In 1972, six female runners, Lynn Blackstone, Jane Muhrke, Liz Franceschini, Cathy Miller, Pat Barrett and Nina Kuscsik, signed up to run the New York City Marathon. Although they were allowed to participate, they were only allowed to do so on the condition that they would start 10 minutes before the men. This was a rule made by the Amateur Athletic Union, then the governing body for marathons in America.

In an act of defiance against this discriminatory rule, the six women sat down as soon as their start gun went off and held up their signs of protest: “Hey, A.A.U. This is 1972. Wake up.” 10 minutes later they stood up and took off with the rest of the men when the second start gun went off.