DEC 11 - Kathrine Switzer

Our guest speaker for the Friday evening RADD Santa Run program will be Kathrine Switzer. Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially enter and run the Boston Marathon in 1967.  

An iconic athlete, author, Emmy-award winning broadcaster and advocate for sports and social causes, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially register and run the Boston Marathon in 1967. She was attacked in the race by an angry official who tried to rip off her bib number (#261) and throw her out of the race because she was a woman. She finished the 26.2 mile distance anyway and went on win the 1974 New York City Marathon and to champion women in the sport globally, most notably leading the drive to make the women's marathon an official Olympic event in 1984. Now, 58% of all runners in the USA are women. To celebrate this social revolution,  and to support another on active aging, Switzer ran the Boston Marathon again, at age 70, on the 50th anniversary of her iconic run, finishing only 24 minutes slower than she did when she was 20.  This run launched her non-profit '261 Fearless' --named after that famous bib number--which empowers women globally though running. She has been honored widely for her achievements including being inducted into the USA National Women’s Hall of Fame which recognized her for creating positive social change throughout her storied career.

A lifelong leader and advocate for women’s running, Kathrine continues to connect, support and inspire women around the world through running with her 261 Fearless organization.  She will be an amazing speaker to promote the positive power of running to change lives!

The First Western Bank & Trust Beacon of Hope award will be given to a RADD runner that has used running to make the biggest difference in their lives.

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However, in an increasingly polarized world, we at Humanities North Dakota believe that being open-minded is necessary to thinking critically and rationally.

Therefore, our programs and classes reflect our own open-mindedness in the inquiry, seeking, and acquiring of scholars to speak at our events and teach classes for our Public University.

To that end, we encourage our participants to join us in stepping outside our comfort zones and considering other perspectives and ideas by being open-minded while attending HND events featuring scholars who hold a variety of opinions, some being opposite of our own held beliefs.