Kathrine SwitzerCredit: BettmannNEED TO KNOWKathrine Switzer faced physical and verbal attacks during the 1967 Boston Marathon, but refused to quit the raceHer historic run led to the inclusion of women in the Boston Marathon starting in 1972Switzer continues to empower women globally through her nonprofit 261 Fearless and celebrates her legacy in running eventsWhen Kathrine Switzer stepped up to the start line at the Boston Marathon in 1967, she knew she had done everything she could to train for the moment. The then-20-year-old Switzer, a Syracuse University student, had spent months working alongside cross-country assistant coach Arnie Briggs, logging hundreds of miles in preparation for the big day to prove that she could do it.Nearly 60 years later, ahead of the 2026 Boston Marathon, Switzer caught up with PEOPLE to talk about her experience and share what made her keep going even after she "was attacked in the race."While no woman had ever officially run the Boston Marathon, Switzer was determined to be the first.

Leading up to the race, Switzer tells PEOPLE she didn't hide the fact that she was a woman.At her coach's advice, she registered for the race and signed up as K.V. Switzer, the name she had been using since she was 13, inspired by journalists who signed their work with their initials. She paid the entry fee, and on race day, her coach picked up the bibs for everyone in their group.Despite hoping to wear "really cute maroon shorts" and a matching top, she ultimately had to wear a sweatsuit due to the cold weather and sleet, which she was used to after months of training in Upstate New York.Kathrine SwitzerCredit: Paul Connell/The Boston Globe via GettyAs she looked down to pin her bib, reality set in when she saw her name, K.V.

Switzer, next to her number, 261."I wasn't disguised," she emphasizes. "I didn't have a hood up. I had on a sweater, a sweatshirt, and sweatpants because it was really freezing."

Switzer and all the runners were then pushed into the starting area, and the race officials checked off her number. She recalls thinking to herself, "Well, there's no problem, obviously." "The guys all knew I was a girl, and were thrilled," she says.

"They were coming over to me and said, 'Wish my wife would run,' or 'I wish my girlfriend would want to,' and 'You're going to go the whole way?' The gun goes off, and I felt great."However, just a few miles in, she caught the eye of the press truck, and they immediately started "screaming at the driver to slow down" so they could ask her questions.Soon after, however, she heard someone from the running board shouting at her, saying, "What's going on?""He's just shouting at me. All of a sudden, somebody pushed him and came running down the street after me, and I didn't see that," she shares.Before she knew it, she was being accosted by the race manager, Jock Semple, who tried to remove her bib and kick her out of the race."I heard him at the last minute because of his leather shoes, and at the moment I turned, he was right in my face, screaming at me, 'Get the hell out of my race!' with his hand on my shoulder," she recalls."He said, 'Get the hell out of here and give me those numbers!'" she adds.

Switzer jumped back and turned to get away from him, but Semple pulled on the back of her shirt and grabbed at her race bib, tearing off the top corner."Arnie, my coach, who knew him well, they used to run together, started screaming, 'Jock, leave her alone. She's okay, I've trained her,'" Switzer recalls. "He said, 'You stay out of this,' and he pushed Arnie."Kathrine SwitzerCredit: Paul J.

Connell/The Boston Globe via GettyHer boyfriend at the time, Thomas Miller, was a 235-lb. All-American football player who had decided to run alongside Switzer. When Miller saw what was going on, "he clipped the official and sent him flying.""I went, 'God, we killed him!'" she remembers.

"Because he smashed him really, and so I saw him going through the air, and then I took off down the street, and Arnie said, 'Run like hell!' "Switzer and Briggs eventually caught up to the press truck, which she says accelerated and "knocked over half the photographers." While members of the press had initially been kind to Switzer, they then started screaming at her."'When are you going to quit?

What are you trying to prove? You're a Suffragette!'" she recalls them yelling. "Really, really aggressive stuff, and I said, 'Listen, I'm trying to run, just leave me alone, I'm trying to run.'

"As the press prodded her and questioned her intentions, she finally replied, "I'm not saying anything to you guys. If you want to cover the race, you'd better get up there with the leaders. I'm in the race, I'm staying in it.

On my hands and my knees if I have to, I am finishing."The people on the press truck didn't believe her, but they drove off to capture the front of the race. "Arnie said, 'Are you serious?' I said, 'I'm very serious. Everybody's always telling women that they can't do things