And i saw the space and this man grabbed me like this and he stream to get the hell out of my race. It was big we didnt know how big it would become. With ms doesnt become one of the great things as in sports and sports history lets be honest with. Boston massachusetts a city on the east coast of the United States the worlds biggest and most important market is held this year will be the one hundred twenty first time. Awesomeness Boston Marathon because it the whole tradition its the oldest marathon in the world is that its always i saw the time that. Thirteen thousand women are now participate in the Boston Marathon thats an incredible think and. Catherine switzer is seventy years old. And yet shes still the star at this years Boston Marathon. She talks about the event she experienced fifty years ago she sought after everywhere including here at birth to sixty one Running Group named after Katherine Switzers famous number from the in one nine hundred sixty seven. Then. When she talks about running its always about life as well shes an inspiration to us all thats on. A walk with Katherine Switzer. Were heading to the finish line of the Boston Marathon and. I dont show it to you. In a few days time she wants to run this route again fifty years after the original event. Im watching it and it was right there at. Nine hundred sixty six i heard from a friend of mine who ran Cross Country about an event called the Boston Marathon and it lodged in my brain that someday i would really love to do that and i said to him hey did a girl run the Boston Marathon too and he said yes in one thousand nine hundred sixty six bobby get jumped out of the bushes and ran the race bobby gib had run the boston mass and one year before katherine but without an official number she got onto the track from a hiding place and i said well thats great see a woman can do it twenty six miles forty two kilometers sure. Her father encouraged the Young Katherine to do Long Distance running despite the many prejudices. People still whispered about the medical implications you know that maybe youre going to turn into a man maybe you are a man or that youre going to get big. Legs or that your uterus is going to fall out youll never have children all of these things were myths that held women back and made them afraid and also made men say we have to protect women we cant let them do these Long Distance things we dont want them to hurt themselves. In one thousand nine hundred sixty seven only men were officially allowed to run the marathon and yet so its a registered from boston so i filled out the entry form but i signed it of course how i signed my name k. V. Switzer and when the entry form when they thought it was from a man i didnt know that it wasnt intentional i was only going to boston to run. The beginning the beginning of the race the day was like all other Boston Marathon zero marathons we get went to the starting line is so us some people some people we didnt know interviewed came back. We we went and then they we went on a bus the press bus after about two or three miles it warmed up and everyone was taking off the hoods the buses the buses going by a pack and suddenly a boston writer said. Jock theres a woman in your race. John. Youve used your is the you dont know what to say yes he said stop the bus stop the bus off of this bus behind me came one of the co race directors his name was jock sample and the men on the bus the journalists had been teasing him saying hey look theres a girl in your race shes wearing big numbers drug samples jumped off the truck went to grab the number and as he did that i actually didnt see him coming and i didnt hear him until the last minute when i heard these leather shoes in a different pace from the rubber shoes and i turned like this and i saw this face and as i turned i got away from him then he grabbed my shirt was pulling it and went for the one on the back and in fact this is the one that was on the back and he caught the outside corner right here and with that my boyfriend who happened to be a two hundred thirty five pound ex allamerican Football Player came running full tilt and hit the official like this jock and sent him flying. I saw tom hit him and at the same time when i saw tom hit up i saw him come flying across in front of me and i actually i i must misremember this because the video doesnt show this but i remember hitting him with my knee was really really embarrassing and scary i was really quite terrified i didnt know what to do i felt like i had stepped into some sacred place and messed it up somehow i felt terribly unwelcome and i just for a split Second Thought maybe i should step often and go home and then i thought no if i if i step off the course if i dont finish this race if i dont stay in the race no matter what people are going to say women cant do this when it happened we were in fright on the press bus we were taking notes like crazy you know its the we know there was this was big it was big we didnt know how big it would become it was because this is a become one of the great things and in sports and sports history lets be honest with the the rise of women to equality. One journalist said what are you trying to prove and i said im not trying to prove anything but i will tell you something that one day women is running is going to be as popular and publicize a bill as mens and i said ill be back at boston. It was the start of a long battle for equality it wasnt until nine hundred seventy two that women were officially allowed to participate in the Boston Marathon. In germany sports physician pounced on aachen paved the way for the womens mountain aachen proved that women had more in junior and. Just a little of the former female math and world record holder christa violins each and her former coach Manfred Stefani meet again in the late sixtys christa violin sick was a medium distance runner my friend stephanie has kept all the articles from those days for missteps there were no Long Distances for me back then i ran the longest distance available that was fifteen hundred meters and eight hundred before that in one nine hundred sixty seven when the first women participated in marathons i had heard of this event but i hadnt taken any interest in it were interested in. Women women running women running a marathon is not an entirely new phenomenon in recent years bills have snuck into such competitions from time to time a competition reserved for men since four hundred ninety b. C. But those were isolated cases however that the strong sex accepted with generosity in a benign smile they were a curiosity. And i. Always thought women should run marathons and that they would be better relatively speaking then now or does he really pushed that he was also the first to introduce the womens marathon in one thousand nine hundred seventy three i dont prefer to lock in came forward with medical evidence that showed women had natural capacity and endurance and stamina he was a doctor a physician so heres work in his research gave us so much credibility and that was an amazing discovery that helped convince many many people in a simple way that women could be superior and fun arc in conducted further research into the in durance capacity of women. You believe that women can cope with these stresses can you explain that. So first of course women can cope with these stresses their muscle composition makes them superior here and then have too much muscle mass and therefore too much water only twenty three percent of the womans body weight just muscle that means less water she has more subcutaneous fat reserves. Valve neo is a small town on the lower rhine than arkan put on the first marathon just for women here. I dated. He made phone calls and convinced women to participate the aim was to prove that women could run a marathon it was part of womens emancipation a month to see on. The new marathon distance was perfect for cristoval and seek me coffer schlager she started her Long Distance running career in the seventys. Coached by her fellow club member Manfred Stefani chris accomplished lega has achieved an incredible result ten minutes before the finish line she separated from the leading pack and created a lead of almost two kilometers just before crossing the finish line she looks like shes running a few hundred metres on a training run looking completely fresh and running with excellent style shes heading towards a new european record. Youre not completely exhausted no youre not in any way dr van ark and this confirms your theory that women are also suited to running marathons definitely i followed the race particularly over the last ten thousand meters during which most runners performance drops she was the fastest. I remember two men accompanied us some bicycles and always slowed us down so we wouldnt run too fast and would reach the finish line you really felt like the press was just waiting for us to drop like flies but we all crossed the finish line just fine. It was a milestone for many years we were leaders and womens marathon running along with the United States and that america was our escape and there were no other americans but half a year later dr fun and invited to participate in the Boston Marathon which he paid for two months yet the first time i think i heard of him was when an a. P. B. Set a world record in the womens marathon and i was so excited to read about this and then it seemed that somebody else from germany was always coming through the great christa fallen sick and then he brought them to boston and they performed so incredibly well here yes it was amazing and we were really all envious and wondering what was going on in germany and if we could be a part of it so many at least women were acknowledge that as one is on par with the man. This impressive demonstration by the two hundred sixty two women runners from all five continents cause the International Association of athletics federations to send to observe this about new york to see whether this mountain discipline was a worthy olympic sport for women. Attention around the subject groovin nine hundred seventy nine women were running their own races the way to the Olympic Games. It seems to be open. From that we realize that women would participate if they were given an event that was not intimidating and welcoming to them and i thought this is the way to get the marathon in the Olympic Games. The goal was clear the marathon women wanted to take part in the Olympic Games and dispel the prejudices once and for all in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine the german sports show. Studio even broadcast a Panel Discussion on the matter. Back in boston at the finishing line. So the risks so Catherine Smith says meeting one of todays race directors a conversation about the preparations to the rice. Pick three time winner of the Boston Marathon is in the press center memories of a time when women running the marathon wasnt commonly accepted jet. Skiing up and decision talking points included the safety and health of women if you allow some women to run then thousands of women will want to run many things werent that accepted back then and these barriers to be broken down fast yes mode. Then youre just walking on most of. The train switzer placed second in boston in one hundred seventy five. She traveled around the world. Los angeles in one thousand nine hundred four. The Opening Ceremony of the of the pick games. There was a new entry among the competitions the womens marathon and. I had invested so much of my life and emotion and work into trying to have this moment happened and here it was it was happening and it was happening so beautifully. Fifty women run a stood at the start line in the santa monica stadium ready to run forty two kilometers. Just. I think one or two laps i forget how many at the beginning and then they went out and went around town and wherever. Someone high above let an american win john Benoit Samuelson a great great writer and another person who pushed very hard for womens equality. And we watched joan Benoit Samuelson break away very early in the race and theres that moment you think is this a bad mistake because shes with very experienced people but she took a huge risk and it turned out to be one of the most amazing races in history. But who could ever forget her running through the streets of los angeles and heading to the Olympic Stadium and you know theres that tunnel that you have to go through into the stadium and as she headed toward that tunnel i was thinking how much shes like womens history in them because shes outside of the tunnel and then she goes into the darkness and when she comes out of that dark and shes going to be in a stadium that is going to erupt. She took the race right onto the track ran an incredibly fast lap and crossed the finish line to you know ninety thousand people screaming. And i thought this moment is as important as giving women the right to vote. I said to my coach trevor wants this race the most is going to when it was my day at the stars were aligned for me. Because then. I just ran my own race. This is the the payoff known. Twenty minutes after the last person came in another woman came and go to the real last. A swiss woman named gabriele. Anderson. And. She was apparently missed. Water station she she had no no sugar in her body. Cameras stayed on her for six minutes as she went around the stadium and it seemed agonizing it seemed like you know years and the crowd was cheering her and cheering her and willing her but the whole time i was also thinking whats going to happen now are people going to say women are too weak and too fragile after all it was a really difficult evening for me and i just whipped from this high to this low. I felt so sorry for Gabriel Anderson because she was an incredible athlete it was the next day she was bright as a button went to a press conference recovered and instead of people saying that was a terrible thing they made her a heroine and i said yes maybe equality is also about being allowed to be exhausted in public. The day of the Boston Marathon last Easter MondayKatherine Switzer early in the morning before the start of. The race starts here in hopkinton fifty years ago it was a journey into the unknown for cancer in switzerland. Today shes participating in the race with a round one hundred women from her two six one fearless movement. On. The road to the start her number two six one has long become a symbol. They were even tattooing themselves and when people send you a tattoo of your old big number and say this makes me feel fearless you have to take it seriously we decided to create a movement with this and a nonprofit called two six one fearless and to use that same vehicle to reach women who are fearful fearless women like us with running what help fearful women because it changes lives. Boston Katherine Switzer can finally stop running. The director of global two six one club network. Is following the race in the media center. Says quote on the stock she got to the start well which is quite a challenge in boston and then she got going in high spirits with our hundred line is and what was great is that we made a live recording in the exact place where the incident took place back then. Five percent was. The second. Was right. Which oksana tried my pin number home again mason good luck sucker i recognize hard. And. Suddenly recognize realize this. Was ok with event was. The finish line on the legendary boylston street in boston more than thirty thousand runners complete the right show out. Oh. Thank you after a good four and a half hours conference with completes a knife boston mass and thanks. To our. Thanks. To our. An interview after crossing the finishing line. The American Networks get in with the first questions. And hes young hasnt it actually come out i meet him oh. Yeah man. I feel overwhelmingly grateful for the streets of boston they started my journey fifty years ago with a very negative thing an attack by a race director trying to throw me out of the race and pull off my big numbers jock semple and i the man who tried to throw me out of the race fifty years ago he and i became best of friends that photo has become an iconic photo is and it is when it now must galvanize hundreds of womens rights movement. At last a little bit of peace and quiet and some time for her husband real job robinson. You know proud i think the country where you got to live because you never know whats going to happen and in america but also not really surprised because katherine is a person of such deep resolution and determination but i always thought she would do it the anxiety has been the pressure put on her for just especially this week in boston and for the last several months there are those who see the world as it is and ask why and there are others who see the world as it should be and ask why not i have always thought that perfectly fits Katherine Switzer the Catholic Catherine was i think the most important person in the rise a women to equality. The Boston Marathon will never give out big number two hundred sixty one again its the first time in its one hundred twenty one year history in honor of pioneer ronna capturing switzer. On. Love to think. Its cool john newman thinks in movies. And does choreography to some of the best songs come from some of. An encounter with an exceptional to the beat choreographer john oconnor. To the end thanks to. Go explore. Every journey begins with the first step and every language of the first word i looked in the. Hes in germany to learn german. Business just why not. Its simple online on your own mile and free. Stuff. D w z learning course goes week journey made easy. Well. Climate change. Sustainability. Environmental projects we give globalisation a face biodiversity Species Conservation exploitation equality. Human rights displacement to. Be shown the Global Impact of local action. Global three thousand. G. W. True diversity. Where the world of science is at home in many languages. On fire thought of programming going there it will be. There with us our innovations magazine for asia the us from every week and always looking to the future fund d w dot com science and research for asia. This is delia news live from berlin and the deadline set for the conclusion of German Coalition talks expires talks and forming a new government led by chance on the america over due to conclude at six p. M. Local time but theres still no sign of a deal or go to our