Episode 125: Women's Running Trailblazer, Valerie Rogosheske, Returns to the Boston Marathon 50 Years Later

We were honored to speak with Boston Marathon pioneer, Valerie (Val) Rogosheske, who is one of the original eight women finishers from the first official women’s field in 1972. Val, a Minnesota native, placed in the top ten at the Boston Marathon three times, taking sixth in 1972 (4:29:32), ninth in 1973 (3:51:12), and eighth in 1974 (3:09:38). The BAA is honoring Val this year for her role as a pioneer in women's running, and to celebrate, Val, exactly fifty years later, will be running the marathon with her two daughters. Val shared with us how she ended up at the start line of the Boston Marathon in 1972 and what prompted her to decide to return to the start line this year. Val also talks about her special bond with the other women who also had the courage to run the race fifty years ago and why she is NOT in the iconic photo that was taken just before the start of the 1972 race. Val is a wonderful storyteller, and we so enjoyed hearing about how she felt being one of only eight women on the course. In addition to running, Val will be participating in events throughout the weekend to honor the 50th anniversary of women officially participating in the Boston Marathon. Speaking of which, tickets are now available for OUR live podcast event on Saturday, April 16th to celebrate women's running! We will be interviewing another women's running pioneer, Marilyn Bevans, along with elite runner, Maegan Krifchin. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrating-50-years-of-women-running-boston-officially-tickets-302998174697?fbclid=IwAR118cC22voSDmjEHDAGTpUpqqDPpzNgDJjJDaugcgBPhpVzAW8qrv03pcs We hope that listeners enjoy hearing Val's story as much as we did!