A Short History of the Mini
On June 3, 1972, New York Road Runners staged the world's
first road race exclusively for female participants, the 6-mile Crazylegs
Mini Marathon. To understand how extraordinary this achievement was and
to appreciate how far the Mini has come since then you must travel back
to a time when distance running was a very different pastime than it is
today.
In 1972, the "running boom" had not yet hit. Distance running was a fringe activity practiced by a few dedicated souls. The New York City Marathon had been run but twice, with a mere 55 finishers the first year (1970) and 164 the second (1971).
As marginal as distance running was among the population as a whole, it was even more esoteric as an activity for women. In most road races the number of female finishers could be counted on one hand. In fact, not a single woman finished the first New York City Marathon and only three crossed the line in the race's second running.
But by 1972 things were starting to change for women runners. In April,
women were permitted to officially enter the renowned Boston Marathon for
the first time. In June, President Nixon signed into law the landmark Title
IX legislation, which mandated equal funding for women's sports programs
that receive federal aid. In Munich in September, the women's 1500 meters
was run for the first time at the Olympic Games. All the while, female participation
in road races while still tiny compared to men's participationwas
slowly, steadily growing.
Despite these significant inroads, many running events still did not officially
recognize women, and plenty of peopleincluding Olympic officials believed
that women were physically incapable of running long distances. In New York
City, a small group of women and one man were determined to do something
to change the public perception of women runners and open doors of opportunity
for them. Nina Kuscsik, the 1972 Boston Marathon winner; Kathrine Switzer,
who had finished that race wearing a number in 1967 despite officials' attempts
to drag her from the course; and New York City Marathon co-director Fred
Lebow, a champion of women's equality, decided to launch a women-only road
race.
Lebow signed on Johnson's Wax as the race's sponsor. The company which made
a women's shaving gel called Crazylegs had contacted him about putting on
a women's marathon, but Lebow talked them into a more manageable 6-mile
"mini" marathon, named after the miniskirt, then the height of
fashion.
Lebow, Kuscsik, Switzer, and others recruited participants in schools, bars,
and even among Playboy bunnies. The Crazylegs Mini Marathon drew 78 women
a huge turnout for the time from all over the country. The race was
won by Jacqueline Dixon of California in 37:02, with Kuscsik third and Switzer
sixth.
Though the Playboy bunnies hopped off into the bushes after posing at the starting line, they generated enormous publicity. If the bunnies were an insult, real injury was added when Kuscsik and Switzer were asked to pose with their dresses hiked over their knees at a press event. (They refused.)
The Mini has been on the NYRR annual calendar ever since that historic first running. By 1977 participation had grown to 2,277; it was 5,807 in 1979. The event has been a model for mass-participation women's road races around the world. It has attracted the planet's best runners Olympians, World Champions, and world record holders and has been the site of several world-best performances. Winners have come from countries all over the world, including Australia, Canada, England, Kenya, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, and the United States.
From 2004 to 2006, the Mini was sponsored by Circle of Friends, an initiative dedicated to teaching people that support can make a difference to women in their attempts to quit smoking. The 2004 Mini also saluted American women runners aiming to represent the United States at the Olympic Games in Athens, and was won by Deena Kastor, who went on to win a bronze medal in the Olympic marathon. Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands won the 2005 and 2006 Mini.
This year, the Mini once again welcomes an international field of the world's best distance runners. As always, the Mini is an event for all women of all ability levels. The world's original women-only road race continues its tradition of celebrating all that women's running has to offer.
