Monday, July 26, 2021

The Wackiest Olympic Marathon in History

Last weekend, my son was sitting at the kitchen counter, laughing. When I asked him what was so funny, he told me that he was reading about the 1904 Olympic Marathon. Soon, I was laughing along with him. Since most of us are caught up in the summer Olympics, I thought it might be fun to share highlights from the 1904 Olympic Marathon, unquestionably THE strangest Olympic Marathon in history. 

This makes a story I heard about a woman slipping on the banana peel at the 2011 Chicago Marathon, dislocating her hip, popping it back in, and crossing the finish line sound kind of tame, right?  Makes my worst race ever sound like a walk in the park! 

This may be the craziest marathon ever!


In 1904, the US held its first ever Olympics in St Louis. The Olympics that year were part of the World's Fair and took a backseat to what was a showcase of all the greatness the US had to offer. These Olympics lacked the pomp and circumstance of previous Olympics held in other countries. The 1904 Olympic marathon had more in common with the Hunger Games than the event we've all come to love. Or hate. Nothing you or I have run has ever compared to this event. At least, I hope not!

Some of the 32 runners that lined up had actually qualified for the event by running the Boston Marathon earlier that year. However, the majority of runners were random men who had no training or experience with running the marathon distance. The Olympic marathon in 1904 was 40 km (about 25 miles). So much went wrong at this marathon that the event was almost abolished.

One of the runners, a Cuban mailman, clearly had no clue what was he about to do. He showed up to run looking very dapper with a handlebar mustache and wearing a beret, shirt, and trousers. Realizing his error in his wardrobe choice, he cut off his pants to make them look like shorts. Two other runners, from South Africa, showed up barefoot and also had to cut off their trousers. 

The race was held in the afternoon with temperatures approaching 90 degrees. The marathon course was on a dirt road that was open to traffic. Cars, delivery trucks, trains, and trolley cars drove by the runners throughout the race. The traffic caused clouds of dust that covered the runners and made it hard to breathe. The dust also caused fits of coughing for many of the runners. One of the runners inhaled so much dust that it permeated his intestines and caused internal bleeding. He almost died, but spoiler alert--he was rescued and survived.

One of the event organizers wanted to study the effects of dehydration on the runners, so there was water available only at miles 6 and 12. Many of the runners weren't used to the local water--there wasn't sanitation back them--and succumbed to severe cramps and diarrhea. One of the runners was so miserable, he hitched a ride at mile 9. At mile 20 the car broke down. He hopped out and ran the rest of the way to the finish line, where he was declared the winner. He probably figured no one else was going to finish, so why not? He even was photographed shaking hands with President Roosevelt's daughter! Prior to receiving the gold medal, he was called out for cheating. Claiming he was "just joking", he was banned from the marathon for life. 

This was before Marathon Investigation too!

Meanwhile, one of the South Africans, who had been predicted to do really well at the race, was chased off the course by wild dogs. He eventually found his way back to the course, finishing 9th in the race.

The Cuban mailman, who hadn't eaten for almost 2 days before the race, stopped to eat some apples from an orchard along the course. The apples were rotten and he developed severe cramping. He laid down and took a nap, eventually returning to the race. He finished 4th.

The winner of the race had to be carried over the finish line by his trainers. At about mile 17, he began nearing collapse. His trainers wouldn't let him drink any fluids, sponging out his mouth. Instead, they gave him a drink of strychnine and egg whites. Back then, there were no rules about performance-enhancing drugs, and strychnine was used in small doses for its purported stimulant properties. It's not clear what the egg whites were for. When he became weak, the trainers gave him more strychnine and chased it with brandy. Eventually, he started to hallucinate. At the final mile, he thought he had 20 miles more to go, and took off, running all over the place. He eventually collapsed, so his trainers carried him across the finish line, his feet moving in a running motion the whole time.

He finished in 3:28:53, the slowest winning marathon finish in Olympic history. Only 14 of the original 32 runners crossed the finish line. He returned to health, running the Boston Marathon the following year against the guy who hitched a ride to the finish line. Yep, the one who was banned for life. His suspension was overturned and he won the 1905 Boston Marathon in 2:38:25, fair and square. 

In case you were wondering, strychnine is now officially a banned substance. While I was preparing this post, I thought to myself, who would ever use strychnine? After all, it is rat poison and causes internal bleeding. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, a weightlifter from Kyrgyzstan tested positive for strychnine. In 2019, a Kenyan runner was banned for testing positive for strychnine

What is your craziest marathon story? Can you imagine running in any of these conditions? Are you planning on watching the marathon this year? Who do you think will win?

I'm linking up with Kim and Zenaida for Tuesday Topics, with the Runners' Roundup: DebbieDeborahJenLaura, and Lisa,

26 comments :

  1. Haha, Wendy, this is hilarious!! Thanks for the laugh.

    I especially like the one about the study of dehydration effects. Crazy!! Imagine running a marathon with no hydration pack and (not very clean) water only at mile 6 and 12!! That would be enough to have me fainting at the roadside.
    Did you see the chaos at the men's triathlon yesterday? Not quite as bad as 1904 but still, you wouldn't expect a TV boat to get in the way of the starting line.:-)

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    1. I saw that!!!! Even funnier was comedienne Leslie Jones' commentary about the triathlon on Twitter... "it's like 17 events, the whole Olympics in one event!" Lots of f-bombs but definitely worth the watch.

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  2. I have never heard about any of that! Thanks for sharing Wendy. It's a wonder any of them survived.

    Women used to drink arsenic for their skin . . .

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    1. Amazing what went on back then! We've certainly turned things around.

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  3. Wow. Thanks for sharing this story. It is crazy!!

    So far there have been quite a few surprises in the events.

    I always root for the Americans.

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  4. This just made my morning - what a crazy story! This definitely makes me horrible Chicago Marathon experience seem like a walk in the park, lol.

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  5. Wow I never knew any of this! I'm surprised this isn't more well known. So crazy! Thanks for sharing.

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  6. This made for an interesting history lesson ;-) I have been so out of the Olympics loop, and my busy weekend did not remedy that situation. I need to spend some time (later tonight) playing catch-up on the gymnastics...and I don't even know when the marathon is (and I call myself a runner).

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    1. I don't know when it is either, lol. Sometime next week, I think!

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  7. I have heard this story before! It's hilarious. I can see why the marathon was almost abolished after that fiasco.
    Like Darlene said, I always root for the Americans! I think Galen might have a shot- he's medalled before. Btw I'm not sure of the exact schedule, but the marathon (men's at least) always comes at the very end of the Olympics. Watching is tricky this time because of the time difference. I watched the gymnastics during prime time last night but already knew what had happened since it was all over the news, GRR!

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    1. I was ok with the spoiler alert. I still enjoyed the events. Kinda sad about Simone, tho.

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  8. That was too funny. Wish I could take a nap mid-race and still finish 4th!
    I am sad about Simone, too. My son has served her pizza at his pizza shop before. She lives in the area. I was talking to him this morning about her dropping out. It's one thing if you're a pitcher, or a basketball player, or archer etc, and you choke at a major competition. You're not going to strike out a batter, or score points, or hit the target, but for Simone if she doesn't hit the mark, she could literally break her neck. I read a news article this morning (I think it was the NY Times) about her having the "twisties" and how gymnasts train their way out of that. It was interesting. Running seems much simpler!

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    1. I read that same article! I get it, if you get the yips in golf, you lose. But you don't get hurt. I just wish she could have competed. Glad she's getting the support she deserves.

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  9. I had to read this twice because it all sounds so crazy! Thanks for sharing. Water only at miles 6 and 12? So ridiculous!!

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  10. wow I had never heard about any of these events before! How interesting!

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  11. Crazy situation!!! Poor runners. Thanks for sharing this story.
    My worst race experiences (wrong way, no water, terrible heat, impossible ground, storm) were heaven compared to this Olympic Marathon.

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    1. I don't think anyone has had a marathon as bad as these runners!

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  12. Absolutely insane! But who doesn't love a great story like this? My only marathon involved a very dramatic tantrum at mile 17 but that was it.

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    1. I had one of those tantrums at mile 18 in my first marathon, lol!

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  13. Oh my gosh, this is hilarious! I can't imagine anything near all this craziness. My wildest story was running my first LA Marathon and feeling so nauseous (common for me) that I kept trying to make myself throw up because I though it would make me feel better. It did, briefly. Oh, and there was another LA Marathon in the freezing, pouring rain. My girlfriend and I kept our trash bags on (including the throwaway sweatshirt that was also supposed to be tossed at some point). I had hypothermia when I was done! And I still finished a few minutes slower than that first Olympic runner.

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    1. I love all the crazy marathon stories! Looking forward to the Olympic Marathon this year.

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