50 years ago a Syracuse student conquered more than a marathon

Kathrine Switzer returns to Boston today to mark the 50th anniversary of her historic run.If the Syracuse Orange had a women’s track and field team in 1967, student Kathrine Switzer might not have made history. Without competitions to focus on, Switzer instead set her sights on the Boston Marathon. Now this might not sound too outlandish for today’s runners, but at the time no woman had been allowed to enter the race.

Encouraged by tales of Boston told to her by Syracuse training partner and coach Arnie Briggs, Switzer decided that she too would run Boston. In 1966, a woman named Bobbi Gibb had run Boston unofficially and the race claimed to be open to anyone, so Switzer believed she’d have…