The Syracuse University mailman, who had won the Boston marathon 15 times, was excited about seeing her out there and took Switzer under his wing. He said ‘you can’t run officially on the team, it’s against the NCAA ( National Collegiate Athletics Association ) rules in collegiate sports, but you can come out and work out with the team if you want to, we would welcome you’ and that was a joke because he never thought I would show up, but I did”, Switzer explained. She asked the coach of the men’s cross-country team if she could participate with them, as there were no girls' sports teams.

Once you got to university, it was all over for girls.” said Switzer. I had been running, I had been playing field hockey, but that was going to be it. “I knew I was never going to be allowed to be an athlete. A woman becoming a professional athlete seem ed impossible at the time. She wanted to be a sports journalist, as it seemed to be her only way to work in the sports industry. Switzer was studying journalism at Syracuse University. I realised ‘I'm going to change the system’, and that’s when it became political to me”. At this point, I realised other women would be there if they only had opportunities.

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