Les Pawson (February 3, 1905 in

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls ...

– October 13, 1992) was an American marathon runner. Pawson worked in the mills of Rhode Island and for the city of Pawtucket parks department while he was one of the finest road runners in the United States. Pawson's major competition was provided by

John A. Kelley John Adelbert Kelley (September 6, 1907 – October 6, 2004) was an American long-distance runner who twice represented his native country at the Summer Olympics, in 1936 and 1948, and competed in the Boston Marathon over 50 times, winning in 19 ...

Ellison Brown Ellison Myers Brown (September 22, 1913 – August 23, 1975), widely known as Tarzan Brown, a direct descendant of the last acknowledged royal family of the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island (also known as Deerfoot amongst his people), was a two- ...

, and Gerard Cote. Pawson won the

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 ...

in 1933, 1938, and 1941, becoming the second runner to win the race three times. After his running career, Pawson returned to his daily life in Rhode Island working until he was 75 years old. He died in 1992 at the age of 87. A road race and his former training ground in Rhode Island are named for him such as the Les Pawson loop in Lincoln Rhode Island in which the distance is 2.49 miles.http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/TITLE32/32-1/32-1-11.1.HTM State of Rhode Island

References

1905 births 1992 deaths American male long-distance runners Sportspeople from Pawtucket, Rhode Island Boston Marathon male winners 20th-century American people {{US-longdistance-athletics-bio-stub