Cat O’Neil explains the inspiration behind her latest piece of work.

“I used to be quite an avid runner, but then work and teaching took over and I fell out of the habit. But I’ve recently rekindled my relationship with running (slowly…) so I thought I would make a piece celebrating the determination of female runners.

It’s odd to think that events like the Boston Marathon did not allow women to compete until 1972.

As an homage the illustration includes the iconic images of Bobbi Gibb (first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon), Betty Robinson (first track and field female gold medalist in Olympic history) and Wilma Rudolph (the first U.S. woman to win the Olympic sprint double and the first African American woman to win 3 gold medals).