John McDermott (runner)
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John J. ("J.J.", "little Mac") McDermott (born October 16, 1874) was an Irish-American athlete, born in Manhattan, New York City to James McDermott and Lizzie Grady. He won the first
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 ...
run in the United States in 1896, as well as the inaugural
Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...
, then known as the B.A.A. Road Race, in 1897. He was a lithographer by trade. McDermott lost his mother at the age of eleven. He was unusually frail and light as a youth. At the start of the first Boston Marathon he weighed in at on a frame, slight even by marathoner standards. He reportedly died either from consumption (tuberculosis) or from an inherited pulmonary disease sometime before 1906. One source states that he had tuberculosis when he won the Boston Marathon in 1897. The New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, Massachusetts has an ongoing search to learn of the burial location of John McDermott. His sister Julia died of tuberculosis in 1905. Little is known of McDermott's life outside of his running accomplishments.


First American Marathon

The first marathon race to be held in the United States took place on September 19, 1896, five months after the first Olympic Marathon, as part of the fall meeting of the Knickerbocker Athletic Club of New York City. While regular track and field events were taking place at th
Columbia Oval
(located in an area that was then part of Williamsbridge but is now called Norwood, in the
Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
borough), twenty-eight athletes, almost all from the New York City area, had earlier traveled by train to
Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...
for the marathon race. The course began at the Stamford Armory, and proceeded through Riverside, Cos Cob, Greenwich, Port Chester, Rye, Harrison, Mamaroneck, Larchmont, New Rochelle, East Chester, Woodlawn, and William's Bridge, finishing with two laps on the Columbia Oval. While the course was presented as long, a distance similar to that of the Olympic Marathon, recently statistician Hugh Farley has undertaken
best-guess reconstruction of the route
which measures only . The roads for the first were in terrible condition, covered in mud and slush from heavy precipitation that morning. McDermott, representing the Pastime Athletic Club of New York City, took the lead at
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, about from the finish, and held that lead, completing the race in the time of 3:25:55.6, two and a half minutes ahead of the second-place athlete, cross-country runner Hamilton Gray. The winning time was twenty-seven minutes slower than the Olympic Marathon time posted by
Spiridon Louis Spyridon Louis ( el, Σπυρίδων Λούης , sometimes transliterated ''Spiridon Loues''; 12 January 1873 – 26 March 1940), commonly known as Spyros Louis (Σπύρος Λούης), was a Greek water carrier who won the first modern-day ...
five months previously, which was attributed to the difficult conditions under which the race was run. Nineteen athletes completed the race in total.


First Boston Marathon

McDermott ran the first Boston Marathon on April 19, 1897 with eighteen starters, six from New York. He would lose over the course of the race. The initial lead was taken by Hamilton Gray, second in the New York race, and
Dick Grant Richard Grant (August 3, 1870 – January 9, 1958) was a Canadian track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France for the United States. He also competed in the first four Boston Marathons, one of only two at ...
, a Harvard track athlete from St. Mary's, Ontario, Canada. McDermott was running behind the leaders at South
Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...
, about in, and behind by the mark at
Natick Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...
. But he took the lead at the downhill into
Newton Lower Falls Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The commercial area extends across the river into Wellesley, Massachusetts, where it is known as Wellesl ...
, about in. Grant attempted to stay with him, but had to give up when the uphill out of Newton Lower Falls was reached. McDermott continued to extend his lead through the Newton Hills, beginning to combine walking and running at about the mark at Evergreen Cemetery. After a rubdown from his handler, he proceeded down Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue. At Massachusetts Avenue he ran into a funeral procession, stalling two electric cars. He finished with a lap of the Irvington Oval, part of a track and field meet conducted by the
Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit, running-focused, organized sports association for the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Marathon, the ...
. His time was 2:55:10, three minutes and forty seconds faster than Spiridon Louis’ time at the Olympic Games, so it was immediately claimed as a world record. However, there was no standard marathon distance at the time, and no organization to ratify world records. Both the Olympic and Boston courses were claimed to be about , shorter than the now standard marathon distance of , and neither mark is considered to have been a world record or world best by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which is now responsible for ratifying world records in athletics. McDermott had finished the marathon with bloody and blistered feet, his skin peeling off. He stated that this would likely be his last long race. But he returned the next year to defend his title. He was the race favorite. Hamilton Gray and Dick Grant were back as well. However, the race was won by
Ronald McDonald Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. He inhabits the fictional world of McDonaldland, with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird and ...
, a 22-year-old from
Antigonish, Nova Scotia , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...
, Canada who was a student at
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
, in a course record time of 2:42:00, over thirteen minutes faster than McDermott's time from the previous year. McDermott also beat his previous time, finishing in 2:54:17, but finished only fourth.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, John 1874 births 1948 deaths American male long-distance runners American male marathon runners Track and field athletes from New York City Boston Marathon male winners