The stories of two trailblazing runners | UK News

Runners Kathrine Switzer and Sophie Power had never met, but the pair share a unique bond.

Born in different countries, 35 years apart, two chance photographs changed their lives and their sport.

For Kathrine, from the USA, it captured a physical assault for daring to try and run with men, while Sophie, from the UK, felt forced to choose between being a mother and running the race of her dreams.

As the pair embraced for a photo at a women’s running conference in Oxfordshire, they swapped stories and memories of two powerful images that redefined running.

In 1967 Kathrine Switzer made global headlines at the world’s oldest marathon in Boston, USA.

Having registered to run under the name K. V. Switzer, the event director then attacked her, having discovered a woman was taking part in his race.

“It was a vicious attack,” says Kathrine.

“He was yelling, ‘get the hell out of my race’, until my boyfriend smashed him.

“This was a time when everyone believed that women were too weak and too fragile to do the distance.

“But I went through the rule book and there was nothing against it.”

Kathrine finished the race in four hours and 20 minutes. Five years later, the marathon officially allowed women to run.

She finished third in that race, receiving her trophy from the same man who had previously ripped the number from her back.

“I look at the face of that girl, and I say girl because I had just turned 20, and I am really proud of her for standing up and saying ‘I’m starting this and I’m going to finish it and prove to the world that women deserve a space’.”

Her picture, and even bib number, have now become symbols used to empower women, inspiring a global movement called 261 Fearless.

The network consists of 19 groups in 14 countries and unites women through running and education programs.

Kathrine’s work after her races in Boston included working for Avon Cosmetics, organising women’s marathons around the world, something which paved the way for the event to be included in the Olympics in 1984.

She says the recent surge in participation is something she has long predicted.

“Look at what’s happening in women’s running, women are winning outright in ultra marathons and their stamina going fast can be prolonged, the whole future of women’s running physically is very, very exciting,” she says.

To see the changes, you need to look no further than the percentage of women entering long distance races.

In 1981 the first London Marathon consisted of just 4% of female runners. In 2012 this had risen to 37% and this year was 45%.

But inclusion is not just about getting the numbers right.

Like Kathrine, Sophie Power also unexpectedly found herself at the centre of a media storm.

In 2018 she was pictured breastfeeding her three-month-old son, halfway through the prestigious 106-mile race, The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, or UTMB.

However, the story behind the image started four years earlier.

“I’d finally qualified for the UTMB in 2014, and then lost it because I was pregnant with my first son,” she says.

“They wouldn’t let me defer it because they said my timing to get pregnant was a choice.

“Had I been injured I could have deferred it.”

When Sophie next qualified, she had just given birth to her son, but says she did not want to miss her opportunity again.

“I remember a photographer coming over to my husband and asking if he could take a picture,” she says.

“And I remember thinking maybe the organiser would see the picture and realise I should have had the opportunity to do my dream race when I was fit and healthy, not three months after giving birth when my body wasn’t back together.”

She is now an ultra-runner for Great Britain and in 2024 set a World Record, running 347 miles (558km) across Ireland in three-and-a-half days.

Like Kathrine, Sophie now uses her profile, enhanced by the viral picture, to encourage women into the sport.

She is the founder of SheRACES – a not-for-profit organisation trying to improve the race experience for women.

“There’s so many more barriers that we have to participating,” she says.

“SheRACES work with events to break these down, to make sure we have the toilets, the period products and the T-shirts that fit us. Finish lines change lives so it’s important to give every woman the chance to reach their goal,” she said.

In August she launched the first in a series of women-only races, just as Kathrine had done 47 years earlier.

And evidence suggests there is an increase in women taking up running.

Sport England reported in November 2024, running participation had grown by about 300,000 over 12 months. Women made up more than 80% of that increase.

This summer England Athletics also recorded a higher proportion of women coming to the sport than in the previous three months.

Sophie says: “It’s great to meet Kathrine for the first time, she is one of my inspirations, and seeing what she did with the photo taken of her, and the huge change she’s advocated for since, is something I aspire to.”