Hitting the Streets

As the days grow longer and warmer, more and more people take to the streets, tracks, paths, and wooded trails. Many do so just for fun, while others run competitively, either for their high school track teams or their local running clubs. Still others train long and hard in pursuit of their ultimate goal: the Boston Marathon.

Running Clubs

Start of a ten mile race, USMC athletics competition
Beverly Public Library

Running clubs abound in Massachusetts ; from the SugarLoaf Mountain Athletic Club in Amherst to the Cape Cod Hash House Harriers in Barnstable ; and from Athletics East in Boston to the Wicked Running Club in Salem. Many of these clubs emphasize the social, as well as the recreational and competitive, aspects of running.

In the past, clubs were sometimes sponsored by employers. Notably, the United States Shoe Machinery Company in Beverly, Mass.

Finish of the women’s sprint, USMC athletics competition
Beverly Public Library

organized a number of clubs for its employees, including a track club. “Very early on it established the USM Athletic Association as the umbrella organization through which it reached out to employees, and to some extent the city. By the fall of 1910, the association had more than 1,100 members.” Significantly, athletic opportunities were offered to women as well as to men.

Boston Marathon

Finish of the men’s sprint, USMC athletics competition
Beverly Public Library

The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and, arguably, the most famous. Each year thousands of runners make the trek from Hopkinton to Boston, conquering the famous Heartbreak Hill along the way, as tens of thousands cheer them on. Though dominated in the past few decades by runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, Europe and Japan, Boston has had its share of American winners, including many top local runners.

The race is typically run on Patriot’s Day, which until 1969 was always celebrated on April 19th. Since 1969, the holiday has been observed on the third Monday in April. With few exceptions, the marathon has been run on this Monday ever since.

Clarence DeMar is one of the legends of the Boston Marathon. DeMar won the race a total of seven times, more than any other runner. He won his first title in 1911 at the age of 22. He won again in 1922, 1923, 1924, 1927, 1928 and 1930. DeMar ran the race 33 times between 1910 and 1954, completing his last at age 65. DeMar also competed in the marathon at the 1912 and 1924 Olympic Games. He finished twelfth in 1912 and won the bronze medal in 1924.

Clarence DeMar, winner of the
Providence to Boston 44-mile race
Melrose Public Library

The Marathon’s history is too extensive to recount here, but some highlights include:

• 1897: the first Boston Marathon is run. The original event was contested over a course from Metcalf’s Mill in Ashland to the Irvington Oval in Boston, a distance of 24.5 miles.
• 1911: Clarence DeMar (Melrose, Mass.) wins the first of his record seven Boston Athletic Association Marathon titles.
• 1924: Race start is moved to Hopkinton, Mass.
• 1927: Boston Marathon course is lengthened to the full distance of 26 miles, 385 yards to conform to Olympic standards.
• 1928: John A. “The Elder” Kelley (Cape Cod, Mass.) makes his Boston Marathon debut. He completed the race a record 58 times, winning in 1935 and in 1945.

Beverly High School girls track team, 1966-1967
Beverly High School archives
• 1966: Roberta Gibb becomes the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon.
• 1967: Katherine Switzer, running as “K. Switzer,” becomes the first official woman entrant, unbeknownst to BAA officials,
• 1972: Women are allowed to enter the race officially.
• 1975: Bill Rodgers (Melrose, Mass.) wins the first of four Boston Marathon titles. Bob Hall becomes the first entrant to complete the race in a wheelchair.
• 1982 : “Duel in the sun” with Alberto Salazar (formerly of Wayland, Mass.) edging out fellow American Dick Beardsley by just two seconds to win the closest race ever (for men).
• 1983: Joan Benoit Samuelson wins for the second time setting a new record; Greg Meyer becomes the last American runner to win the Boston Marathon.
• 1996: the Centennial running of the Boston Marathon attracts almost 39,000 runners, the largest field in the race’s history.
• 1998: For the first time ever, the first three runners all finish in under 2 hours and 8 minutes.
• 2005: Katherine Ndereba becomes the first four-time women’s champion.
• 2007: The traditional start time of noon, is changed for the first time with the runners setting off at 10:00 AM.
• Selena Kosgei of Kenya edges Dire Tune of Ethiopia by less than one second in the closest finish in BAA marathon history. See 2009 results.

High School Track

Beverly High School boys track team, 1927
Beverly High School archives

Track and field has long been a popular sport in many Massachusetts communities and has a rich history in the state. Typically, track and field requires little equipment and cost and, therefore, is accessible to a wider range of student athletes.

Teams across the state compete locally in their leagues before contesting the annual “class” championship meets. Top performers move on to the all-state championships with the very best entering national competitions. Dozens of runners, after honing their talents in local track programs, have become Olympians.

Reading Memorial High School track, Reading, Mass.
Reading Public Library

The Reading Memorial High School track is the home of the national record-setting Reading Rockets track team. The team, coached by Hal Croft, compiled an unequaled 29-year winning streak beginning in 1973, competing in 263 dual meets without a loss (the only exception being a tie with Wakefield in 1973), and 248 consecutive wins.