Until the 1960s, it was deemed too "dangerous" for women athletes to run distances longer than 200m - and a marathon would kill them, or leave them unable to have children. Rubbish, of course. But when Kathrine Switzer signed up for the 1967 Boston Marathon, it wasn't the distance that bothered her - it was the enraged race director trying to assault her.   

Thanks to pioneers like Kathrine, women have made huge strides in long distance running - and are now challenging the times of men in the very races they were banned from for so very long.  

For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com.

Check out more Olympics related content from Pushkin Industries and iHeartPodcasts here.

Until the 1960s, it was deemed too "dangerous" for women athletes to run distances longer than 200m - and a marathon would kill them, or leave them unable to have children. Rubbish, of course. But when Kathrine Switzer signed up for the 1967 Boston Marathon, it wasn't the distance that bothered her - it was the enraged race director trying to assault her.   
Thanks to pioneers like Kathrine, women have made huge strides in long distance running - and are now challenging the times of men in the very races they were banned from for so very long.  
For a full list of sources, see the show notes at <a href="https://timharford.com/articles/cautionarytales/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://timharford.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1715790727025000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2lD_4SddgT1L_DExJTWz2y">timharford.com</a>.
Check out more Olympics related content from Pushkin Industries and iHeartPodcasts <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/867-paris-summer-games-190190884/?autoplay=true&amp;pr=false&amp;sc=email&amp;pname=national&amp;cid=programming&amp;keyid=Email%3A+1+Weeks+Till+Olympics+2024+%287%2F19%2F24%29&amp;campid=A+-+1+Week" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.iheart.com/podcast/867-paris-summer-games-190190884/?autoplay%3Dtrue%26pr%3Dfalse%26sc%3Demail%26pname%3Dnational%26cid%3Dprogramming%26keyid%3DEmail%253A%2B1%2BWeeks%2BTill%2BOlympics%2B2024%2B%25287%252F19%252F24%2529%26campid%3DA%2B-%2B1%2BWeek&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1721747609985000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1DW2T870Yk8Nb0wzn6HtXY">here</a>.

We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “The Data Detective”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser. New episodes every other Friday.

We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “The Data Detective”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser. New episodes every other Friday.

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “The Data Detective” and “The Undercover Economist”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser.

We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “The Data Detective” and “The Undercover Economist”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser.

Run, Switzer, Run: The Women Who Broke the Marathon Taboo

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/d2e48cd7-b399-45c1-a444-b1a000be170b/transcript

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