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The First Woman to Run the Boston Marathon After Being Denied
How to break all the rules while staying true to yourself
Howie Chan
September 01, 2024
Welcome to Legend Letters - A rebellion against the ordinary, where you redefine success and live your version of legendary.
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HEARTSET
Dear Mrs. Burgay,
We have received your request for an application for the Boston Marathon and regret that we will not be able to send you an application.
Women are not physiologically capable of running a marathon and we would not want to take on the medical liability. Furthermore, the Boston Marathon is a men’s division event. The rules of International Sports and the Amateur Athletic Union, do not allow women to run races more than the sanctioned one and a half miles.
Sorry, we could not be of more help.
Sincerely,
Will Cloney
…
😱
The year was 1966.
Bobbi was outraged. Not capable of running a marathon? Especially when she had been consistently running 40 miles at a stretch. She loved to run and have been running for fun since she was 4.
She was living in San Diego at the time with her husband and that letter fueled her rage. She MUST run.
In those days women were very restricted in their roles in the American society. Any work outside the home was deemed an oddity, not to mention an adult women running for fun.
Bobbi had a fight with her then husband about the race and she took it in her own hands and made the 3,000+ mile journey across the United States to get to Boston.
Hiding in the bushes, she sprang into the race after waiting for about half the pack to run by.
Image credit: New York Times
As she ran, the men behind her commented “Wow! A woman is running!” “I wish my wife would run too!” and as more and more people realized Bobbi was running, the news began to spread.
As she reached Wellesley, a crowd of women had already gathered and cheering her on. “Great Great! Keep on running! A woman! God, a woman! A woman is running! Do it girl! Go! Go! Go! Go!”
When she reached the finish line at 3 hours and 21 minutes, she felt a wool blanket being put over her - it was the governor of Massachusetts, John Volpe.
From that day on, everything would change. Bobbi and other women began to run the race, but it took another 6 years, for the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) to finally change their rules to officially accept women into the race.
And she remarried 😅
Watch Bobbi tell the story of her history making run in this 3 minute video.
MINDSET
PURPOSE TURNS SHOULDS TO MUSTS AND SETBACKS TO FUEL.
Having a reason that is bigger than yourself and core to your existence will push you to do amazing things.
“Women had a very restricted role in society. I can’t live my existence like this. I had to rebel.”
SKILLSET
Here are the three life lessons from legend Bobbi Gibb.
LESSON 1: Find your purpose through rejection
“Yesterday I was running for the sake of running. Today, I have a purpose.”
Bobbi knew she loved to run, but after she was rejected from the Boston Marathon, she knew her purpose.
Discovering your purpose can feel daunting. It doesn’t have to be. One of the ways is to connect to your feelings when you get rejected.
How does that make you feel?
If it makes you angry, makes you really mad, and agitated - GOOD.
That’s where your purpose lies.
You don’t find it, it’s already there. You just have to listen to it and it’s the loudest when external forces want to squash it and extinguish it.
LESSON 2: Don’t tell anyone who will crush your dreams
“I didn’t tell many people that I was going to run, I know that they would think I was nuts”
Dreams are fragile and especially if you’re doing something against the norm. Instead of telling people about your dreams and hoping for people to support you, keep it to yourself.
Tell people when it’s done, but not before.
Once you have success, people will get behind your ideas because there is no risk for people to support you.
Plus, studies have shown that if you tell people about your dreams and you get a good reaction, your mind will think you’ve already completed it, causing you to feel good about something you haven’t even accomplished.
So keep it to yourself.
LESSON 3: Take relentless action despite challenges
“Stiffly I pry myself out of my seat and disembark. It is April 18th and one day before the marathon, and I can barely walk. Outside it is cold, gray, and desolate.”
The most epic of stories have the most epic challenges. When you encounter challenges, tell yourself the story you are writing about your life, treat it as a plot twist and keep on going.
Use each set-back as an important chapter in your life story.
Read a previous issue of Legend Letters where I used this concept to overcome an ER visit to reach a personal record.
Image Credit: Telegraph Herald
Fifty-eight years after her first marathon, Gibb, now 81, continues to run. Even though her pace has slowed, she's even considering running another marathon.
Legendary.
What’s ONE thing you’ll take action on?
For me? I’m going to tell NO ONE about my endeavors. Once it becomes successful, I will share my story, but not before. How about you?
Until next Sunday, live your legend 🤘🏽,
Howie Chan
Creator of Legend Letters
Sources:
Bobbi Gibb - Marathon Pioneer, Article on The Sports Museum - LINK
Bresson, Geoffroy, Meet Bobbi Gibb: The 1st Woman to Run the Boston Marathon, Red Bull Blog, May 6, 2024 - LINK
Erwin, Kelsey, 5 Lessons You Can Learn from the First Women of the Boston Marathon, MSNBC Sports Engine, April 20, 2023 - LINK
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