I just learned about the 1904 Olympic marathon. It’s an absolutely bonkers story, and well worth a read. I’ll hit the highlights.
The 1904 Olympics were held in St Louis, and as everyone knows, summertime in Missouri can be a bit warm and humid. The temperatures were in the mid-90’s on the day of the marathon, with humidity well above 90%. The combination created a heat index around 135 degrees. The roads were covered in several inches of dust and included seven hills– some up to 300 feet high– as well as cracked stone that was treacherous to walk on, much less run. Traffic cruised through the streets, including trolley cars and the occasional railroad crossing.
The contestants in the marathon were a ragtag band; most were Americans but perhaps the most colorful was Félix de la Caridad Carvajal y Soto (that’s a mouthful), a Cuban mailman who was famous for walking the length of the island. He arrived in New Orleans on his trip to compete in the Olympics, but lost all his money in a dice game and had to hitchhike to St Louis. After not eating for 40 hours as he traveled north, he showed up in a long-sleeved white shirt, long pants, and a dashing beret. His fellow racers helped him tear his pants at the knee so he could at least run a bit better. Frankly, he looks pretty cool.
At the direction of the Olympics’ chief organizer, the runners were forbidden from drinking water except at a single well along the course. There was a theory that “purposeful dehydration” was beneficial to running and other strenuous exercise. Ahh, sports theories.
Let’s check in on some of the runners:
- William Garcia collapsed partway into the race with severe hemorrhaging. The dusty air had coated his esophagus and ripped his stomach lining. If he hadn’t been rushed to the hospital he likely would have bled to death.
- John Lordon gave up after vomiting uncontrollably from the dust.
- Len Tau was chased a mile off the course by a pack of wild dogs.
- Felix (above) ran quite well, frequently stopping to talk with spectators in broken English. He later noticed an apple orchard and ate a few of the fruits, but they were rotten and he ended up with horrible stomach cramps. He stopped running and decided to take a nap for a while. He eventually finished in fourth place.
- Fred Lorz was cramping badly, so he hopped into a passing car and rode for nearly 11 miles, waving at the spectators and his fellow runners as he passed them. He climbed out of the car and ran triumphantly into the stadium, where he was declared the winner amidst a cheering crowd. The gold medal was about to be hung around his neck by President Roosevelt’s daughter Alice when someone yelled that he’d ridden part of the way. The crowd booed, he was stripped of his victory, and he later claimed he had only done it as a joke.
- Thomas Hicks complained of dehydration but was refused water. Instead, his trainers sponged out his mouth with warm water and fed him egg whites mixed with strychnine. The latter was often used (in small doses) as a stimulant, and there weren’t any rules against doping. He was barely able to run, but kept up a limp, almost robotic trot for miles. He started hallucinating and was given more egg whites and strychnine, this time with some brandy to wash it down. As he entered the final miles of the race, he begged for food, or to just lie down, but his trainers gave him more eggs and brandy and urged him on. When he finally arrived at the stadium, he could hardly move and ended up being carried across the finish line while his legs twitched beneath him. He was promptly given medical care; he had lost eight pounds during the race and would likely have died without immediate care.
At the end of the day, only 14 of 32 runners finished the race. The winning time was a full 30 minutes slower than the next worst Olympic marathon time. It’s widely agreed that it was the worst marathon course of all time (with the possible exception of the original one, I suppose).
History is crazy!