Starting Line 1928

Starting Line 1928 is an oral history project documenting the lived experiences of female distance running pioneers

Starting Line 1928 is a history podcast hosted by Running Historians (Various), with 70 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Running Historians (Various) hosts Starting Line 1928, a history show with 70 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #69

  69 | Bobbi Gibb

  Jul 30, 20261h 10mS4

  Bobbi Gibb didn't wait for permission—she changed history by stepping across a line she was never meant to cross. In 1966, when women weren't allowed to run the Boston Marathon, Bobbi showed up anyway. Denied an official race number simply because she was a woman, she hid near the starting line, slipped into the pack, and ran 26.2 miles on determination alone. She finished in three hours and 21 minutes, faster than many of the men competing, and challenged a long-held belief that women couldn't endure the distance. But Bobbi's story is bigger than one race. It's about questioning limits and reshaping what people believe is possible, not just in sport, but in life.

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  Episode #68

  68 | Ellen Wessel and Elizabeth Goeke

  Jul 16, 20261h 19mS4

  When Ellen Wessel and Elizabeth Goeke started running in the 1970s, they quickly realized the apparel available wasn't well suited to women's needs. Shorts bunched between the legs, didn't fit right around the waist, chafed in unmentionable areas—and definitely didn't have pockets. Sports bras, let alone those that supported larger breasts, weren't yet available. So they started a company, Moving Comfort, to meet the needs of a growing group of women runners. Though there were plenty of ups and downs along the way, Moving Comfort outfitted women runners with quality apparel for four decades—staying true to the pair's mission, "A fit woman is a powerful woman," along the way.

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  Episode #67

  Jan Seeley

  Apr 30, 20261h 9mS3

  <p>Jan Seeley is a modern Renaissance woman, succeeding in pursuits as wide-ranging as field hockey, running, writing, and race directing. She's been running for more than 50 years, was an editor at Human Kinetics and then of Marathon & Beyond magazine, and is now the race director for the Christie Clinic Illinois Race Weekend, a marathon and more in Champaign-Urbana. In this interview, she discusses her journey through the sport, her relationship with her husband and fellow runner Joe (and her grief after he passed away in 2012), and how the Illinois races have grown into a beloved regional event with a...

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  Episode #66

  Gordon Bakoulis

  Apr 16, 20261h 4mS3

  <p >Gordon Bakoulis has built an impressive running résumé that includes: a five-time qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, finalist in the 1992 U.S. Olympic 10,000-meter Trials, and an age-group champion at the 2001 New York City Marathon, where she ran 2:41 at age 40. Her marathon personal best stands at 2:33:01; her half-marathon best at 1:11:34. "I can't imagine running not being in my life," she says. Fortunately, she has never had to. Running has shaped her life for more than five decades.</p> <p> </p>

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  Episode #65

  Lynn Blackstone

  Mar 12, 202654 minS3

  <p>"I was just in the right place at the right time" is how Lynn Blackstone likes to color her participation in one of the pivotal events in the history of women's running—"The Six Who Sat" protest at the start of the third New York City Marathon in 1972.  While this may seem a vast understatement, what cannot go unnoticed is her decades-long love of running. The sport threaded its way through her next decade, as she gave birth to two sons and continued to run through both pregnancies.  Today, at age 85, Lynn still runs and is an active member of t...

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