MIGHTY MOE

A story lost to history illuminates the unique way sports support feminism.

In 1967, the longest distance women could run in the Olympics was 800 meters. Doctors feared running long distances would destroy women’s reproductive organs; sports officials thought running was unladylike and set age limitations and capped distances females could run. But for Maureen Wilton, a white girl, running was how she felt most like herself and how she found her people. After three years of training, Maureen ran a marathon—and set a world record—at the age of 13. In her hometown of Toronto and beyond, Maureen became known as Mighty Moe, seen as part of the future of women’s competitive running. But with the growing pressure and the crumbling of her running community, Maureen stopped running. Shifting storylines sidetrack Maureen’s life to explain running techniques and history and explore how sports were another front in the battle for equality, which unfortunately undercuts the power of Maureen’s story and her eventual return to running. For when Maureen began running again in 2003, she rediscovered the community she had lost—the community that has seen people run races for fun and more women completing races than men.

A story about what running really is: competing with other runners and not against them.