She’s an elite runner and an accomplished sculptor as well.
Long-time readers may recall that in 1967, Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon with an official race bib. A year earlier, though, Bobbi Gibb was the first woman to ever run the Boston Marathon. Sixty years later, she’s just become the race’s first woman to be honored with a statue.
Bobbi Gibb, with a statue of her younger self
The sculpture, entitled “The Girl Who Ran”, was recently installed near the race’s starting point in the town of Hopkinton.
The bronze, life-size statue is located on the route, less than 100 yards from the starting line, at the corner of Hayden Rowe Street and Main Street, where Gibb now-famously hid in the bushes before sneaking into the 1966 men-only race.
Even more impressive, the statue of Gibb was made by Gibb herself, who is apparently quite an artist. Curious how that came to be?
Originally, the 26.2 Foundation reached out to Gibb about doing a sculpture of Joan Benoit Samuelson, but Benoit Samuelson “very quickly came back and said, ‘No, please, you shouldn’t do a sculpture about me; a sculpture should be done honoring Bobbi Gibb,”
That’s pretty great. And for the record, Joan Benoit Samuelson also kicks ass, and not just because of her graciousness
