April, 2015 - Bobbi Gibb - The Devereaux

Bobbi Gibb

Roberta Louise "Bobbi" Gibb is the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon (1966).  She is recognized by the Boston Athletic Association as the pre-sanctioned era women's winner in 1966, 1967, and 1968.  Gibb's run in 1966 challenged prevalent prejudices and misconceptions about women's athletic capabilities.  Before 1966, it was generally believed that women were physiologically unable to run marathon distances.  The longest Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)-sanctioned race for women was one and a half miles.

Gibb trained for two years to run the Boston Marathon, covering as much as 40 miles in one day.  On writing for an application in February 1966, she received a letter from the race director, Will Cloney, informing her that women were not physiologically capable of running marathon distances and that under the rules that governed amateur sports set out by the AAU, women were not allowed to run more than a mile and a half competitively.

After three nights and four days on a bus from San Diego, California, Gibb arrived the day before the race at her parents' house in Winchester, Massachusetts.  Wearing her brother's Bermuda shorts and a blue hooded sweatshirt over her black, tanked-top swim suit, she hid in the bushes near the starting pen.  After the starting gun fired, she waited until about half of the pack had started and then jumped into the race.  

The men soon realized she was a woman.  Encouraged by their friendliness and support, she removed her sweatshirt.  To her delight and relief, the crowds cheered to see a woman running.  The press began to report on her progress towards Boston, history in the making.  She finished in three hours, twenty-one minutes, and forty seconds, ahead of two-thirds of the pack.

In 1967, Gibb returned and ran again.  She finished in three hours, twenty-seven minutes, and seventeen seconds, almost an hour ahead of the other female competitor, Kathrine Switzer.  In 1968, Gibb ran again, finishing in three hours, and thirty minutes, first among a growing number of women.  (In 1972, the first women's division of the Boston marathon opened.)  In 1996, at the 100th running of the Boston Marathon and the 30th anniversary of Gibb's first running of it, the Boston Athletic Association officially recognized her three wins in 1966, 1967, and 1968, and awarded her a medal.  Her name was inscribed with the names of the other winners on the Boston Marathon memorial in Copley Square.

The Drink:

The Devereaux:

1 oz bourbon
1/2 oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
3 oz sparkling wine

Drinkability:  4
Drunkability:  3
Taxic Diversity:  3
Accessibility:  4
Priority for Conservation:  5

Comments:  N/A

From "Women Track Stars" hosted by Montana Prairie Fire