Mighty Moe: The True Story of a Thirteen-Year-Old Women's Running Revolutionary

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Rachel Swaby and Kit Fox present Mighty Moe, the untold true story of runner Maureen Wilton, whose world record-breaking marathon time at age 13 was met first with misogyny and controversy, but ultimately with triumph. In 1967, a 13-year-old girl named Maureen Wilton set the women's world marathon record, running 26.2 miles in 3:15:23. Nicknamed "Little Mo" by her track teammates, Wilton was already a headline-making athlete. But her accomplishment was greeted with controversy and misogynistic accusations of cheating. Wilton receded into the background, left the sport, and kept her achievement secret. This is the story of what happened, and how Maureen found her way back to the sport decades later as the mother of a young runner herself. Introduction by Katherine Switzer, first official female participant of the Boston Marathon in 1967.

Reviews

"A story lost to history illuminates the unique way sports supports feminism . . . A story about what running really is: competing with other runners and not against them." --Kirkus Reviews

"The book transports readers to an era of discrimination against women in organized sports and illustrates its effects on one girl's life. . .This involving story is well worth reading." --Booklist

"[A] thorough, fascinating biography." --Publishers Weekly

"Facts and statistics are seamlessly integrated in this title that will be especially appealing to sports aficionados and students of women's history. Recommended for all middle grade collections." --School Library Journal

Author Bio

Rachel Swaby and Kit Fox produced the Runner's World podcast "Human Race," where Little Mo's story was first told. Rachel is the author of Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World (a Random House adult title) as well as its middle-grade version, Trailblazers: 33 Women in Science Who Changed the World, and Kit is a magazine editor.