17 March, 2012
With the 116th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16th, Hopkinton will be participating in an event to recognize and celebrate the 40th anniversary of women running the 26-mile 385-yard run from Hopkinton to Boston.
It was in 1972 that women were first allowed to officially run the Boston Marathon, although a few, like Bobbi Gibb, ran unofficially before that. The official female runners in 1972 were Nina Kuscsik, N.Y.; Kathy Miller, Syracuse, N.Y.; Elaine Pedersen, San Francisco; Ginny Collins, Boston; Pat Barrett Shore, Athletic Club, N.J.; Frances Morrison, Dallas and Sara Mae Berman of Cambridge, MA, and Valerie Rogosheske, MN. The Boston Athletic Association (BAA) is currently in the process of making arrangements and appearances for the 1972 women’s team and as part of the 40th year anniversary, members of the team will be in Hopkinton on Friday, April 13 for a special event - "Celebrating 4 Decades of Women Running Boston".
The celebration will take place at the Hopkinton High School Auditorium beginning at 7PM and will offer attendees the opportunity to meet and mingle with some of these pioneering women and to hear firsthand about their marathon experience. What was it like to be the first women runners? What obstacles had to be overcome for women to participate? Do they think that women have leveled the field in the last 40 years and earned the respect and recognition that they deserve, or is there more to be accomplished? All of these questions and more will be answered as the women sit down and talk with WBZ Anchor Lisa Hughes who will be the emcee for the event.
Also on Friday March 13, the Hopkinton 300th Anniversary Celebration Committee is holding a Fundraising Pasta Dinner from 5:30-8:30 PM at St. John the Evangelist Parish Hall, and the women will put in a brief appearance there before heading to the High School Auditorium at 7PM.
Admission to the event is a $5 donation to Dreamfar High School Marathon, a charity that teaches at-risk high school students that anything is possible, even completing a marathon. For now, attendance is limited to 300 seats due to the capacity of the High School Auditorium, so plan accordingly if you are set on attending this event.
To register for the "Celebrating 4 Decades of Women Running Boston" event, Click Here.
And for more information about this event and other events planned in Hopkinton for the 2012 Boston Marathon, visit the Hopkinton Marathon Festival Facebook Page.
