72 & Still Fearless Kathrine's Going The Distance

The Marathon Superstar Shares Her Kiwi Passions.

- Fiona Fraser

Most Kiwis wouldn’t guess that, nestled in the hills of Wellington, a global sporting superstar has made a home. Thousands of kilometres away from the US, where she’s mobbed by fans, the world’s most famous female marathon runner enjoys a more laid-back life of dinner parties, movie nights and pounding the pavements of the windy city.

Because at 72, Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as a registered entrant, in 1967, is still a runner and still committed to women’s empowerment.

“All things being equal, you can run for your lifetime,” says Kathrine. “I’ll run till I drop! There are, of course, injuries – I tripped on a tree root the other week – and anybody can get sick. But it’s phenomenal what the body can do, and studies show that women who exercise as they age live longer, live more happily, and are more optimistic.

“I truly believe that at any age, a person can get their fitness back or even begin running for the very first time.”

If ever anyone needed inspiration to get out and get running, Kathrine is it. Her story is world-famous – how as a young runner desperate to compete in what was then a men-only event, she was shoved off course by an official at the Boston Marathon. Shaken but undeterred, Kathrine completed the race, inspiring women the world over to run, to race, to enjoy the simple act of – as Kathrine says – “putting one foot in front of the other”.