St. Cloud's Val Rogosheske returns to Boston Marathon after 50 years of women's eligibility

A few weeks leading up to the 1972 Boston Marathon, Val Rogosheske was planning on hiding in the bushes alongside the marathon route. Then, she would pop out of the bushes and run the race.

This is what a handful of women did prior to 1972 because they weren't allowed to run in the Boston Marathon. When Rogosheske heard the news that women would be allowed to run in 1972, she became one of eight women to run the inaugural year.

Now, 50 years later, 75-year-old Rogosheske is heading to Boston this weekend to compete in the Boston Marathon on Monday with over 14,000 women. She will be the only woman out of the eight original women to run this year's marathon, but she's bringing her two daughters and her cousin. Five of the eight women from 1972 will be at the race to celebrate the anniversary.

"To think about going from 50 years ago when women couldn't run the marathon to our daughters growing up and having all of these opportunities in high school and in college," Rogosheske said. "Looking back in those 50 years, in my personal view, it seems like we've come a long way."

Rogosheske grew up in the Twin Cities and graduated from Edina High School in 1965. When she was in school, there were no competitive sports for women, but she continued to be active.

She attended St. Cloud State University and studied physical education, graduating from the college in 1969. While she was in St. Cloud, she met her husband, Phil, who grew up in St. Cloud.

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There were still no competitive sports for women when she was at SCSU, but decided to try running on the track. She went to the track and tried to run a mile, but couldn't on the first try.

"I couldn't run a mile right away and it was kind of embarrassing," Rogosheske said. "I kept working on it more and more and I was able to do longer distances with time."

After marrying Phil in December of 1971, Rogosheske was preparing for the Boston Marathon. She said there was a lot of excitement heading into the marathon day in 1972 because all eight women had the same goal.

They didn't want to drop out of the race and they didn't want to walk.

Rogosheske said she wasn't prepared for this marathon compared to the other women, but she ran the race and enjoyed every moment while on the race course.

"It was pretty darn exciting," Rogosheske said. "They had a spot on the start line for us and the air was sparkling with electricity because we were really excited. The feeling was very strong that none of us were going to drop out and none of us were going to walk."

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She ran the 1973 and 1974 Boston Marathon races and recorded her personal best (3:09:00) in 1974. After that race, Rogosheske said she worked the next three years and wanted to break three hours.

As she approached the National Women's Marathon in Minneapolis in 1977, she developed a really bad chest cold, but continued to run the race. After, she found out her system kind of shut down and she was diagnosed with asthma, so she decided to end her marathon career.

Instead, she focused on being a mother to two daughters, Abby and Allie. The family continued to stay active as Rogosheske continued to run for exercise. Rogosheske and her husband also grew an interest in hiking.

"I fell in love with the Superior Hiking Trail and I was going to do the Appalachian Trail alone, but then my husband decided to join me and he loved it," Rogosheske said.

They did the Appalachian Trail over five years and the main sport for their two daughters was soccer. Rogosheske returned to the Boston Marathon in 1997 for the 25th anniversary where she ran a half marathon.

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Now, Rogosheske wanted to come back and run the whole race for the 50th anniversary. She's been training for the last year and a half and is determined to get to that finish line.

About six months ago, she received a call from the association for the Boston Athletic Association to check in and make sure that she could complete the marathon in six hours.

When Rogosheske looked at her pace times, she realized that might not be possible. Then, she read a book discussing how to run a marathon and it allowed her to have a new system for training that she'll use on race day as well.

"I'm going to run for 30 seconds and then walk for 30 seconds," Rogosheske said. "It might not sound like you're gaining a ton, but it improved my training a lot and my joints are saying 'amen sister.'"

Rogosheske said she's amazed by how much can change in 50 years. In 1972, Rogosheske was prepared to hide in the bushes and run the Boston Marathon. Now, there's competitive women's sports in high school, college and professionally.

This year is a special year for Rogosheske as she's celebrating 50 years of marriage to Phil. She's also running the marathon in the 50th anniversary for women and, later this year, the country will be celebrating 50 years of Title IX.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination of sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity) in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Rogosheske said 1972 was an amazing year to pave the way for women's participation in sports and activities.

Rogosheske is excited to be racing with her two daughters and her cousin because it feels like she's passing the torch to the next generation. She's looking forward to race day on Monday and the "craziness" of the Boston Marathon.

She's also excited about passing Wellesley College and receiving the support from all the women at the college as well as running down Boylston Street to the finish line.

"The Boston Marathon has a long history and tradition that's truly amazing," Rogosheske said. "It pertains to me running and now my daughters being a part of that and then I have grandkids now, too.

"One is a baby and will be there, but I have seven-year-old twin grandkids. They won't be there, but they'll see and hear things about it. So it's just like passing the torch to the next generation. It's really gratifying."

Brian Mozey is the high school sports reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at 320-255-8772 or bmozey@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianMozey.

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This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: 2022 Boston Marathon runner from St. Cloud returns after 50 years