April
25, 2022
Greetings
from the broader path,
After
you read this, please remember this is not about running.
Kathrine Switzer
is famous for slipping into the 1967 Boston Marathon, at a time when women were
not allowed. She ultimately helped to break
that barrier for women in long distance running. Within a few years of that Boston drama, she
and others won a battle with the AAU to allow women to participate in running
events that competed with men, in particular the marathon.
This didn’t
matter to me at the time, and quite honestly, it didn’t matter enough to me when
it should have. Now I shake my head, in
awe that this kind of change happened in my lifetime.
Last week I
met Kathrine Switzer in Boston, had an interesting conversation as we both made
our way to different places. She is a
fit woman of seventy-five, composed, confident, makes an impression. I won’t say I got to know her well from what
was said, but instead how she was.
Something
flared in her as she spoke, and a flinty, determined look came in her eyes. It was a familiar feeling, because I’d seen a
similar passion, in eyes just as blue and determined.
This week I
realized where I’ve seen that fire I saw in Switzer’s eyes. It’s the same look that my sister has. She’s
kind of a hero of mine.
My sister Dawn
was the first person in our family to graduate from college. Don’t rush past that accomplishment, it is
not that long since that was something to celebrate. She became a dedicated teacher, started a
family, and grew into an impressive woman.
When children came along, she set this precedent: our lives don’t end
just because we become parents. Nothing holds
you back without your permission. You
want to go skiing? Pack that kid on your
back.
Dawn has been a
special sister, one whose caring friendship has been as important as the
example she lives. One of my favorite
moments between us was when our daughter Katherine was born and she came to the
hospital and showed us that our baby was not as fragile as we thought, and that
changing a diaper wasn’t a life changing event.
I know it’s a small thing, but that’s where I first saw her as a hero.
We are both
runners, since the days of ‘Emily and Pooh’. For her, running is a part of a lifestyle,
paired with her career and her family and her friends, and all the adventures she
makes possible.
Dawn told me
several years ago that he she was finished with marathons. She’d run plenty of them, and lots of other
distances, and while she didn’t seem to be slowing down any, it sounded like
she just shifted her focus.
Dawn belongs to
multiple running groups, because she understands the power of surrounding
yourself with people who will hold you to your potential. What delights me is to hear about the women
she runs with, a core group of sisters who celebrate and lift each other up,
have a lot of fun, and oh by the way, run together. They run in costumes, they bring food and
beer, they go to races like ‘Run Through Hell’ and ‘Dances With Dirt’. And then go have brunch with margaritas.
A couple of
days ago, Dawn and her group ran a 50 kilometer ultramarathon. So yeah, she was done with marathons, other
than as training runs. It was a tough, hot
run, but now she has a lifetime membership in the ultra-club.
Seeing the pictures
of her finish her 50k, and hearing her talk about the experience, I felt that
same awe, the same inspiration, as I felt when she showed me how she does
parenting, and working, how she grieves, how she creates, how she lives.
Dawn and Kathrine
Switzer have a life in common. Kathrine was
a pioneer, someone who crashed the gates and forged a path for every generation
of women who came after her. It is
really an impressive and important thing.
What I like seeing now is that my sister Dawn stepped into that opening
and made it broader.
She now carves
a path for her granddaughter Audrey, and for every girl Audrey knows. She makes it within reach for my daughter and
her daughter to do anything they set their minds to, that all new vistas will
open to them. Because this woman, and
women like her, showed them what’s possible.
Dawn is a champion
for her students. She was a champion as
she raised her boys, showed her siblings the way a strong woman lives her
life. And she is a champion because she
crushed her first ultramarathon and knocked down that obstacle for every woman
that knows her.
Kathrine and
Dawn are not heroes because they run long distances, that’s just an expression
of their passion for living, and for the belief they have in themselves, and in
the women that will follow them. This is
not about running, it is about empowered, passionate, capable women doing whatever
they set their minds to, and not letting the limits of gender or age or history
stop them.
If you see
Dawn, tell her congratulations, and thanks.
Hope
this finds you proud of her,
David
Copyright
© 2022 David Smith
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