name="m-mallon-widlund-1997">{{cite book|author1=Bill Mallon|author2=Ture Widlund|title=1896 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnYwCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA69|year=1997|publisher=McFarland|pages=69|isbn=9781476609508|access-date=6 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407153804/https://books.google.com/books?id=UnYwCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA69|archive-date=7 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon|marathon of the 2004 Summer Olympics]] was run on the traditional route from [[Marathon, Greece|Marathon]] to [[Athens]], ending at [[Panathinaiko Stadium]], the venue for the 1896 Summer Olympics. That men's marathon was won by Italian [[Stefano Baldini]] in 2 hours 10 minutes and 55 seconds, a record time for this route until the non-Olympics [[Athens Classic Marathon]] of 2014 when Felix Kandie lowered the course record to 2 hours 10 minutes and 37 seconds.

[[File:1896 Olympic marathon.jpg|thumb|left|[[Burton Holmes]]'s photograph entitled ''"1896: Three athletes in training for the marathon at the Olympic Games in Athens"''.<ref name="m-getty">{{cite web|url=http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/three-athletes-in-training-for-the-marathon-at-the-olympic-news-photo/3066157|title=1896, Marathon Runners, Burton Holmes|date=10 March 2004 |publisher=Getty Images|access-date=10 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619073508/http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/three-athletes-in-training-for-the-marathon-at-the-olympic-news-photo/3066157 |archive-date=19 June 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="m-burtonholmes-1901">{{cite book|author=Burton Holmes|title=The Burton Holmes Lectures (Volume 3): The Olympian games in Athens|url=https://archive.org/details/burtonholmeslect03holm/page/68/mode/2up|year=1901|location=Battle Creek, Michigan|publisher=The Little-Preston Co.|pages=69|isbn=|access-date=2 March 2025}}</ref> [[Charilaos Vasilakos]] in the middle.<ref name="m-pdlakonias-2016">{{cite web|url=http://pdlakonias.gr/articles/23.pdf#page=32|title=Βιογραφικό Χαρίλαου Βασιλάκου (1875–1964)|page=32|publisher=pdlakonias.gr|date=2016|access-date=2 March 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408222211/http://pdlakonias.gr/articles/23.pdf#page=32|archive-date=8 April 2017|url-status=live|trans-title=Biography of Charilaos Vasilakos (1875–1964)}}</ref>]]

The women's marathon was introduced at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] (Los Angeles, US) and was won by [[Joan Benoit]] of the United States with a time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 52 seconds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/3/3_1/olympic-champion-joan-ben.shtml |title=Olympic Champion Joan Benoit Samuelson To Be Guest of Honor at Manchester Marathon&nbsp;— Registration Closed |work=Cool Running |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111025815/http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/3/3_1/olympic-champion-joan-ben.shtml |archive-date=11 January 2012}}</ref>

It has become a tradition for the men's Olympic marathon to be the last event of the athletics calendar, on the final day of the Olympics.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marathonrunmuseum.com/index.php/en/the-museum/marathon-race |title=Marathon Race |publisher=Marathon Run Museum |access-date=21 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822152401/http://www.marathonrunmuseum.com/index.php/en/the-museum/marathon-race |archive-date=22 August 2016}}</ref> For many years, the race finished inside the Olympic stadium; however, at the [[2012 Summer Olympics]] (London), the start and finish were on [[The Mall, London|The Mall]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.az.co.uk/blog/mapping-the-london-olympic-marathon-course |title=Mapping out the London Olympic Marathon course |date=31 July 2012 |publisher=The AZ Blog |access-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823023414/http://www.az.co.uk/blog/mapping-the-london-olympic-marathon-course/ |archive-date=23 August 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> and at the [[2016 Summer Olympics]] ([[Rio de Janeiro]]), the start and finish were in the [[Sambódromo]], the parade area that serves as a spectator mall for [[Carnival]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.runnersworld.com/sweat-science/visualizing-the-rio-olympic-marathon-course |title=Visualizing the Rio Olympic Marathon Course |magazine=Runner's World |access-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822005849/http://www.runnersworld.com/sweat-science/visualizing-the-rio-olympic-marathon-course |archive-date=22 August 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Often, the men's marathon medals are awarded during the closing ceremony (including the [[2004 Summer Olympics closing ceremony|2004 games]], [[2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony|2012 games]], [[2016 Summer Olympics closing ceremony|2016 games]] and [[2020 Summer Olympics closing ceremony|2020 games]]).

The Olympic men's record is 2:06:26, set at the [[2024 Summer Olympics]] by [[Tamirat Tola]] of Ethiopia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/news/a61850767/tamirat-tola-wins-mens-marathon-paris-olympics/|title=Tamirat Tola steps in as Ethiopia's reserve – and breaks the Olympic marathon record|website=[[Runner's World]]|date=12 August 2024|access-date=29 October 2024|first1=Rachel|last1=Boswell|first2=Rachel|last2=Lorge Butler}}</ref><!-- Do ''not'' change to Berlin world record time! Berlin 2008 was ''not'' the Olympics; those were in Beijing. -->  The Olympic women's record is 2:22:55, set at the [[2024 Summer Olympics]] by [[Sifan Hassan]] of The Netherlands.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://olympics.com/OG2024/pdf/OG2024/ATH/OG2024_ATH_C73V_ATHWMARATHON----------FNL-000100--.pdf |title=Paris 2024 - Women's Marathon - Results |website=Olympics.com |date=11 August 2024 |access-date=11 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811141724/https://olympics.com/OG2024/pdf/OG2024/ATH/OG2024_ATH_C73V_ATHWMARATHON----------FNL-000100--.pdf |archive-date=11 August 2024}}</ref> Per capita, the [[Kalenjin people|Kalenjin ethnic group]] of [[Rift Valley Province]] in [[Kenya]] has produced a highly disproportionate share of marathon and track-and-field winners.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Warner |first=Gregory |date=1 November 2013 |title=How One Kenyan Tribe Produces The World's Best Runners |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/11/01/241895965/how-one-kenyan-tribe-produces-the-worlds-best-runners |work=NPR}}</ref>

===Marathon mania in the US===
The [[Boston Marathon]] began on 19 April 1897 and was inspired by the success of the first marathon competition in the [[1896 Summer Olympics]]. It is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's most prestigious road racing events. Its course runs from [[Hopkinton, Massachusetts|Hopkinton]] in southern Middlesex County to [[Copley Square]] in Boston. [[Johnny Hayes]]' victory at the 1908 Summer Olympics also contributed to the early growth of long-distance running and marathoning in the United States.<ref>{{cite book |title=The World 1910 Almanac and Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGA3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PP7 |year=1909 |publisher=Press Publishing Company |location=New York |pages=384–385 |chapter=Track and Field Athletics |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cGA3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA384 |access-date=13 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509183108/https://books.google.com/books?id=cGA3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PP7 |archive-date=9 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Whorton">{{cite book |last1=Whorton |first1=James C. |editor1-first=Jack W. |editor1-last=Berryman |editor2-first=Robert J. |editor2-last=Park |title=Sport and Exercise Science: Essays in the History of Sports Medicine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TVklQ4FX76wC|year=1992 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=0-252-06242-6 |page=127 |chapter="Athlete's Heart": The Medical Debate over Athleticism, 1870–1920 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TVklQ4FX76wC&pg=PA109}}</ref> Later that year, races around the [[holiday season]] including the Empire City Marathon held on New Year's Day 1909 in [[Yonkers, New York|Yonkers]], New York, marked the early running craze referred to as "marathon mania".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Roger |date=January–February 2009 |title=Footsteps: 'Tis the (Racing) Season; 100 Years of Holiday Running |journal=Running Times Magazine |access-date=10 February 2011 |url=http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=15263 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222212255/http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=15263 |archive-date=22 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Following the 1908 Olympics, the first five amateur marathons in New York City were held on days that held special meanings: [[Thanksgiving|Thanksgiving Day]], the day after Christmas, New Year's Day, [[Washington's Birthday]], and [[Lincoln's Birthday]].<ref name="Cooper">{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Pamela |title=The American Marathon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSPF71aP0qsC |year=1999 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |location=Syracuse, New York |isbn=0-8156-0573-0 |pages=27–48 |chapter=New York City Marathon Culture |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSPF71aP0qsC |access-date=13 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508114057/https://books.google.com/books?id=cSPF71aP0qsC&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=8 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Frank Shorter]]'s victory in the [[Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics&nbsp;– Men's marathon|marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics]] would spur [[running boom of the 1970s|national enthusiasm for the sport]] more intensely than that which followed Hayes' win 64 years earlier.<ref name="Whorton"/> In 2014, an estimated 550,600 runners completed a marathon within the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.runningusa.org/marathon-report-2016|title=2015 Running USA Annual Marathon Report|work=RunningUSA.org|publisher=Running USA|date=25 May 2016|access-date=21 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322112519/http://www.runningusa.org/marathon-report-2016|archive-date=22 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> This can be compared to 143,000 in 1980. Today, marathons are held all around the world on a nearly weekly basis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marathonguide.com/races/races.cfm?place=intl|title=Marathon Guide: International Marathons Report|publisher=MarathonGuide|access-date=12 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110216211814/http://www.marathonguide.com/races/races.cfm?place=intl|archive-date=16 February 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Inclusion of women===
For a long time after the Olympic marathon started, there were no long-distance races, such as the marathon, for women. Although a few women, such as [[Stamata Revithi]] in 1896, had run the marathon distance, they were not included in any official results.<ref name="Lovett">{{cite web|url=http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/chapter25.cfm|title=Olympic Marathon (excerpt)|year=1997|work=[[Charlie Lovett]]|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.|access-date=1 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217025742/http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/chapter25.cfm|archive-date=17 February 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="m-1896-women">{{cite web|url=http://69.65.11.24/~isohorg/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/102.pdf|title=Two Women Ran the Marathon in 1896|author=Karl Lennartz|publisher=International Society of Olympic Historians [[International Society of Olympic Historians|ISOH]]|access-date=10 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411003627/http://69.65.11.24/~isohorg/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/102.pdf|archive-date=11 April 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Marie-Louise Ledru]] has been credited as the first woman to complete a marathon, in 1918.<ref name="ARRS1">{{cite web |title=World Best Progressions- Road |url=https://arrs.run/RecProg/RP_wwR.htm |work=Association of Road Racing Statisticians |access-date=1 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614221254/https://arrs.run/RecProg/RP_wwR.htm |archive-date=14 June 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Krise, Raymond and Squires, Bill (1982). ''Fast Tracks: The History of Distance Running Since 884 B.C.'', S. Greene Press, p. 43, {{ISBN|0828904820}}.</ref><ref>Gross, Albert C. (1986) ''Endurance'', Dodd Mead, {{ISBN|0396088880}}.</ref> [[Violet Piercy]] has been credited as the first woman to be officially timed in a marathon, in 1926.<ref name="Lovett"/>

[[Arlene Pieper]] became the first woman to officially finish a marathon in the United States when she completed the [[Pikes Peak Marathon]] in Manitou Springs, Colorado, in 1959.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/mystique.htm|title=First woman to run marathon in US|access-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211125822/http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/mystique.htm|archive-date=11 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://marathonandbeyond.com/2013/11/arlene-pieper-1st-lady-marathoner/|title=Arlene Pieper – 1st Lady Marathoner &#124; Marathon and Beyond|website=marathonandbeyond.com|date=5 November 2017 |access-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916202214/http://marathonandbeyond.com/2013/11/arlene-pieper-1st-lady-marathoner/|archive-date=16 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Kathrine Switzer]] was the first woman to run the [[Boston Marathon]] "officially" (with a number), in 1967.<ref name="BBC 2012-04-16">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17632029|title=Boston, 1967: When marathons were just for men|date=16 April 2012|work=BBC News|access-date=4 November 2014|quote=Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to officially run the race 45 years ago, despite stewards trying to physically force the 20-year-old off the road.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230184507/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17632029|archive-date=30 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Switzer's entry, which was accepted through an "oversight" in the screening process, was in "flagrant violation of the rules", and she was treated as an interloper once the error was discovered.<ref name="semple">Semple, Jock; with John J. Kelley and Tom Murphy (1981). ''Just Call Me Jock: The Story of Jock Semple, Boston's Mr. Marathon'', pages 7, 114–118, Waterford Publishing Co., {{ISBN|978-0942052015}}</ref> [[Bobbi Gibb]] had completed the Boston race unofficially the previous year (1966),<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120307073949/http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/boston-marathon-history.aspx Boston Marathon History]. baa.org</ref> and was later recognized by the [[Boston Athletic Association|race organizers]] as the [[List of winners of the Boston Marathon#Women's Open|women's winner for that year, as well as 1967 and 1968]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120307073943/http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/boston-marathon-history/past-champions/past-womens-open-champions.aspx Boston Marathon History: Past Women's Open Champions]. baa.org</ref>