50 years ago, before women were even allowed to run in distance races, people discussed whether running with men would help women run faster:
Still can’t figure out why this is a problem. You always have someone to pace you (unless you’re already winning), but you still have to do the running. And why is this only a problem for women? Why is it OK for men’s races to hire rabbits? How come no one worries that I might run faster by pacing off of faster runners?
(LDL, Feb. 1961)
