Kathrine Switzer will have 261 on her bib when she runs the Motatapu marathon today. It is the same number she wore in the Boston marathon 43 years ago.
Switzer (63) became, in 1967, the first woman to officially run the Boston marathon and is credited with championing the equality of women in long-distance running.
She says she has been training hard for her first marathon in 34 years.
"It's been an amazing experience. All the memories are still in my body, but the big difference is that my body has changed," Switzer told the Otago Daily Times from Queenstown yesterday.
"I've been running all the time but I haven't had a run over 30km in the last 10 years. It's been a tremendous learning experience."
Preparing for Motatapu has also been an annoying experience for Switzer.
"It's frustrating because my runs take take nearly twice as long as they did 20 years ago."
Switzer has completed two four-hour runs as preparation, and last weekend she ran and walked for five and a-half hours in her home town of Wellington.
The average marathon time for a woman of her age is six hours, but she was not willing to predict a time.
Switzer is not afraid of challenges. In Boston in 1967, the race director was infuriated at seeing a woman in the race and attacked her mid-stride, trying to rip off her bib numbers and throw her off the course.
She prevailed and finished, vowing to change the status of women in the sport. Photos of the incident were flashed around the world and one image was included in Time-Life's 100 photos that changed the world.
Switzer is looking forward to today's race.
"I attended my first Motatapu in 2007 when I launched my book Marathon Woman here in Queenstown. I fell in love with the event and the beautiful land, and vowed to run it someday," she said.
"When I raced seriously marathon events like this did not exist. It is a magical landscape and I wanted to see it."
Switzer played a part in the worldwide explosion of women's distance running. She ran 35 marathons and won the 1974 New York City Marathon. She clocked her best time of 2hr 51min 33sec in Boston in 1975.
"I turned my energies into leading the drive to get the women's marathon into the Olympic Games and that consumed my life," she said.
With her Avon International Running Circuit she organised more than 400 races in 27 countries for 1 million women. The resulting global participation was the main reason the women's marathon was included in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984.
By that time, Switzer was also a television commentator and author, but she still ran every day and competed casually in shorter events.
Over the past 34 years, Switzer has become a well-known writer on women's distance running. Her books include Marathon Woman, Running and Walking for Women Over 40. She is co-author of 26.2 Marathon Stories.
She lives in Wellington with her partner, Victoria University English professor Roger Robinson. She became a New Zealand citizen six years ago.
• Kathrine Switzer at a glance
Age: 63
Occupation: Author, event promoter, television commentator
Event: Marathon
Claim to fame: First woman to officially run Boston marathon (1967)
Record: Ran 35 marathons. Best time 2hr 51min 33sec (Boston 1975). Won New York marathon (women's section) 1974.
Books: Marathon Woman, Running and Walking for Women Over 40, Co-author of 26.2 Marathon Stories.
