Who Is Bobbi Gibb?

Introduction

On April 19, 1966, Bobbi Gibb became the first woman to run and complete the full Boston Marathon. One year prior, she requested official entry to the race from the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) but was refused the opportunity to compete. The rejection letter offered both harsh and inspiring language, bluntly stating, “Women are not physiologically capable of running a marathon.” This dismissal only strengthened Gibbs’ resolve to keep running, leading her to sneak into the Boston Marathon on the morning of April 19. 

Early Life

Roberta “Bobbi” Louise Gibb entered the world on November 2, 1942, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was raised in Winchester. Growing up, she spent considerable time outdoors, hiking, riding horses, and exploring the Winchester area. Her love for running started early, but girls being involved in competitive sports, especially long-distance running, was unusual at the time..

Academically, she studied sculpture and anatomy at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University School of Special Studies. While in Boston, she worked as an assistant neurological researcher to Professor Jerome Lettvin at MIT before running the marathon. After completing her studies in Boston, she moved to San Diego, California, and began working toward her pre-med requirements, which she completed in 1969. 

Igniting the Spark

In 1964, Gibb watched the Boston Marathon with her father. She immediately grew inspired by the people running the race, excitedly claiming, “‘The courage it takes to run a race like that, and to live a life of integrity-- I just fell in love with it.’” She started training the very next day. 

At the time, she was living in San Diego. During a road trip in her twenties, she improved her distance running by wearing unorthodox footwear and subjecting herself to gruelling workouts. Indeed, she would run up and down the Rocky Mountains in Red Cross nurse shoes, the only comfortable footwear available for women at the time. 

From 1964 to 1966, Gibb continued to build her endurance, eventually running up to 40 miles at a time – the length of approximately 140 consecutive soccer fields.

Breaking a Barrier

In February of 1966, 21-year-old Bobbi Gibb received a letter from the Boston Athletic Association. She had written to them earlier, applying for entrance to the Boston Marathon, and expected to find her number in the package. Instead, she received a jarring yet motivating letter from Will Cloney, president of the BAA. The letter declared that women were physically incapable of running 26.2 miles;  the association could not “take the liability” of her competing. 

Gibb refused to take no for an answer and spent four days on a Greyhound bus, arriving in Winchester one day before the race. When she called her parents and told them what she planned on doing, they expressed shock. Her father refused to talk about the marathon, calling Gibb “delusional.” However, she succeeded in persuading her mother to drive her to the starting point in Hopkinton. 

To join the race, Gibb hid in a bush near the starting line. She was dressed in her brother’s Bermuda shorts and a blue hoodie with the hood pulled over her head. Underneath, she wore a black tank top bathing suit. Once the race started, she joined the pack and began running with them. 

It didn’t take long for the other runners to realize Gibb was a woman. To her surprise, the others lent their support and reassured her they would protect her if officials tried to remove her from the course. 

The local press soon took notice of her, too, and began reporting on her progress. By the time she reached Wellesley, the streets were lined with women searching for her and cheering her on. 

Gibbs completed the race with a time of 3 hours, 21 minutes, and 40 seconds, finishing ahead of 290 out of the 415 runners. When she reached the end, the mayor of Boston was there to shake her hand. The next day, her story appeared in news outlets across the nation. 

Above: A photo of Bobbi Gibb at her revolutionary marathon

After the Race

After completing the 1966 Boston Marathon, she ran again in 1996, finishing in 3:27:17, almost an hour ahead of Kathrine Switzer. Gibb ran again in 1968, finishing in three hours and 30 minutes. 

When she ran the 1967 marathon, she was a full-time student at the University of California, San Diego, pursuing a degree in medicine. Gibb finished her medical degree in San Diego in 1969 and began studying law. She became an attorney after earning her degree in 1978. She also pursued her love of art and science, becoming a sculptor and writer, and later studying neurobiology. 

In 1996, at the 100th Boston Marathon, 30 years after Gibb broke the gender barrier, the BAA officially recognized her wins in 1966, 1967, and 1968. They awarded her a medal and inscribed her name on the Boston Marathon Memorial in Copley Square. In 2016, Gibb was the Grand Marshal of that year’s marathon. The female winner, Atsede Baysa, gifted Gibb her trophy, but Gibb returned it the next time Baysa returned to Boston. 

One of her sculptures—a life-sized bronze statue of a female runner— was unveiled at the finish line of the 2016 Boston Marathon to honor the 50th anniversary of her revolutionary run. 

Winchester Town Day 2025

At 8:30 am on June 7th, over 600 people ranging from 1-79 years old gathered near the Winchester High School in preparation for either a 2.5 or 5-mile run. Before it started, a group of four high schoolers made a quick speech regarding the dedication of this year’s race. 

This year, the WFEE Town Day Road Race was dedicated to Bobbi Gibb, who grew up in Winchester and returned this year to give a short speech.

“I ran the Boston Marathon out of love. I believe that love is the basis of all meaningful human endeavor. Yet it was a love that was incomplete until it was shared with others.”

- Bobbi Gibb