James F. "Jim" Crowley was an American athlete, distance runner, and a member of the

Irish American Athletic Club The Irish American Athletic Club was an amateur athletic organization, based in Queens, New York, at the beginning of the 20th century. Early years Established on January 30, 1898, originally as the "Greater New York Irish Athletic Association", ...

. In 1910, he was known as "King of the Marathoners"1910 Mecca Cigarettes Champion Athlete and Prize Fighter Series trading card.
/ref> for having competed in and won more marathons than any of the athletes of his day. In 1908, Crowley won the second oldest marathon in the U.S., the

Yonkers Marathon The Yonkers Marathon, is a marathon race held annually in Yonkers, New York. Founded in 1907, it is the second oldest marathon in the United States, after the Boston Marathon. It is held on the third Sunday in October. In addition to the mar ...

, held on Thanksgiving Day, sponsored by the Mercury Athletic Club of

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

, "winning from a large and classy field in the excellent time of 2 hours 49 minutes 16.4 seconds." "Before a crowd of nearly twenty thousand uproarious enthusiasts ... James F. Crowley of the Irish American Athletic Club, crossed the tape, a winner of the biggest and probably the most spectacular event of its kind ever held in America." On December 26, 1908, he finished second to Matthew Maloney in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

from

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the so ...

, New York." Crowley again finished second to Maloney in an indoor marathon before 5,000 "wildly cheering" spectators held within the second

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

on January 8, 1909 (3:00:26). Maloney was reported to have set a new indoor record for the event in a time of 2:54:45.4. Approximately 110,000 spectators were reported to have turned out to see 180 runners compete in the New Jersey Athletic Club Marathon on May 15, 1909. With "scorching heat" noted to have affected many of the athletes, Crowley recorded a time of 3:07:16 and "won by a mile" over Harry Jensen of the Pastime Athletic Club. On September 6, 1909, ''The New York Times'' reported "nearly every athlete of note in the Metropolitan Association of the Amateur Athletic Association" competed in the Irish American Athletic Club's Tailtin Games before 7,000 spectators at Celtic Park. Crowley won the two-mile steeplechase in a time of 11:12. In 1909, Crowley held the following A.A.U indoor records: * 16-Mile Run - 1:39:07 * 17-Mile Run - 1:46:07 * 20-Mile Run - 2:07:11 * 21-Mile Run - 2:14:35 * Indoor Marathon - 2:38:48 On November 14, 1910, at Celtic Park,

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

, on the track of the

, Crowley broke every A.A.U mile and half mile record from 10½ miles to ."Cleveland Wants 1916 Olympic Meet."''New York Times'', Nov. 22, 1910.

Notes

External links

Irish America Archives - NYUWinged Fist Organization
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowley, James Year of birth missing Year of death missing American male long-distance runners American people of Irish descent World record setters in athletics (track and field) American male steeplechase runners