L'eggs Mini-Marathon

The L'eggs Mini-Marathon was a series of women only 10 kilometer (10K) road races held in the 1970s and 1980s, sponsored by the L'eggs hosiery company. The race grew from a small single event in 1972 into a national series with the sponsorship.[1] The circuit consisted of three preliminary races, situated around the United States, in Dallas, Texas, Chicago, Illinois and San Diego, California leading to a big, nationally televised final race in New York City's Central Park, conducted by the New York Road Runners.[2] Tens of thousands of women participated in the series which allowed them to rub shoulders most of the female running elite of the time, such as Grete Waitz, Rosa Mota and Priscilla Welch.[3]

Women's only road races were virtually unheard of at that point in time. The event capitalized on three phenomenon of that era: Feminism, Title IX, and the Running boom of the 1970s. Many women, who had not previously thought of themselves as athletes achieved a feeling of self-empowerment by learning how to run, participating and completing the race.[4] They felt comforted in the festive environment surrounded by other women of varying abilities. There was a unity in accomplishing this together with other women.[1] For some, like Gerry Davidson and Gail Waesche Kislevitz,[5] it was the only race they ran.

Results
Year Name Nationality Time Entrants
1972 Jacqueline Dixon  United States 37:01.7 78
1973 Katherine Schrader  United States 36:48.7 103
1974 Doreen Ennis  United States 35:45.6 157
1975 Charlotte Lettis  United States 35:56.6 304
1976 Julie Shea  United States 35:04.8 492
1977 Peg Neppel  United States 34:115.3 2,277
1978 Martha White  United States 33:29.7 4,346
1979 Grete Waitz  Norway 31:15.4 5,807
1980 Grete Waitz  Norway 30:59.8 (World Record)[6] 5,417

Alumni

References
  1. Kowalchik, Claire (1999). The complete book of running for women: everything you need to know about ... (Re-issued ed.). Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-01703-3.
  2. "Advertisement". New York Magazine. New York Media. 17 (16): 75. 1984-04-16. ISSN 0028-7369.
  3. Bloom, Marc (1989-05-01). "On Your Own: Female Runners Find Older Can Be Better". New York Times.
  4. Bloch, Gordon B. (1993). How to train for and run your best marathon. Simon and Schuster. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-671-79727-0. L'eggs Mini-Marathon.
  5. Kislevitz, Gail W. (2003). The Spirit of the Marathon: What to Expect in Your First Marathon, and How to Run Them for the Rest of Your Life. Breakaway Books. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-891369-36-0. L'eggs Mini-Marathon san diego.
  6. Tricard, Louise M. (1996). American women's track and field: a history, 1895 through 1980. 1. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0219-9.
  7. Litsky, Frank (1989-06-04). "Runner's Surprising Road". New York Times.
  8. "Running". Washington Post. 1990-05-29. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05.
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