Celebrating 50 Years of Women in the Boston Marathon

Val Rogosheske at the Boston Marathon

50 years ago, women were allowed to officially run the Boston Marathon for the first time. That year, 1972, just 8 women completed the race. Val Rogosheske was one of them.

This year, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that milestone, Adidas invited Val, her two daughters Allie and Abby, and her cousin Kris to run the Boston Marathon again.

I received this email from Kris a few months ago:

“Hi Erica Sara, I’m a big fan of your designs and my husband has bought me several pieces over the years, which I love! I’m writing to see if you’d be interested in helping me design a special piece for this year’s Boston Marathon? Kind of a long story…1972 was the first year women were allowed to ‘legally’ run Boston (you probably already knew that). My dad’s cousin, Val Rogosheske, was one of eight women who ran it that year. This year, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that event, Adidas invited Val, her two daughters Allie and Abby, and me! (the random marathon running relative) to run the race. Needless to say, I’m honored and thrilled to be sharing this experience with my extended family in celebration of women running Boston. I was thinking of buying one of your existing Boston necklaces for Val, Allie, Abby, and myself, but maybe you have an idea to incorporate Val’s achievement and the 50th anniversary? All the best, Kris”

Did she say, “Interested in helping?” More like honored! What an amazing and exciting opportunity! The sport of running, and marathons in particular, have shaped my life in the most magical ways. The ideas for this design started pouring out of me right away.

Working with Kris on this piece was a wonderful experience. We ended up with this Unicorn Washer design, based on my original Unicorn Mantra Washer necklace. I wanted to create something simple and beautiful, something lightweight but durable that could be worn every day but also every mile.

It was a blast watching Val, Allie, Abby, and Kris cross the Boston Marathon finish line wearing pieces I made! I’m not going to lie, I cried seeing them finish the race and embrace. I’m grateful for Val’s courage, and the courage of all women who have led the way for the rest of us.

You can personalize your own version of this special necklace here.