No one today would recommend that a six-year-old child run a marathon. In fact, most major marathon organizers set a minimum age limit of 18, primarily due to safety, liability, and the physiological strain that extreme distance running puts on growing bones and joints. Back in 1969, however, Mary Etta Boitano Blanchard ran her first marathon at age six–she attempted a marathon at age five but dropped out at Mile 20–finishing in 4:27:32. At age ten, she ran a 3:01:15. By the time she was 12, Mary Etta had completed 50 marathons. At age 5, she was the first female finisher at the iconic Dipsea Race, a grueling 7.4-mile run along the rutted, rocky trails of Muir Woods in Mill Valley, California. She has since run Dipsea over 35 times, and today she participates alongside her husband and sons. Her legacy extends beyond her race times. She and her mother worked tirelessly to persuade the AAU to allow women to compete in distances longer than 1500 meters. They were determined to end the era when female runners had to sneak into races or register using only their initials to disguise their gender. At 63, Mary Etta still logs 40 to 50 miles a week, gardens, loves to cook, and continues her tradition with the Dipsea.

For Diane Hawkins, running began as a way to relieve stress from an intense career as an actress, but the sport became much more, opening doors and introducing her to people around the world. She set a goal to run the New York City Marathon and found that the training helped her be more focused and confident in auditions. She went on to run the New York City Marathon six times, the Boston Marathon 11 times, and countless other races, including ultramarathons. She won the U.S. women's 50-mile championship four times in the mid-1980s and was named Ultramarathoner of the Year three times in a row.

Bobbi Gibb didn't wait for permission—she changed history by stepping across a line she was never meant to cross. In 1966, when women weren't allowed to run the Boston Marathon, Bobbi showed up anyway. Denied an official race number simply because she was a woman, she hid near the starting line, slipped into the pack, and ran 26.2 miles on determination alone. She finished in three hours and 21 minutes, faster than many of the men competing, and challenged a long-held belief that women couldn't endure the distance. But Bobbi's story is bigger than one race. It's about questioning limits and reshaping what people believe is possible, not just in sport, but in life.

When Ellen Wessel and Elizabeth Goeke started running in the 1970s, they quickly realized the apparel available wasn't well suited to women's needs. Shorts bunched between the legs, didn't fit right around the waist, chafed in unmentionable areas—and definitely didn't have pockets. Sports bras, let alone those that supported larger breasts, weren't yet available. So they started a company, Moving Comfort, to meet the needs of a growing group of women runners. Though there were plenty of ups and downs along the way, Moving Comfort outfitted women runners with quality apparel for four decades—staying true to the pair's mission, "A fit woman is a powerful woman," along the way.

Jan Seeley is a modern Renaissance woman, succeeding in pursuits as wide-ranging as field hockey, running, writing, and race directing. She's been running for more than 50 years, was an editor at Human Kinetics and then of Marathon & Beyond magazine, and is now the race director for the Christie Clinic Illinois Race Weekend, a marathon and more in Champaign-Urbana. In this interview, she discusses her journey through the sport, her relationship with her husband and fellow runner Joe (and her grief after he passed away in 2012), and how the Illinois races have grown into a beloved regional event with a wide-ranging impact on the community.

Gordon Bakoulis has built an impressive running résumé that includes: a five-time qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, finalist in the 1992 U.S. Olympic 10,000-meter Trials, and an age-group champion at the 2001 New York City Marathon, where she ran 2:41 at age 40. Her marathon personal best stands at 2:33:01; her half-marathon best at 1:11:34. "I can't imagine running not being in my life," she says. Fortunately, she has never had to. Running has shaped her life for more than five decades.

"I was just in the right place at the right time" is how Lynn Blackstone likes to color her participation in one of the pivotal events in the history of women's running—"The Six Who Sat" protest at the start of the third New York City Marathon in 1972. While this may seem a vast understatement, what cannot go unnoticed is her decades-long love of running. The sport threaded its way through her next decade, as she gave birth to two sons and continued to run through both pregnancies. Today, at age 85, Lynn still runs and is an active member of the Central Park Track Club, which she and Dave founded with 10 members in 1972.

For those who follow masters running, Jeannie Rice's name often invokes awe and admiration. At age 77, Rice has more than 40 Masters titles in the U.S. At age 70, she set her first age group world record at the 2018 Chicago Marathon with a time of 3:27:50, which she lowered a year later, at the 2019 Berlin Marathon, with a time of 3:24:48. She also holds age-group world records in the 1500 meters, 5000 meters, and 10,000 meters on the track. In this episode of Starting Line 1928, we talked about her own running routine, her role models, and her goals to run a 3:30 marathon after turning 78. Rice is also planning to compete at the 2026 World Masters Athletics Stadia Championships in South Korea.

Jessica Dragičević Cassleman grew up in Chile with British and Yugoslav roots. She found her way into elite athletics through community sports clubs, eventually competing and coaching at a high level. A political upheaval in Chile and a serendipitous phone call brought her to the United States and the University of Illinois, where she became a pioneering women's track and field coach in the early years after Title IX. She built competitive programs at Illinois and Washington State University, fighting for equity in resources and respect for women athletes, and developing a coaching philosophy centered on training the whole person. Eventually, she stepped away from coaching, choosing family and a different kind of leadership. She became an academic administrator, serving as assistant dean in both the Honors College and the Carson College of Business at WSU, shaping international programs, teaching and mentoring students, and carrying the same principles into the classroom.

Ultra-running legend Helen Klein turned 100 on November 27, 2022. A force of nature, she believes anything is possible if it is within your grasp. Few people have grasped as many accolades as she has. Over the course of her remarkable career, Klein amassed 75 national and world records, completed 90 marathons and 143 ultramarathons; and at age 66, was one of the first athletes to complete the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning which consists of four of the most demanding 100-mile trail races in the United States. At 72, she completed a 145-mile race in the Sahara Desert in Morocco. Just weeks later, she finished the punishing 370-mile Echo-Challenge in Utah. She also holds the marathon world record for women aged 80 and over in 4:31:32, which she set at the 2002 California International Marathon. Five years later she shattered the 85 and over record at the same race.