Joseph William "Joie" Ray (April 13, 1894 – May 13, 1978) was an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete and member of the United States

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, ...

. He held world records for the and distances. He represented the United States in the three

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held the 1920s, winning a bronze medal for the 3000 m team race in 1924.

Biography

Ray was born in Kankakee, Illinois, on April 13, 1894. Early in his career, the and runner—considered short and stocky—competed for the Illinois Athletic Club. Ray was nicknamed "The Kankakee Kid", after his hometown, and "Chesty" or "Chesty Joie" after a newspaper, early in his career, called him "a chesty little guy with a great heart". Ray was considered one of the most versatile distance runners of the 1920s, competing in races from the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

to marathons. Among his 13 national AAU titles were 8 outdoor mile titles. Ray won the

Millrose Games The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden from 1914 to 2011 ...

' Wannamaker one and a half-mile (2400 m) race (which changed to the

Wanamaker Mile The Wanamaker Mile is an indoor mile race held annually at the Millrose Games in New York City. It was named in honour of department store owner Rodman Wanamaker. The event was first held in 1926 inside Madison Square Garden, which was the venue ...

in 1926) seven times in the eight-year span from 1917 to 1924, losing in 1925 to

Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" or the "Phantom Finn", as he dominated distance running in the 1920s. Nurmi set 22 official world ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Later that same year he tied the indoor mile world record at 4 minutes 12 seconds, and was part of a 4 × 1-mile (4 × 1.6 km) relay that set a world record. Ray competed for the United States in the 1920 Summer Olympics at Antwerp, placing 8th in the 1500 metre race. In the 1924 Games in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, Ray competed in only the 3000 metre team race for which he won a bronze medal. In the 1928 Olympics he placed 14th in the 10000 metres and 5th in the marathon. Though Ray's Olympic results were lackluster, he won over 950 medals in his career. His favorite career moment was his first Boston Marathon in 1928. He finished third despite considerable pain for the last two miles (3.2 km). In the 1920s, when not competing in running events, Ray was a cab driver, and also competed in other events, dabbling in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

, roller derby, and

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...

races in

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. He preceded his third-place finish in the 1928 Boston Marathon by competing in a dance marathon for 1,730 hours. Later in life, Ray worked in a steel mill in Gary,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, moving to

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

after retiring. Ray continued to run throughout his life. At age 68, he was timed at 6:18.3 on a course, a time he bettered on his 70th birthday, with a time of 6:11.5. Ray was elected to the U.S. National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1976. Ray died on 13 May 1978 in

Berrien Springs Berrien Springs is a village in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,800 at the time of the 2010 census. The village is located within Oronoko Charter Township. History Berrien Springs, like Berrien County, is na ...

, Michigan, after a short illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Joie 1894 births 1978 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Kankakee, Illinois Track and field athletes from Illinois Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics American male long-distance runners Sportspeople from Gary, Indiana