The Marine Corps Marathon: A Running Tradition

An interactive look at the Oct. 28 race, with video and text analysis of key sections of the route by noted area runners. (Courtesy of the Washington Post)

Arligton Unwired - Faces (Courtesy of arlingtonunwired.com)

A Banker in Charge of Military Operations in the Nation's Capital?

George Banker - Subaru Athlete of the Month December 2006

Press Release:

Marine Corps Marathon A Running Tradition

Press Release:

Let's Run Website

The First National Women's Conference

The movement was faced with a problem in Alabama with no runner.  According to Edith Grinnell (Peggy Kokernot's mother), Phyllis Schlafly, the National Chairwomen of STOP ERA, a national right wing movement, had convinced the Alabama women runners not to support "this radical group of equal rights women under any circumstances!" and she succeeded in stopping them. There was a 16-mile stretch in Alabama which had no available runners for the relay. The torch bearers would be stopped in their tracks with no one there to take the torch and continue to run.

Mary Ann McBrayer, who was the Houston contact for the relay committee for the Conference, contacted Peggy and made the arrangements to fly her to Alabama to run the segment and to be one of runners to carry the torch the last mile to the convention center.

The day the torch was carried into the Albert Thomas Convention Center, two former First Ladies (Betty Ford and Lady Bird Johnson) and current First Lady Rosalyn Carter rose to accept the torch on behalf of the Women's Conference.

A photograph of Peggy was taken during the opening ceremony by a TIME magazine photographer appeared on the cover of TIME, December 5, 1977. TIME quoted Peggy as saying she wanted the Olympic Committee to offer equal status for women in sports, and cited the need for a women's marathon to be included in future Olympics. It had been deemed too difficult for women to run the 26.2 miles for the marathon course.

Peggy (Kokernot) Kaplan recounts the Marine Corps Marathon, "To my great surprise a group of Marines in Houston raised funds to send me to the race. There was no way I could afford to do this on my limited budget. I remember the T-shirt they made up for me. It was red and the back was covered with yellow iron-on letters, all full of marine lingo about the group that sent me north".

Today, "I would say run in the rain, snow, sleet or sun...BUT really listen to your body...It can tell you so many things.. like if you are injured,  if you are really tired and if you need to take a day of rest. Perhaps if I had that I wouldn't have had some of the injuries I have had. I used to tell people that I couldn't really tell when I was injured because I was so used to pushing through pain in the marathon but deep down I think we all know when something doesn't 'feel' right...and we need to listen to our bodies."

Photographer Diana Mara Henry began her career in photojournalism at Radcliffe, as photo editor of the Harvard Crimson from 1967 to 1969. She received Harvard's Second Ferguson History Prize in 1967 and her A.B. in Government in 1969. She specializes in interpreting social issues and events.