Posted: February 10, 2004

Athletics: Separate Start for Elite Women at 2004 Boston Marathon®

BOSTON, Mass. - For the first time, the Boston Marathon will feature a separate start for elite women.

The women's elite field, comprised of between 25 to 40 world and national class marathoners, will begin at 11:35 a.m.

Elite men will continue to begin at the same time as and just in front of the mass race, which traditionally has started at Noon. The push rim wheelchair division, which in the past has preceded the runners by 15 minutes, will precede the women's elite start by a few minutes.

After consultation with athletes, race sponsors, the cities and towns along the route, and other officials, the Boston Athletic Association decided to start the elite women separately to best showcase the field.

"As a whole, the sport of marathoning is moving towards a separate start for elite women," said Boston Athletic Association Executive Director Guy Morse. "The U.S. Olympic Trials, IAAF World Championships and the Olympic Games are all gender specific, and most, if not all, of the elite women are in favor of a separate start.

"Technically, a separate start on the narrow Boston course provides better safety to both the elite women and the men who in the past have often run along side of them," said Dave McGillivray, Boston Marathon Race Director. "The elite women will be easily identifiable to the benefit of spectators and media, and the elite women will more easily be able to access the special fluid replacement stations which are provided especially for them at multiple locations on the course.

"Women will race against women, unhindered by men of similar ability who often pace themselves against the women," McGillivray said. "This may be the biggest advancement in the women's race since 1972 when women were officially allowed to enter and compete in the Boston Marathon."

For the first time in Boston's history, a female open division champion will cross the finish line ahead of a male open division champion.

The women's field will be seeded such that all prize money award winners (top 15 overall and top five masters) must begin in the separate elite start. Women not in the elite start remain eligible for age group and age division awards.

The 108th Boston Marathon, the world's oldest annual marathon, will be held on Monday, April 19, 2004, Patriots' Day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This year's field is limited to 20,000 official participants, and registration remains open until the field size limit is reached.

Boston Marathon Women's Division Timeline and Milestones.
· 1966 - Roberta Gibb becomes the first woman to run the Boston Marathon.
· 1967 - Kathrine Switzer obtains a bib number and popularizes the idea for women to compete in the same race as men.
· 1972 - A women's division is officially added at Boston. Seven women start; all seven finish.
· 1975 - Liane Winter, of West Germany, establishes a world record at Boston (2:42:24).
· 1979 - Joan Benoit, of Maine, wins her first Boston Marathon wearing a Red Sox cap, endearing herself to New Englanders forever.
· 1980 - Jacqueline Gareau, of Canada, runs a course record 2:34:28.
· 1983 - Benoit, now a coach at Boston University, wins the Boston Marathon in world record time (2:22:43).
· 1986 - The Boston Marathon offers prize money for the first time and the prize structure is equal for men and women.
· 1994 - Uta Pippig, of Germany, wins the Boston Marathon in a course record 2:21:45.
· 1996 - Pippig wins the prestigious Centennial Boston Marathon.
· 1997 - Fatuma Roba, of Ethiopia, becomes the first African woman to win the Boston Marathon.
· 2002 - Margaret Okayo, of Kenya, establishes the current course record (2:20:43).
· 2004 - Separate start for elite women.

The official Boston Marathon web site is at: www.bostonmarathon.org