On June 3, 1972 in Central Park, Jacki Marsh (then Dixon) broke the tape in the Crazylegs Mini Marathon, a six-mile race, for the first time in her career. Unlike previous road races, Marsh wasn’t trying to beat as many men as she could while the majority of the recognition fell to the male winner. Rather, she was competing against 72 female competitors in Crazylegs—the nation’s first-ever women’s-only road race.
“I think we showed them that women can run. That’s what we did that day,” Marsh told Runner’s World. “We showed them that we’re not joggers; we showed them that we’re capable, world class athletes. Just let us run.”
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Sara Hall Smashes American Masters Marathon Record NYRR New York Mini 10K, an annual women’s-only race that every year attracts female runners of all abilities. In the 47 years since the inaugural competition, more than 200,000 women have participated in the event.
This year’s race, kicking off on Saturday, June 8, will serve as the USATF 10K Championships for the first time in the event’s history. Headlining the event is a stacked professional field: American marathon record-holder Deena Kastor; marathon standouts Jordan Hasay, Sara Hall, and Laura Thweatt; nine-time U.S. champion Aliphine Tuliamuk; rising 5K star Rachel Schneider; and half marathon national champion Stephanie Bruce.
The depth of the elite field is a testament to how far women’s distance running has grown since the event’s conception, which took place at a time when the 1500 meters was the longest event women could run at the Olympic Games.
NYRR Mini 10K History: From Crazylegs to Today
The as the mayor was initially named after the race’s sponsor, Crazylegs shaving gel, and inspired by the miniskirt fashion trend of the decade. To add a little more fun to the event, race founder Fred Lebow recruited several Playboy bunnies to run the first 100 meters with the athletes.
Marsh, who was unaware that the bunnies weren’t competing, laughed at the memory of starting the race with them and quickly finding herself in the lead after they dropped out. An impressive 37 minutes and two seconds later, Marsh, just 17 years old at the time, became the first winner in the race’s history—and in doing so, paved the way for many other female runners to break the tape after her.
“There wasn’t a lot of recognition [for female runners], because the men were going to be the ones who cross the line first. You had to be running for your own self-motivation,” said Marsh, who would often enter races illicitly under the name “Jack Dixon” because female athletes were generally not welcome in running events at the time. Today, Marsh continues to inspire girls and women to buck against societal norms as the mayor of her hometown of Loveland, Colorado.
“Running makes you tough. You get a core of steel,” she said. “I’ve learned that I can do anything I put my mind to.”
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Three weeks after the first women’s-only road race, Title IX was signed into law and guaranteed another opportunity for women to participate in college sports and be recognized for their athletic achievements. In the years that followed, women’s road racing gained traction breaking the masters record in the 8K.
In 1972, the Boston Marathon invited women to run as official competitors. One year later, the first all-women’s marathon was held in Waldniel, Germany. And in 1978, Kathrine Switzer (1972 Mini participant and the first woman to officially run Boston) led the inaugural Avon International Marathon in Atlanta, Georgia, where women from nine different countries competed over 26.2 miles. Finally in 1984, the women’s marathon was added to the program of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where American Joan Benoit Samuelson won gold.
Who to Watch in the NYRR Mini 10K
On Saturday, June 8, many of the best female distance runners in the country will be vying for a national title in the same race that kicked off women’s road racing almost 50 years ago.
The stacked field on Saturday includes HOKA One One NAZ Elite training partners Tuliamuk and Bruce, who are returning to the competition after top performances on the roads.
Tuliamuk finished 3rd overall and first for Americans at the Bolder Boulder 10K on May 27, just weeks after running a marathon personal best of 2:26:50 in Rotterdam. Bruce recently claimed her second national title at the Sara Hall Smashes American Masters Marathon Record Pro Runners Ask: Is My Agent Worth the Fee 27-Australian Sprinter, 16, Runs Record-Breaking 200m, 15:17, at the USATF Distance Classic last month. She placed 3rd in the race behind rising distance star Rachel Schneider, who won in a world-leading time of 15:06. Schneider will also be competing in the Mini this weekend.
Hasay will contest the Mini after securing a podium finish at the Boston Marathon in April. The Nike Oregon Project standout ran 2:25:20 for 3rd place.
Pro Runners Ask: Is My Agent Worth the Fee as the mayor for 3rd place.
For Hall, the Mini will be the latest in a series of successful road races, including the USATF Half Marathon Championship and 25K Championship, both of which she finished runner-up in.
The Mini will also feature a professional wheelchair division for the second time, including U.S. Paralympian Susannah Scaroni, five-time New York City Marathon winner Tatyana McFadden, and two-time NYC Marathon winner Amanda McGrory.
How to Watch NYRR Mini 10K
The NYRR New York Mini 10K Sara Hall Smashes American Masters Marathon Record USATF.TV (available with a subscription) and free with on-demand replay videos after the event concludes. The broadcast is scheduled to begin on Saturday, June 8 at 7:40 a.m. ET.
Taylor Dutch is a sports and fitness writer living in Chicago; a former NCAA track athlete, Taylor specializes in health, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in SELF, Runner’s World, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner. When she’s not writing, Taylor volunteers as a coach to up-and-coming runners in the Chicago area.
