Before Patti Catalano Dillon became a trailblazer in women’s running, she was pushed out of her comfort zone by a mentor that caught her by surprise.
When Dillon took up running in 1976, it didn’t take long for the member of the Mi’kmaq tribe to pick up titles and records in her hometown of Quincy, Massachusetts, and the surrounding Boston area. After winning another local 30K in record time, the rising star was approached by her friend, Gloria Ratti, then a volunteer race official.
“[Ratti] hugged my shoulders, and she goes, ‘Honey, you can’t do that here anymore. You have to get out of here,’” Dillon said.
At first, Dillon was nervous about leaving the New England area and her friends in the running community, especially at a time when women were still unwelcome in the sport (women were only allowed to run the marathon starting in 1972), but she knew Ratti wanted more for her. And she didn’t want to let her down.
In the years that followed, Dillon won races all over the globe and developed into one of the greatest marathoners of her time. From 1979 to 1981, she claimed three runner-up…
