Dorothy Doolittle (born October 17, 1946) is an American former

marathon runner The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road running, road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk str ...

and athletics coach, who won the inaugural

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a road marathon held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest races by number of fini ...

in 1977. She was an assistant coach of the US Women's team at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Early life

Doolittle was brought up in

Elgin, Texas Elgin ( ) is a city in Bastrop County in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 9,784 at the 2020 census. In 1995, the Texas Legislature proclaimed Elgin the "Sausage Capital of Texas". Elgin is also known as the Brick Capital of the Sout ...

. She studied at the

University of Mary Hardin–Baylor The University of Mary Hardin–Baylor (UMHB) is a private Baptist university in Belton, Texas. UMHB was chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1845 as Baylor Female College, the female department of what is now Baylor University. It has since be ...

Belton, Texas Belton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. Belton is the county seat of Bell County, Texas, Bell County and is the fifth largest city in the Killeen – Temple – Fort Hood metropolitan area, Killeen-Temple metropolitan area. In 2020, the popu ...

. At her college, women could only run in events up to 800m.

Career

Doolittle's first competitive event was the 1973

Houston Marathon The Houston Marathon is an annual marathon usually held every January in Houston, Texas, United States, since 1972. With thousands of runners and spectators, it is the largest single day sporting event in the city. It is run concurrently wit ...

. In 1975, Doolittle won the Houston Marathon, and the Rice Festival Marathon in

Crowley, Louisiana Crowley (Local pronunciation: ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Acadia Parish, Louisiana, Acadia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 United States census, Crowley had a population of 11,710. Crowley is the principal city of ...

. In 1976, she won the

White Rock Marathon The Dallas Marathon (formerly known as the Dallas White Rock Marathon and also known as the BMW Dallas Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon road running event usually hosted in December by Dallas, Texas, and is having been hel ...

(now the Dallas Marathon), and came third at the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

. She forgot to wear her running watch at the Boston Marathon, which she believes cost her many minutes of time, and a chance of victory. At the time, she was recorded as being the eight fastest female marathon runner in the world, and the fastest in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

state. In the same year, Doolittle won the marathon event at the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

Championships. In 1977, Doolittle won the Houston Marathon again, in a record time. As such, she was invited to attend the inaugural

. She had to pay an entrance fee of $5 to enter the race, and paid for her own transport to the event. Doolittle won the race, in a time of 2:50:47, winning the race by over four minutes. Later in the year, Doolittle lost the trophy that had been awarded to her for winning the event. The 1977 Chicago Marathon was Doolittle's last competitive race. In 2002, Doolittle competed at the 5,000 meter race that accompanied that year's Chicago Marathon. It was the first time Doolittle had attended the marathon since her victory.

Coaching career

Doolittle has coached at high schools and colleges including Westlake High School, Hill Country Middle School, and the Universities of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. She was head coach at Tennessee from 1989 to 1997, and whilst coaching there, she was selected as coach of the US women's team for the

1991 Pan American Games The 1991 Pan American Games, officially known as the XI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Havana 1991 (), were held in Havana, Cuba from 2 to 18 August 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the Pan American Sports Organi ...

. She was also an assistant coach of the US women's team at the

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain. In 1993, Doolittle was given the NACDA/ USOC Collegiate Olympic Coaches award. Doolittle returned to Elgin in 1999, to teach in the

Elgin Independent School District Elgin Independent School District is a public school district based in Elgin, Texas (USA). The district is located in northern Bastrop County and extends into small portions of Travis and Lee counties. It includes parts of Manor. In 2009, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doolittle, Dorothy American female marathon runners Chicago Marathon female winners People from Elgin, Texas Living people 1946 births University of Mary Hardin–Baylor alumni Missouri Tigers track and field coaches Houston Cougars track and field coaches Stanford Cardinal track and field coaches 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen