Run Like A Girl: The Written History of Women in the Boston Marathon

photo courtesy of http://www.letsrun.com/
Kathrine 'K.V.' Switzer keeps running the marathon, despite officials'
attempts to physically force her out of the race.

This year marked the 114th Boston Marathon, but only the 38th year that women have been allowed to compete, as women were not allowed to officially enter until 1972.

Before 1972, however, several women made valiant attempts to run the race, despite the gender bar.

In 1966, Roberta ‘Bobbi’ Gibb was the first woman to run the entire race. The 23-year-old Californian, wearing her brother’s clothing and boys’ shoes, hid behind a bush during the start of the marathon, and snuck into the race without registering. (Sneaking into the race is still something that happens to this day; these athletes are called ‘bandit runners.’) Gibb had attempted to officially register, but her application was returned with a note saying that women were not physically capable of running a marathon. Gibb finished the course with a time of 3:21:40, which would be her first of three unofficial victories.

Run Like A Girl: The Course of the Boston Marathon

View Boston Marathon Course in a larger map

Run Like A Girl: Celebrating 44 Years of Women in the Boston Marathon

Seeing Red: Deconstructing Why The Red Sox Are Off To A Slow Start

photo courtesy of Jim Rogash/Getty Images

The system
Why did they change their system to one more oriented towards pitching and defense? Why fix what wasn’t broken? So far, their changes aren’t working out, as the Sox are already in the hole with a 7-10 record. Last year, they ended up with a 95-67 record, and this year, they’re on pace to reverse that with a 67-95 record. According to last year’s final standings, that record would tie Boston for second to last in the American League. The Red Sox have to pray that their system starts to work or abandon ship if they hope to see the postseason.

Target Field Goes Above and Beyond in Accessibility

image courtesy of http://www.areavoices.com

This season, the Minnesota Twins unveiled their new stadium, Target Field, and fans are talking about more than the views, the food, and the LEED Certification.

They're talking about accessibility.

Instead of simply adhering to state and federal guidelines, the organization strove to surpass them and give fans with special needs the baseball game and experience they deserve.

Some of the new improvements include:

• Approximately 800 accessible seats at all ticket levels.
• Lower concession counters with Braille and/or large-print signs.
• 1-2 electrical outlet boxes in accessible seating areas.
• Captioning boards for the announcer's messages and free assisted listening devices.
• All entrances to the ballpark are wheelchair accessible.
• Accessible seating areas do not have obstructions from railings or standing fans.

You can read more about the stadium's accessibility from the Star Tribune and the Twins' official access guide.

Golden Age to Info Age

photo courtesy of http://timpanogos.wordpress.com

The Golden Age of Sports and sportswriting is something that my generation sees in movies.  The Golden age of Sports and sportswriting is something that my generation, as well as generations to come, will only see in movies.

Today, it's not about novelty, and many times, it's not even about the beautiful, lengthy articles that Frank Deford strove to publish.  Today, it's about breaking the story as quickly as you can.  It's about technology and bending over backwards to provide audiences with short, to-the-point stories faster than anyone else can.

Phillies refreshing when it comes to news

I’ve followed the Philadelphia Phillies every season since I can remember, but I can’t say that I’ve always read up on their website and the news that they release.  This week was different.  For this assignment, I followed their website and news output closely, and I liked what I found.  Not only did I find information about the players, their accomplishments, and unfortunately, their injuries—I also read about the fantasy draft and other ways to stay in touch with baseball and the Phillies via technology.