Long live the marathon

Dorando at Willesden

In the summer of 1908 the Games of the IV Olympiad came to London. The Games began on 13 July. The marathon took place on the penultimate day, 24 July.

 Even before the Games began, the marathon was controversial. The United States of America had lodged a protest against the Canadian, Thomas Longboat. Longboat was deemed to be professional by the Americans but they offered no explanation as to why. As the Canadian Amateur Athletic Union guaranteed his amateur status he was allowed to run.[i]

 There appears to be little written in regard to previews in the British press in comparison to the coverage in America. Indeed, the Manchester Guardian[ii] reported a lack of interest in the Olympic Games because of expensive tickets, lack lustre advertising, expensive train fares and the fact that interest in athletics had been in decline for twenty years, partly due to over-legislation of the Amateur Athletics Association and partly because many athletics grounds had been lost to other organisations. The USA, on the other hand, had embraced the amateur marathon and were enjoying a running boom with successful marathons held in Boston and New York.

 The majority of the American team were based in Brighton before the start of the games, including their marathon runners. The New York Times, July 11[iii] reported that the marathon runners were doing ten miles per day before breakfast and that Lewis Tewanina, a native American, attracted much attention when training. The report stated onlookers “couldn’t understand how such an apparently fragile creature can aspire to Marathon honors” and that he had been dubbed ‘Chutney Rice’ because of speculation on his diet.

 The United Kingdom had entered 12 athletes for the marathon event. The UK had a rich heritage in pedestrianism and endurance running. However, Alf Shrubb who was considered one of the best long distance runners of the time was not competing in the Olympics, as he had recently turned professional and the British men who were entered for the event in London were inexperienced in distances more than 20 miles.

 According to the Meteorogical Office Report in The Times (25 July)[iv] the temperature, on marathon day, at the official observing station in St. James’s Park, London reached a high of 78 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. It was noted that it hit 80 degrees in a less open place in Victoria Street. It also recorded 9.4 hours of bright sunshine at Westminster.

 The Manchester Guardian reported that the heat was “getting worse” by 2 o’ Clock and that, by half way, no-one expected any records to be broken. The marathon started at 1430hrs and video footage on British Pathe[v] shows the runners starting quickly on a narrow, gravel path in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The course, designed by Polytechnic Harriers, took the runners through Slough, Uxbridge, Ruislip, Harrow, Wembley and Harlesden before finishing in the White City Stadium. The footage shows a route lined with spectators as a runner passes with his attendants on bicycles. The Times reported that, apart from a couple of rural sections with a handful of spectators, the route was lined with supporters, sometimes several rows deep.

 The runners were clothed from their shoulders to their knees, as was required in the rules. Some wore hats, presumably for some protection from the sun. There were six hotels en route where competitors and their attendants could stop for a wash and four where the Oxo company would provide refreshments. They were the official caterers and this gave them advertising space in the marathon programme with claims that British athletes had written testimonies endorsing the product. After the event the Italian, Pietri endorsed the product in a letter, printed in the Manchester Guardian on 4 August stating that he drank several cups of Oxo throughout the race that helped him get to the finish. However, Bovril also took adverts in the Manchester Guardian, after the event, claiming that 26 out of the 28 finishers took Bovril during the race and that it was the only thing ordered and allowed by the doctor who attended Dorando after the race.

Although British athletes, Fred Price and Jack Lord were leading at 10 miles, hopes that British supporters had for a home win were waning by the half way point, just after Ruislip. The Manchester Guardian reported that they didn’t look as fit as Peitri. They had averaged 5:45 per mile, a pace that they were not capable of sustaining, especially in the heat. It would have given them a finishing time of 2:30 (approximately 25 minutes faster than the official wining time!) Alexander Duncan from Salford Harriers, held the British Record for 10 miles and had been first in the trial race held, by Polytechnic Harriers over 20 miles, the previous April. He had been amongst the favourites for a home win but was struggling at the back of the field by half way. By 15 miles Hefferon (South Africa) had taken the lead. As the British runners fell back Longboat moved into 2^nd place with Pietri 3^rd. By the 18 mile mark, however, Longboat had slipped back and so the race continued with Hefferon leading from Dorando. The Times reported that Hayes moved into third place when they reached 20 miles although the 1908 Olympic Report only has the top two recorded from miles 18 – 24.

 The finish of the 1908 Olympic marathon is one of the most famous incidents in sporting history. As the megaphone announced the leader arriving at the stadium the spectators were filled with anticipation. Although Hefferon was running for South Africa, he was British by birth. The last the spectators had heard was that he was in the lead and they were ready to welcome him into the finish. However, it was not Hefferon who entered the stadium first. Dorando Pietri staggered into the stadium looking bewildered and dazed. First he turned the wrong way and had to be pointed in the right direction. He fell several times before as he made his way to the finish line 200m from the entrance to the stadium. The scene was chaotic as the officials tried to allow him to finish the race without assistance but eventually helped him to cross the line as the 2^nd runner was in the stadium and closing in on the finish line. The famous image of Chief Clerk of the Course, J. M. Andrew, megaphone in one hand and Dorando’s arm in the other provides the front cover picture for several publications of the 1908 Olympics and books that tell marathon stories. Andrews was widely criticised and blamed for Pietri’s disqualification.

The second runner to arrive at the finish was Johnny Hayes (USA). He led three others from his country in the top ten positions. (3 in the top 5) The USA protested that Pietri had been assisted and Hayes was eventually declared the winner. The Manchester Guardian lamented that 12 competitors had come into the stadium before there was even a sign of an Englishman. It bemoaned the fact that England “the land of the long distance runner” had been beaten by the weather as well as 12 other men and pointed out that England’s lack of success at the marathon previously had been attributed to not being able to get runners to the overseas events but now had been beaten on home turf.

 The 1908 Olympic Report stated that Pietri was in a critical condition for two and a half hours after the finish of the marathon but then made a good recovery and was allowed to go back to his lodgings. It said that his heart had been displaced by more than half an inch but he appeared completely recovered by the next day. The finish of Pietri’s race had been witnessed by The Queen. The official report gave one of the  reasons for Peitri receiving aid as to prevent him from dying in front of Her Majesty. She presented him with a Gold Cup as a tribute to his courage.

According to the official report, rule number four stated that competitors were prohibited from taking drugs before or during the competition. However, with no means to test whether or not an athlete had used a banned substance there is no way of telling whether or not the competitors in the 1908 Olympic Marathon had cheated in this way. It has been widely reported that, during this period, trainers would administer Champagne or strychnine (or both) to their athletes in an attempt to stimulate them if they began to tire. On 13 June 1956 an article was published in the Manchester Guardian. [vi] The Chief Clerk of the course, J. M. Andrew, had written some papers that lay dormant until his daughter discovered them after his death. In one of the papers he describes how tried to keep helpers at bay and he warned the medical attendant, Doctor Bulger that his assistance would cause disqualification but the doctor insisted that he should be obeyed. Andrews stated that each time Pietri fell he had to hold his legs whilst the doctor massaged his heart and that they kept their arms in position behind him, but not touching him, to ensure that he didn’t fall back onto his head. Dr. Bulger had told Andrews that Pietri had taken strychnine and atropina and that he would die without attention. Andrews went on to say that one of his cycling stewards had seen him take a dope on the far side of Wormwood Scrubs. It would appear that Pietri’s disorientated state was not only through exhaustion but through poison.

The Olympic Marathon was held on the penultimate day and certainly ensured that the media attention was far greater by the end of the Games than it had been at the beginning and just as the American officials felt the need to protest prior to the Games they had cause to remark on certain aspects afterwards. James E. Sullivan, United States Commissioner to the Olympic Games and President of the American Amateur Athletic Union was quoted in the New York Times[vii] criticising the English Officials saying they were “athletically degenerate”. He gave examples of how the Americans were treated with prejudice, including the behaviour of the officials at the finish of the marathon who, rather than ending Pietri’s race, assisted him over the line and didn’t disqualify him until the American’s felt compelled to protest and how the announcement board had declared the first three in the marathon race at various stages until Hayes moved into third when it was reduced to the first two names displayed.

 The marathon race of the 1908 Olympics created renewed interest in marathon running both in Britain, where the Polytechnic Marathon was born in 1909 and in America where both Hayes and Pietri turned professional and took part in a series of races against each other. Long live the marathon.