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Boston Marathon's first woman Kathrine Switzer competes 50 years laterThe first time Kathrine Switzer stood on the starting line of the Boston Marathon, it was as the lone woman in a men-only race.The fact she dared to compete led one race official to try to rip the number 261 from her back, a few miles in.Fifty years on, aged 70, Ms Switzer returned to the starting line wearing the same number.This time, she was hailed for paving the way for women's distance running around the world.Continued: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39626959
Switzer, 70, crossed the finish line with an unofficial time of 4:44:31, just 24 minutes slower than her time as a 20-year-old. She said it has always been her dream to return to the streets of Boston after making history there in 1967."It's just an enormous sense of gratitude for the city of Boston, the streets of Boston, which changed my life and helped pave the way for what is nothing less than a social revolution in women's running," she said. "When I crossed the finish line — to celebrate 50 years of looking back and seeing the huge progress and changes that have been made — I can only say that I'm extremely grateful for the experience." Continued: http://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-officially-run-boston-marathon-finishes-race-70/story?id=46849724