'It's a great way to celebrate the incredible achievements women have made in the last 50 years. I was just flat out because I eventually had 400 races in 27 countries for over a million women.'

'I thought, never in a million years is anybody going to sponsor this, because it was really out there, as it would have been - of course, this is 1976. 'They believed in what I wanted to do - to organise this global series of races and use those of leverage with the International Olympic Committee,' Switzer says. 'That's when my dream to get the women's marathon at the Olympics became a reality because I said, 'If I can do that, how much talent is out there? Real talent? What could women do if they only had this in the Olympics?''Īfter her eighth Boston Marathon, an opportunity arose to help Switzer bring that dream to fruition.Īs director of the Women's Sports Foundation, she was invited to create a global series of races with Avon Cosmetics on board as a sponsor. 'I knew I wasn't a really talented athlete but I also can work really hard and when I worked hard and got down to 2:51, that's when I really realised, if I can do it, anyone can do it.

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