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Kathrine Switzer Papers

An inventory of her papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRR
Date: 15 Jun 2006



Biographical History

Kathrine Switzer (1947- ) is a groundbreaking and award-winning marathoner, author, sports commentator, and advocate for women's distance running.

Born in 1947, Switzer attended Lynchburg College (where she and earned a men's varsity letter in running, since there was no women's track team at the time), then transferred to Syracuse University in 1967, where she received her BA and MS from the Newhouse School of Public Communications (1968). While at Syracuse she ran with the men's track team and trained with Arnie Briggs, with the goal of competing in the Boston Marathon. Although the marathon’s rules did not mention gender, the American Athletic Union (AAU) had declared that women could not compete in AAU events longer than 1.5 miles. Switzer registered for the 1967 race as "K.V. Switzer," becoming the first woman to run the Boston Marathon wearing an official race number (runner Bobbi Gibb had completed the race the year before, but unofficially and without a race number). Attempts by race manager Jock Semple to tear off her official race bib and thus disqualify her in the midst of the race were thwarted by Briggs and Switzer's then-fiancé Tom Miller. In 1972 the Boston Marathon changed its rules to officially allow women competitors. Switzer participated, finishing third; Jock Semple presented her with her trophy. In 1974, she won the New York City Marathon, and in 1975 she was ranked third in the U.S. and sixth in the world.

In the late 1970s Switzer created and served as director of the Avon Running Program, a 26 race, 16 country circuit for women's 10K runs and 5K walks, with the goal of promoting women’s fitness and advancing gender equality in athletics. Her work with Avon strongly influenced Olympic officials in their decision to add the women's marathon event in the 1984 Olympic Games. In 1986 Switzer formed her own company, Atalanta Sports Promotion, Inc.. She has worked as a broadcast journalist, fitness expert, writer and public speaker, and as a sports commentator for ABC, NBC, CBS, Turner Sports Broadcasting, and covered numerous international events including the Olympic Games and the Goodwill Games. In 2015, Switzer launched 261 Fearless, a global non-profit, which empowers women to overcome life obstacles and embrace healthy living through running.

In 2017 Switzer ran her ninth Boston Marathon, on the 50th anniversary of her first and with the same bib number, 261. She was one of more than 13,700 women who participated, almost half of the total runners. Later that year, the Boston Athletic Association honored Switzer by officially retiring her bib number.

Switzer has received numerous citations, accolades, and awards for her achievements in advancing sports opportunities for women -- she was named Female Runner of the Decade (1967-77) by Runner's World Magazine, received the New York State Regents Medal of Excellence (1985), and has been inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame (1998) and the National Women's Hall of Fame (2011). Her books include Running and Walking for Women over 40 (1997) and Marathon Woman (2007), which won the Billie Award for its portrayal of women in sports. In 1997 she won an Emmy for her coverage of the Los Angeles Marathon. Her Fearless Run, a picture book by Kim Chaffee, tells the story of Switzer's 1967 Boston Marathon experience.

Switzer married New Zealand runner Roger Robinson in 1987, and divides her time between New York and New Zealand.


Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Kathrine Switzer Papers contains Avon Running material, correspondence, memorabilia, printed material, and writings.

Biographical material begins with an autobiographical note from Switzer, specifically designated for inclusion in the collection, in which she reflects on her life and career. Following this are historical newspaper articles about Switzer's parents and other family members, and correspondence with family; and job applications, bios/profiles, resumes/c.v.'s, and a list of running-related television broadcasts.

The Avon series pertains to Switzer's work with the Avon Running Circuit in the 1970s, and the Avon Women's Global Running Circuit in the 1990s. The series includes season schedules and financial material (budgets, expense reports, etc.); Switzer's "Chronofiles," encompassing memos, notes, and internal Avon correspondence; profiles of notable women runners who participated in Avon events (Martha Cooksey, Lorraine Moller, Ruth Rothfarb); documentation of Avon marathon events around the world (correspondence, photographs, slides, publicity, clippings, race programs, notes, etc.); proposals to Avon for both the 1970s and 1990s running circuits; public relations items (Avon press releases, clippings, reports); information related to running clinics held in various cities; and more.

Correspondence-subject files includes letters to and from friends and colleagues (Arnie Briggs, Donna De Varona, Pat Tarnawsky); Switzer's correspondence and notes related to her sports commentator work for ABC and other networks; and correspondence, notes, newsletters, and other items from running and athletic organizations such as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) and the Maryland Marathon Commission; material related to races Switzer either participated in or covered; and various publications (Marathon & Beyond, Runner's World, Spiridon). There is also material related to both the 1972 and 1985 Olympic Games.

Memorabilia contains awards and honors (including a baseball bat given to her by the Boston Red Sox on the occasion of her throwing out the first pitch); original artwork (including a large painting portraying the famous Boston Marathon incident done in comic book style and featuring KS, Jock Semple, and Superman); clothing such as t-shirts from Avon and other races; items from Switzer's college years at Lynchburg and Syracuse; and posters, race bibs, scrapbooks, and other mementos.

Printed material contains books and booklets, clippings spanning Switzer's entire career, issues of magazines (including more than 20 issues of Sports Illustrated, all of which feature runners on the cover), and assorted miscellaneous items.

Video and audio recordings consists of material related to the Avon Running Circuit (publicity, radio and television coverage of the event, etc.); to major marathons (Boston, Los Angeles marathon, New York City, and Pittsburgh); to the Olympic Games between 1980 and 1992; and to miscellaneous races and other sporting events including figure skating. There are also a number of documentaries and specials; interviews and guest appearances on radio and television (including tw0 segments of the Oprah Winfrey show and Switzer's appearance on the television game show "To tell the Truth"); speeches; and miscellaneous items (a film Switzer made in college, B-roll footage, demo tapes, collections of clips, several management presentations, etc.). Filed at the end are items with unidentified content. The most common format is VHS, but there are a number of audiocassettes as well as a few films and DVDs.

Writings contains articles (including Switzer's "Personal Trainer" column); books (, college coursework for journalism classes, interviews, Switzer's handwritten notebooks, and speeches given at a variety of events (commencements, guest of honor appearances, panels, etc.). There are also a few miscellaneous items such as issues of the Monocle, Bristol Laboratories' internal newsletter, of which Switzer was the editor.


Arrangement of the Collection

Switzer's original grouping of material in folders, and the labels/descriptions written on the folders, have been retained throughout the collection. Folders were grouped into series (as described above) based on their labels/descriptions, and then arranged alphabetically within each series. The exception to this is the memorabilia series; no folders or items were specifically designated as "memorabilia," so items were placed into that series based on the judgment of Special Collections Research Center staff.


Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Access to audiovisual material requires advance notice to produce a use copy.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.


Related Material

All media is currently (2026) out for digitization, hence closed.


Subject Headings

Persons

Corbitt, Ted.
Robinson, Roger.
Semple, Jock.
Switzer, Kathrine.

Corporate Bodies

ABC.
Amateur Athletic Union.
Avon.
Bonne Bell.
Boston Marathon.
International Amateur Athletic Federation
Lynchburg College.
New York City Marathon.
Syracuse University.

Associated Titles

Spiridon.
Sports illustrated.

Subjects

Marathon running.
Olympics -- History.
Running for women.
Sex discrimination in sports.
Sports -- Marketing.
Sports for women -- Social aspects.
Sports journalism.
Women long-distance runners.

Places

London
Los Angeles (Calif.)
Ottawa
Paris (France)
San Francisco (Calif.)
Waldniel.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Awards.
Biographies.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Clothing.
Correspondence.
DVDs.
Drafts ()
Manuscripts for publication.
Photographs.
Scrapbooks.
Slides.
Speeches.

Occupations

Sports promoters.
Women philanthropists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Kathrine Switzer Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Kathrine Switzer, 2006-2025.


Table of Contents

Biographical material

Avon

Correspondence-subject files

Memorabilia

Printed material

Video and audio recordings

Writings


Inventory

Note on alternate formats:

All media is currently (2026) out for digitization, hence closed.