Avon International Marathon
The Avon International Marathon was an annual women's marathon event that was held at various locations from 1978 to 1984. Sponsored and organised by Avon Products, a beauty and household goods company, it was the longest distance race within the Avon International Women's Running Circuit, which was created with the aim of promoting elite and grassroots road running for women. The circuit was headed by former runner Kathrine Switzer, whose efforts had led to the formal acceptance of women at the Boston Marathon.

The International Olympic Committee required the participation of a minimum of 25 countries in international competition in order to accept new events to the Olympic schedule, thus Avon focused on attracting runners from many nations. The series was successful in its aim of establishing the marathon as a women's discipline, led by the International Runners' Committee, with the inaugural women's marathons at the 1982 European Championships and 1983 World Championship preceding the first women's Olympic marathon in 1984. The 1983 Avon International Marathon took place in Los Angeles, where the Olympic marathon race was hosted the following year.

Although the Avon marathon was exclusively hosted in North America and Western Europe, its international focus was a boost to elite women's running outside of these regions – the Tokyo International Women's Marathon was established as the first women's race to receive sanction by the International Amateur Athletic Federation in 1979.

The competition was one of several initiatives for women's sport by Avon during the period, which also included the Avon Futures Tennis Championships.
Q40244
marathon
Concept
Q791285
Avon Products
MEDIA
None
Avon International Women's Running Circuit
UNK
Q1934817
road running
Concept
Q97440819
Kathrine Switzer
PER
Q826038
Boston Marathon
EVE
Q40970
International Olympic Committee
ORG
None
International Runners' Committee
UNK
Q3429452
1982 European Championships
EVE
Q4581332
1983 World Championship
EVE
Q1980681
first women's Olympic marathon in 1984
Concept
Q65
Los Angeles
LOC
Q1476232
Tokyo International Women's Marathon
EVE
Q1158
International Amateur Athletic Federation
ORG
Q920057
women's sport
Concept
None
Avon Futures Tennis Championships
UNK
Q97574052
Avon International Marathon
UNK
Q97574052
Avon International Marathon
UNK
1978-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1978
DATE
1984-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1984
DATE
1982-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1982
DATE
1983-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1983
DATE
1984-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1984
DATE
1983-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1983
DATE
1979-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1979
DATE
+25^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
25
NUMBER
point in time
point in time
point in time
inception