Michelob Ultra Honours the First Women to Run the Boston Marathon
International production company HB Films is proud to announce the release of The Story of Kathrine Switzer, a new film for Michelob Ultra, directed by Matt Hoffman. The film - launched in partnership with the Women’s Sports Foundation, a not-for-profit devoted to promoting access to athletic programs for women - honours the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1967, and details how one woman’s courage ignited a movement that changed the world.
When Kathrine Switzer entered to run the Boston Marathon in 1967, she didn’t specify her gender, knowing full well the race had been a men's-only event since its inception 70 years earlier. When a marathon organiser spotted her in the field of runners, he became so enraged at the sight of a woman running the race that he physically attacked Kathrine mid-course, and tried to strip her of her race bib. When a race photographer caught that indelible moment on film–the man’s belligerence, Kathrine’s courage and determination–the photographer’s lens exposed an entire system of oppression, exclusion, and sexism that forever upended the balance of power men held over the sport with a single image. In The Story of Kathrine Switzer, Hoffman recreates that indelible moment for us in ultra-slow-motion, dialling in on a turning point in our history to the millisecond it occurred, and breathing life into the grainy black and white still image that ignited a movement with three dimensional motion and hypercolour. Hoffman’s camera tracks every individual element, converging in precise concert for the photographer to click their shutter, and coming away with an image the world needed, as if the universe was conspiring to make it so.
“It’s clear to me this event was a miracle,” says director Matt Hoffman. “It’s not often I can tap into something this personally meaningful, but in retelling the story of Kathrine’s courage, I am telling the story of my mom and her courage, and the courage of every woman who lived through this time, and ultimately the positive change and joy her bravery brought us all.”
“We wanted to help Michelob ULTRA tell the story of the first woman to finish a marathon - before women were even allowed to run marathons. And we needed to do her story justice and capture a feeling all women would recognise, which is having to work twice as hard for half the recognition, and taking twice the risk for half the reward," said Aurelie Diaz, senior art director at GUT Miami. "Kathrine Switzer definitely made our job easier. She is exactly the person you want to tell stories about because she's strong, charming, and magnetic. Though her story has been told, we didn’t feel like anyone did justice to the epic-ness of her decision. We wanted to turn her split-second decision into an anthem for all women runners, so we took her one-second of thought and slowed it down - way down - to show everything that contributed to the photo that changed the sport. We wanted to show Kathrine immersed in a man’s race, the millisecond of doubt, the resolve to cross the finish line, and, of course, end on the joy of running that women runners can experience because of her. After all, we, alongside Michelob ULTRA, believe that anything is only worth it if all can enjoy it.”
Matt Hoffman is an award-winning director, and the co-founder of HB Films.
