Rise of the Marathon

RISE OF THE MARATHON

Invention of a Footrace

An influential figure in the revival of the Olympic Games was Michel Breal, a French classicist and historian, who insisted that the athletic program include an endurance footrace. Although the longest race held in ancient Olympia was about three miles, what Breal had in mind was a race of 40 kilometers, to celebrate the feat of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, who ran that distance from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek triumph over Persia in 490 B.C. "If the Organizing Committee of the Athens Olympics would be willing to revive the famous run of the Marathon soldier as part of the program of the Games," Breal wrote Coubertin, "I would be glad to offer a prize for this Marathon race." Coubertin presented the idea to the Greeks, who with a deep sense of history and national pride embraced the offer. The event would be called the marathon, and the prize, as promised by Breal, would be a gold cup. The Greeks, in hopes of a national victory in the marathon, held two races over the proposed Olympic course, from Marathon to the Olympic stadium in Athens, several weeks before the games. Spiridon Louis, who finished fifth in the second practice race, won the 1896 Olympic Games marathon in less than three hours.

Boston and American Origins of the Marathon

Although the only American entrant in the inaugural Olympic marathon dropped out after 14 miles, interest in the race was great among Olympic team members, many of whom hailed from the Boston Athletic Association (BAA). The BAA decided to hold a marathon that following spring, on Patriot's Day, to honor the famous ride of Paul Revere. The New York City Knickerbocker Athletic Club upstaged the BAA, however, by holding the first marathon in the United States on 20 September 1896. John J. McDermott, who won the New York Marathon, also won the inaugural Boston Marathon the following year. Although the New York Marathon was a onetime affair, the Boston Marathon became an annual Patriot's Day sporting event. Throughout the decade the Boston Marathon grew in popularity, drawing runners from throughout the northeastern United States and Canada. In 1903 John C. Lorden of Cambridge, Massachusetts, became the first local runner to win the Boston Marathon. Timothy Ford, a self-confident and superbly conditioned eighteen-year-old, became the youngest champion in 1906. He passed an exhausted David Knee-land in the final mile and won by six seconds. Thomas Longboat, an Onondaga Indian from Toronto, became the first runner to average less than six minutes per mile for the 24.7 mile course in 1907.

Saint Louis Olympics Encourages the Race

The 1904 Olympic Games in Saint Louis furthered the development of marathon running in the United States. Since few foreign athletes journeyed to Saint Louis for the games, the top contenders in the marathon were Americans. Thomas J. Hicks, the second-place finisher in the Boston Marathon that year, won the race, which was held, according to David E. Martin and Roger Gynn, in history's "most devastating marathon environment." The Saint Louis course, which included seven hills, followed mostly unpaved, dusty, gravel roads. A choking cloud of dust and exhaust fumes from automobiles that accompanied the runners for much of the race resulted in the death of one competitor. In the last 10 kilometers of the race, Hicks, who had nearly succumbed to the stifling conditions (made worse by 90° heat), received several sponge baths and took several sips of a strychnine sulfate, egg white, and brandy concoction. Hicks led an American sweep of the medals, as Albert Corey, an up-and-coming competitor from Chicago, took second, and Arthur Newton, the fifth-place marathon finisher in the 1900 Olympic Games, took third. Saint Louis, as a result of the Olympic race, inaugurated an annual marathon in 1905 that continued for several years. Inspired by Corey's silver medal performance, the Illinois Athletic Club organized an annual marathon in Chicago in 1905. A rivalry developed between the runners of these midwestern races, who occasionally ventured to compete in Boston.

Impact of the 1908 Olympic Marathon

The outcome of the 1908 Olympic marathon resulted in a controversial victory for Irish American John J. Hayes. In the final mile of the race, Italian Dorando Pietri, followed closely by Hayes, surged ahead of South African Charles Hefferon. Upon entering the stadium Pietri, disoriented from fatigue, turned in the wrong direction for the final lap around the track. After officials pointed him in the right direction, they assisted the Italian throughout the final 400 meters, as he staggered and fell several times. With Hayes quickly closing on Pietri, officials carried Pietri across the finish line and declared him the winner. The assistance provided Pietri by the British not only violated Olympic rules but reflected their biased officiating, especially against the Americans, whose protest of the Italian's victory was upheld by the IOC. Pietri, who relinquished his gold medal to Hayes, received a gold cup, similar to that awarded Spiridon Louis in the 1896 Olympic marathon, from Queen Alexandra. Praise for the Italian runner also came from Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, who wrote: "No Roman of prime ever has borne himself better; the breed is not yet extinct." Upon returning to America Hayes received a hero's welcome and congratulations from President Theodore Roosevelt, who exclaimed, "This is fine, fine, and I am so glad that a New York boy won it."

Professional Races

The end of the decade witnessed a boom in marathon racing, especially at the professional level, as race promoters were eager to profit from the interest in marathon running resulting from the rivalry between Hayes and Pietri after the 1908 Olympic Games. Between November 1908 and April 1909, eight professional marathon races, many indoors, were held in the Northeast and Midwest. Pietri, who then went only by the name Dorando, competed in five of the eight races. The first race, held at Madison Square Garden in New York in November 1908, was billed as a rematch between Hayes and Dorando. In defeating the American, the Italian remarked that "his triumph confirmed the claim that he would have won the race in England at the Olympic Games but for the interference of the officials." Within the next two months Dorando raced three more times. Twice in Saint Louis he lost to Thomas Longboat, the 1907 Boston Marathon champion; in Chicago he easily defeated Albert Corey. New York City, however, became the hotbed for professional marathon races, with Longboat, Hayes, Matthew Maloney, and Englishman Alf Shrubb dominating the events. On 3 April 1909 the most lucrative race, with a purse of more than $10,000, was held at the Polo Grounds. Bookmakers freely took bets on the field of six, which included Dorando, Hayes, Longboat, Maloney, Shrubb, and Henri St. Yves, a waiter from France and marathon novice. St. Yves, who won the race by more than five minutes, "killed off Long-boat and Shrubb at 21 and 25 miles and raced the three other competitors into such a state that they were unable to cause him the slightest worry or anxiety for the first twenty miles." On 1 May 1909 the Frenchman won another high stakes marathon at the Polo Grounds, collecting $5,000, or half of the entire purse.

Source:

David Martin and Roger Gynn, The Marathon Footrace: Performers and Performances (Springfield, Ill.: C.C. Thomas, 1979).