Roberta Gibb

From WikiRun

Bobbi Gibb
Event	marathon
Born	1943
Current Residence	Rockport, MA

Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb-Welsh (1943-) was the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon.

In 1966, 23-year old Gibb applied to enter the Boston Marathon, but was refused because she was a woman. She ran unofficially with a time of 3:21:40,^[1] and was well received by the other runners as well as greeted by the Governor of Massachusetts Volpe at the finish. Her run made front-page news. The next year, Gibb ran unofficially again and finished in 3:27:17^[1] an hour ahead of Kathrine Switzer, who had obtained an official number by disguising her gender on her entry form. Although no one bothered Gibb either year, Jock Semple had attempted to physically remove Switzer's race number in 1967 generating national publicity. Gibb was the first of five unofficial entrants in 1968 as well with a time of 3:30:00.^[1] Women were finally allowed to run Boston officially in 1972. She continued to be a recreational runner and to run marathons. She ran Boston in 1986 and 1996 to celebrate the anniversaries of her first win.^[2] Her most recent Boston finish was in 2001.^[3]

She married and attended law school and has been practicing law in Massachusetts since 1978.

She was inducted into the RRCA Hall of Fame in 1982. External links A Run of One's Own by R. Gibb References ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.bostonmarathon.org/BostonMarathon/RaceSummaries.asp?myear=14 Retrieved 2008-12-18. ↑ http://runnerville.com/2008/02/23/gibb-not-switzer-first-to-run-boston/ Retrieved 2008-12-18. ↑ http://development.teamals.org/runforals/bgibb.htm Retrieved 2008-12-18.