Photos: Hagen Hopkins. Getty Images, Boston Herald, 261 Fearless.
As she looks out of her window to the sweeping vista across the Hutt Valley, Wellington Harbour and the Southern Alps, the American-born, globally renowned athlete and commentator Kathrine Switzer feels completely at home.
The first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon 57 years ago, Kathrine speaks proudly of her New Zealand citizenship. And to back it up, she just won her first New Zealand running title at the age of 78.
Kathrine and her husband, celebrated author and runner Roger Robinson, split their year between the capital and their home in the Hudson Valley, just north of New York City. But they’ve been seriously pondering whether it’s time, after 40 years, to stay put in Wellington.
“This is not our second home – Wellington is home,” she says. “Many times, we discuss, ‘Do we want to stay here forever?’
“Our trillion-dollar view here is insane! Whether it’s the moonbeams shining on the water, watching a southerly storm come at you or even on a humid grey day, it’s always incredibly beautiful.”
And it’s not just the scenery that has Kathrine and Roger, an Emeritus professor of English, smitten. “I love the New Zealand attitude towards life,” she enthuses. “Kiwis value things that are more important to me than to most Americans – like exercise, the environment and clean, simple food. Then there’s the can-do attitude. And Wellington is artistic and edgy. I believe in this country and it’s been really good to me.”
But Kathrine still has family and friends in the US. The couple is happy to continue with the back and forth for now. “We just don’t like getting our suitcases ready!”
Most days in Wellington, Kathrine runs in the hills surrounding her home.
“I always feel better after a run,” she says.
Kathrine won her first national title this summer in the over-70 women’s mile at Whanganui’s legendary Cooks Garden track. Then she ran the Wellington Round the Bays with her local band of women from 261 Fearless, Kathrine’s not-for-profit foundation providing education and running opportunities to women worldwide.
She has covered a lot of distance from the days of being a gutsy 20-year-old student who challenged race officials by lining up in the 1967 Boston Marathon. Then, females were banned from running. Images of an official trying to tear off Kathrine’s number and drag her off the course are etched in history. They’re currently part of the Getty Iconic exhibition in Volkswagen’s HQ in Berlin.
In hot global demand – to speak, run or inspire – Kathrine even played a starring role at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Last year was an exceptional year,” says Kathrine, who successfully campaigned to include a women’s race at the 1984 Olympics. “I was the honorary starter of the women’s marathon on the final day of the Games. It was one of my happiest moments. And it was the 50th anniversary of me winning the New York City Marathon, where they awarded me their wonderful Legacy Award.”
Film crews also followed Kathrine. She features in an upcoming documentary film, Tough Old Broads, as one of three pioneering women. Viewers can expect to see her appear alongside a White House photographer and an Inuit advocate and climate warrior.
“But it was the perfect storm and I was really frayed when the year was done,” she admits. “When I got on the plane to come home, I couldn’t even write my own name.
“I do interviews and speeches around the world because I like talking about women’s opportunities, and how a simple thing like putting one foot in front of the other can change your life.
“I love getting the word out about 261 Fearless because I always hope when I’m visiting a different country that we can launch a programme there.” It now has 700 women running across 14 nations.
This year, though, will be a kind of sabbatical for Kathrine. When she and Roger return to New York, she’ll work with an intern from Syracuse University, her alma mater. Together, they’ll annotate all the photos, film and records from her athletics career currently filling her basement.
“It’s a massive job,” tells Kathrine, “and also a vital part of the history of women’s long-distance running.”
And although she’s crammed those five decades with race victories, revolutionary change and poignant memories, Kathrine says, “It’s gone by in a heartbeat.”
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