In the mid-1970s, Henley Gabeau didn’t set out to become an accomplished distance runner. Instead, her athletic journey started as a simple desire to keep up with her 12-year-old daughter while training on the track. Henley quickly noticed there weren’t many spaces dedicated to women, so she and a group of like-minded athletes formed RunHERS, one of the first women’s running clubs in the United States. She went on to become the first female president of the Road Runners Club of America and then the organization's first-ever executive director; she also played a role in advocating for adding the women's marathon to the Olympics. Henley's contributions to the world of distance running go beyond her athletic achievements; her work as an advocate, race director, mother and leader helped shape women’s running into what it is today. Henley passed away in 2018—this interview was conducted by Olympian Amy Begley in 2013.

Dr. Joan Ullyot, the “fastest physician marathon runner," paved the way for women runners across the world, proving by example that women should not be counted out when it comes to long distances. Ullyot raced in 80 marathons, winning ten of those along with the masters division in the Boston Marathon in 1984. Her book “Women’s Running,” published in 1976, and her in-depth studies as an exercise physiologist made the case that women deserve the equal opportunity to run competitively; her efforts were instrumental in lobbying the International Olympic Commission to add the women's marathon to the Olympics in 1984. Dr. Ullyot passed away in 2021, at age 80; this interview was conducted in 2013 by Amy Begley.

In 1969, 32-year-old Sara Mae Berman was the first woman to cross the finish line in the Boston Marathon. She did it again in 1970 and 1971. But women weren’t allowed to enter officially, so her times—3:22:46, 3:05:08, and 3:08:30, respectively—were unofficial. "All we ever wanted, us early women, was to be allowed to run the distance, and we weren't in any bloodthirsty competition with each other. We just wanted to be able to run the distance and improve our times," she says.