163: Marcy Schwam: Pioneer Ultrarunner

Ultrarunning History

By Davy Crockett Marcy Schwam (1953-) from Massachusetts, was an ultrarunning pioneer in the 1970s and early 1980s, during an era when some people still believed long-distance running was harmful to women. She won about 30 ultramarathons and set at least six world records at all ultra-distances from 50 km to six-days. She was the third person inducted into the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame. She was bold, brazen, with an impressive “get-out-of-my-way” attitude and racing style. She would take command of a race and preferred to lead rather than follow. This courageous attitude also helped to break through the stigma held against women runners of the time. She dared to be the only woman in a race. She inspired many other women to get into the sport and reach high. Schwam trained hard and raced hard. She always knew what she was doing. Ultrarunning historian, Nick Marshall, observed, “She set lofty goals for herself and she was gutsy enough to go after them with wild abandon. She might soar, or she might crash, but either way it was going to be a maximum effort.” She thoroughly enjoyed competitive racing, where limits were explored and tested often. Bronx, New York Marcy Schwam was born in 1953, in New York City. Her parents, Stanley Schwam (1924-) and Irma (Weisberg) Schwam (1928), were both long-time residents of the City. Stanley worked in the women’s undergarment industry for 57 years. During the 1950s, the family lived in the Bronx but later moved to Valhalla in the suburbs. Schwam's ancestry was Polish. Her grandparents and her father were Jewish immigrants who came to the United States from Poland during the early 1900s before World War II. They worked hard and successfully supported and raised their families in the big city. Early Years At the early age of five, Schwam started to take up tennis and dreamed of becoming a professional tennis player. Her father commented, “Marcy never walked anywhere. She was in constant motion all the time. She was also very competitive. If she lost at Monopoly as a kid, she wouldn’t talk to you for a week.” In high school, she was very athletic and played basketball, softball, volleyball, field hockey and even lacrosse. She did some running, but it was just a way to stay fit for tennis. To her, there was nothing else in the world that counted except playing tennis. From 1971 to 1975, Schwam attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) where she eventually received a bachelor's degree in Health and Physical Education. (Later she also worked on a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology at Adelphi University and San Francisco State). At IUP, She became a member of the tennis team, excelled, and became ranked number one in the state. First Running Races Schwam started running some races in 1972 at the age of 21. She explained, “As a sophomore in college in 1972, I ran a 3-mile race in Pittsburgh. I was on the tennis team and a friend on the cross-country team talked me into it. I was running to and from tennis practice and someone dared me to run the Boston Marathon.” Start of 1973 Boston Marathon In 1972, the Boston Marathon opened their race to women for the first time. Schwam entered the next year in 1973, a true pioneer women’s distance runner. The Boston Athletic Association sent entrants blue or pink entrant postcards depending on their gender and sent her a blue card with the name Marc. Apparently, they just couldn’t get used to the fact that women were running marathons. It took effort getting that corrected at check-in. She was one of only 12 women to run, finished in 4:50, and said, “I really wanted to prove that women could do these types of things. There was such a stigma about women and long-distance running that needed to be proven false and I took that upon myself to do.” Competitive Tennis 1973 Tennis Team. Marcy Schwam center kneeling But tennis was still Schwam's main sport. In college,