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"From foot-binding to corsets, patriarchal societies have found ways to immobilize women, but now, marathoners and Olympians are proving that women can run like the wind!" - GLORIA STEINEM. "A look behind the curtain that all women who love running and sport should read." - KARA GOUCHER, Olympic runner and New York Times-bestselling author of The Longest Race. More than a century ago, a woman ran in the very first modern Olympic marathon. She just did it without permission. Award-winning journalist Maggie Mertens uncovers the story of how women broke into competitive running and how they are getting faster and fiercer every day - and changing our understanding of what is possible as they go.. Despite women proving their abilities on the track time and again, men in the medical establishment, media, and athletic associations have fought to keep women (or at least white women) fragile - and sometimes literally tried to push them out of the race (see Kathrine Switzer, Boston Marathon, 1967) .