Thank you so much for sharing this! I really enjoyed reading it and forwarded it to all of my running friends who also got a kick out of it. :)
It's amazing how large running has gotten since the 60s. NYRR and Boston are now huge events, with lots of money and participants.
Great article!
5
When Boston cops are good, they're great.
4
And yet, by 1904 standards this seems downright professional (this is a fun read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1904_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_marathon)
1
What a wonderful piece! Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
2
Nice story. Life seemed simpler and more authentic.
I think everyone’s first marathon is a baptism of fire. Boy....you sure were glad when it was over.
1
George was knighted by Italy for his contributions as a cultural ambassador. From 2005 to 2011, he was publisher and president of a peerless food magazine, La Cucina Italiana. It was a sumptuous banquet of intelligent articles and gorgeous photographs celebrating Italy's cuisine, people and places. And George Hirsch produced it with the gentlemanly grace has brought to his every endeavor.
5
No, there was a third requirement for running the Boston Marathon in 1969, besides the $ 2 and a doctor's note. You had to be male.
18
I'd love to watch that Susskind show! Is it archived anywhere so we could watch online?
3
Even in 1979, when my father ran his first Boston Marathon at age 49, the field of 10,000 was less slick and the atmosphere still rather casual.
My dad's Chicago cardiologist was himself a marathoner and got many of his heart patients to begin running after bypass surgery, as with my dad, who ended up running almost 40 marathons (and several ultras) into his mid-60s.
But Boston was always my dad's favourite race, which he ran three or four years in a row, albeit at the back of the pack, in just over 4 hours. He loved the crowds, the college kids and their encouragement, the route -- even Heartbreak Hill -- and Boston's long running history.
7
I was 16 in 1956, lived about 30 miles north of Boston, would run home from after school work about 2 miles to save bus money. My sister began dating a fellow who ran intramural at a college in Boston. He said why don't you run the marathon? If you finish you'll get your name in the paper. The Boston papers would list the 200 or so that completed the race, of about 400 that ran. Not much more than that mentioned about it in the papers. He offered to be my "trainer." I guess he figured that meant more time with my sister. Didn't work out for him. I got up to 15 miles and sent in my request for application. The entry form arrived - had to be 18, and certified physically fit to do it. The family doctor wouldn't cheat on my age, nor sign my death warrant.
In those days everyone got a bowl or two of beef stew at the end of the race. The winner got a laurel wreath and nothing more. Officially, anyway.
3
Just two years prior, Jock Semple assaulted 20 year old Kathrine Switzer in the middle of the race simply because she was a woman! "Get out of may race and give me that number"
I guess it wasn't all pancakes and fun! She finished the race and he disqualified her.
9
Kathrine Switzer was the first woman who ran the Boston Marathon in 1967, and it's time to watch her MAKERS interview done by Betsy West & Co of her pioneering role TRYING to run in 1967, when women weren't supposed to run.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOGXvBAmTsY
7
@lizzie8484 actually Bobbi Gibb was the first woman to run Boston and is recognized by the BAA as so.
5
What a wonderful article. I do recall those simpler times and absurdity of Jock Semple trying to push women off the course.
6
In 1978 I published an article in the Village Voice about the "jogging" craze. In the great tradition of Voice contrarianism, I said that running was not for everyone; that it can cause physical issues, etc. I'm reminded of this because producers at the David Susskind show (mentioned in Hirsch's piece) interviewed me, hoping to get me to denounce running on camera. I wasn't even tempted. I was a serious collegiate distance runner who had trained, raced, and defeated past and future Olympians. I said thanks, but no thanks. :)
7
A beautiful story that, for me, illustrates the modern tendency to over-complicate our goals. Better still, it highlights the power of simple words delivered at just the right moment.
6
Boston is my favorite marathon by far. I managed to run 15 of them in a row re-qualifying each year at the race. I remember thinking after running several Boston’s previously with just a few thousand at the start, that at the 100th anniversary it would be impossible to have 30,000 runners start in that small town of Hopkinton and I would have a terrible race fighting the crowd. But as it turned out I had a PR that day of 2:48. Unfortunately I haven't run Boston in 17 years and do miss that race, the people along the course, the pre-race dinner, the free massages after and my fellow runners.
3
In 1973, at the age of sixteen, I had plans to run the Boston Marathon. I was inspired by a friend and fellow athlete who participated in long distance events.
To prepare, I ran in the Elysian Park marathon in Los Angeles. That was certainly the longest day of my short life. Miserable, I was.
I travelled to the Boston Marathon that April. I really enjoyed cheering my friend, and the many others, making their way up Heartbreak Hill. It was a pleasant afternoon to be a spectator.
7
2 bucks, pancakes and a Y chromosome, right?
18
Am I the only person who misses the days when big races were not mega-professional events with most of the winners being from outside the United States - outside the western hemisphere? The races where I live have gotten bigger and bigger and have squeezed out the runners who want to run a race for fun and friendly competition. I've already hung up my running shoes...
7
And why was he knighted by the Republic of Italy?
3
Tell us why you were knighted last month by Italy.
1
Not completely certain Allison. But I started Runner’s World Italy and Men’s Health Italy and also way back in the 1960s I was on the start up team that launched the magazine Panorama. And some years ago I published the English language edition of Italy’s oldest food and cooking magazine La Cucina Italiana.
In any event I am off to Italy for a vacation on Wednesday!
4
Makes me want to go back to 1969 and run the Boston Marathon...
1
What a sweet piece on remembrance of times past at the marathon. I grew up in Boston and my senior year of high school ( 1977) worked at Brigham’s, a sandwich/ ice cream shop in The Pru, at the finish line. I don’t know what the process was at that time for runners at the finish line , but I assume it was much more of a casual affair than now. I remember the shop being packed with runners who ran the gamut from those prostrate on our floor to people casually ordering food. One Irish fellow I waited on looked as though he had done nothing more strenuous than taken a stroll down Boylston ( he had a burger, fries, and a frappe). Another waitress said to me as she ran by with an armful of plates: “ It’s like M*A*S*H in here!”
6
Nice article. Brings back fond memory of 2008 Boston Marathon. I ran 5 NYC Marathons but Boston is very special. I couldn't qualify so I raised money for a charity spot. THAT was harder than running the actual race. During the race I lost track of the number of hills. As I started up the next one I asked a spectator how many more hills are there? He gave me a sympathetic look and said "Just one, Heartbreak Hill."
10
I ran Boston without a number for 15 years beginning in 1981. There was no way I could meet the qualifying time of 2:50 for my age group. I ran 3:27 in my first and personal best at Boston of 3:16 the following year from the back of the large and ever growing pack. I transitioned to road cycling over the course of my marathon years and have continued with it ever since. My feet said 'Thank you'. And thank you George Hirsch for that great piece.
5
This is such a wonderful story, George! I'm sorry I never watched or ran the Boston Marathon, though I grew up about a half mile from heartbreak hill! But I have been a short distance runner for many years and love every time I can go out and pound the pavement. Running has helped me in countless ways.
12
@Alice Perdue
Me, too. I'm 79, going on 80, and remember Joan Ullyot's book, which started a number of us women running. I ran in & around Amherst MA with a great pack of women, and a few 6 km races sponsored by Bonne Bell. A dear friend & I ran the hill trails around the area till she moved to NM. A wonderful friendship that lasts even now.
4
Great story, especially the words of the well spoken police officer over the bullhorn: “Your achievement is superb and you have my fullest admiration.” I'm going to use that on a poster at the next NY Marathon. I know it will give the runners a great lift!
32
"Back then, Boston did not require runners to meet a qualifying standard. I was 34, and to run Boston you only had to send the race organizers $2 and a physician’s letter stating that you were healthy enough to run 26.2 miles." Am I the only person who read that and thought, "Well, one other thing. You had to be male." But maybe they didn't have an official policy until women started asking to run?
21
@Twigger
My first thought as well; $, a note from your doctor and a Y chromosome. But it is a lovely story nonetheless
9
@Twigger
And Kathy Switzer, running a MEN's race, was pulled out of it! Boo hiss!
4
A 2:38 at age 44!
11
I attended the Pre-New York Marathon Dinner at Tavern on the Green in Central Park accompanying my daughter, who was entered.
Associating with others at the Event, I was inquire of by a young woman from Massachusetts whether I was also running in the race. I responded, "Ive been running since I was 21. I inspired my wife and three children to become serious runners. I feel that is my significant and a sufficient contribution the sport. I have no intention of running 26 miles."
"But why not? Don't you want to be able to tell people that you ran the NYC Marathon?", she questioned incredulously.
"I can do that now!" was this Native New Yorker's bewildering revelation.
You meet the nicest Runners sometimes, and sometimes you don't...
4
@Dick Grayson
My training in 1972 was running around a few blocks in Cambridge, MA where I lived. My girlfriend drove me to Hopkinton, and I just jumped in. Mind over Matter, I thought - I had been the fastest in Peace Corps training in Albuquerque, and thanks to "Love Story" author Erich Segal, a legitimate runner and friend, I bought the original hard rubber ripple bottom/leather upper Adidas running shoe, now someplace in a museum.
A memory never to forget was getting to Wellesley College and running the gauntlet of coeds who were screaming even for those of us far, far from the front.
The second memory was managing to get to Coolidge Corner and seeing comedian Dick Gregory (a respected runner) getting put in an ambulance. Later saw him talking on TV so apparently he got a second wind.
Could barely walk the next day but I finished and satisfied a personal quest. Later, I joined the Greater Boston Track Club where a few of us in our 30's met to train while Bill Rodgers, Greg Meyers and Alberto Salazar did their weekly speed work.
9
This is so sweet! A great reminder not to overcomplicate our lives. No need for fancy gear or crazy routines
25
Thank you for the article. I have never run a marathon, but I was a runner for a long time. Those years strengthened my mental and physical abilities. Running was an invisible element in my life that gave me confidence and determination.
19
George is one of the most gracious and humble person I know. This is a beautifully written piece
42