“I discovered early that running always made me feel powerful, free, and fearless,” says Switzer. In 2015, she and CEO and President Edith Zuschmann established 261 Fearless, a global nonprofit organization of running clubs dedicated to helping women of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to uncover their self-worth and potential through running. Switzer transformed the 261 symbol into a full-fledged movement inspiring women to live fulfilling lives through running. For the record, she doesn’t have a 261 tattoo, but she’d like to get one. Then she started seeing tattoos! That’s when she realized how strongly women can relate to her story. She says she thought, “It’s wonderful and kinda creepy. Switzer says she was surprised when she first started hearing about women wearing 261 in races and seeing photos on the web. This speech was different because her audience-more than 400 women from around the country-has a shared mission of empowerment. She makes a handful of speeches a year, but usually it’s for a business like Morgan Stanley. After her keynote speech, Switzer was abuzz with energy. The nonprofit pair girls with volunteers to train for a 5K. We caught up with Switzer in San Diego back in 2015 at the Girls on the Run Summit. She describes her overall mission: “empowerment of the female runner.” Over the past decade, she’s taken further steps to solidify her place in the present-not simply in history. However unintentional it was, Switzer, 76, has become a hero. “This is something that came over the transom.” Now she repeats the words in quotes above, the words of many women today who wear their appointed race bibs as well as a second bib on their backs with her number. Kathrine Switzer is the marathon legend who wore that number in 1967 as the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, despite an official’s efforts to pull her off the course. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!

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