Mr. Hodge, that was a wonderful piece of writing from Jerry Nason - he could really churn it out! Thanks for sharing it!
Mr. Hodge, that was a wonderful piece of writing from Jerry Nason - he could really churn it out! Thanks for sharing it!
DaveW, you may be one of the most disturbed miscreants ever to post on letsrun. Which is saying quite a lot.
Great obit Amby. I only met him once but he was a really nice dude. Sad to see a legend pass.
Dave W - What beef do you have with two of the nicest and most genuine people I have ever met, not to mention two American running legends, Amby Burfoot and John Kelley? Your posts on this thread make no sense. Amby did a marvelous job sharing with us what was in his heart on the passing of John Kelley, who yes was his mentor and dear friend. Yet you question what he wrote and his intent in doing so. I think it is you who needs to examine your own past and maybe try to learn something from it, because based on what you have written your future is pretty bleak. It is a shame that someone like you can comment the way you have at a time when anyone who knew Kel only wishes to fondly remember his time with us and the class that he brought to our sport.
Having run HS and college in the 70's I always knew who John Kelley was, but didn't truly know who he was until I read that obit-essay.
[quote]DaveW wrote:
I don't think many runners from the 70's would know JK, but I'm sure his family knows who he is.
I'll bet John Kelley changed a few lives. Did John Kelley pass on his knowledge about coaching to the next generation?[/quote
JK was a running sage. Your comments are way off the mark. If you love running and do not yet know JK writing and legend then find it and absorb it.
I think you'd find that virtually all of the good runner knew of Mr. Kelley, well, both Mr. Kelleys. Mr. Kelley the Younger coached at the high school level and raced well into the 1970's. From what I understand, if you saw him after a race, he'd answer any question asked to him sincerely and in an appropriate level of detail. He was an unofficial coach to at least two generations of New England runners. Do not claim that he did not give back - he did, and very generously.
Thanks for posting this wonderful letter of tribute from Kel to his old rival. It is just one of thousands of examples of Johnny's humility and sportsmanship that those who knew him observed over the years. I hope Dave W heeds Hodgie-san's advice and reads this piece and others about Kelley the Younger to learn what a great human being and runner that he was.
Thanks, Amby, what a nice article. I never met John, but feel like I now have and feel connected. In 1968 as a 17 year old, I stood on the sidelines of Boston in Framingham, handing out orange slices and was intrigued by what I was watching. You won the race...in 1975 as a 24 year old, I watched Bill Rodgers cross the line in a new American record. I started to run the next day and haven't stopped. I'll be 60 in a few months. Life is a big circle, John coaches you, you mentor Bill and all this got me running. Thanks...
When this was originally posted, I read the obit and saved it on my computer because I loved it so much. I read it again today as I looking through my computer, and I can only hope that somebody is around to write such wonderful words when I die. And I hope that I can write similars word to somebody in my life.
Thanks for bumping that.
Saw mention of this on Ryan Hall's twitter feed:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/10439779/john-kelley-memorial-statue
Raising money to build a status in his honor in his hometown of Mystic, CT.
One bump and I'll let it go.
I knew John, the Younger. He finished ahead of my in my first and third marathons. In my first Boston run, I learned a lot by watching John shave the corners as he drifted off into the distance. And he ran so effortlessly.
He was one of the fathers of United States Marathon running and deserves to be remembered.
Or maybe a statue.
Amby is the editor of a running mag, Dave. The horn you referred to should be tooted by the federal gvt, do you see the difference here?
Amby Burfoot wrote:
1957 Boston Marathon winner John J. Kelley died this morning in CT. Kelley was too quiet, humble, individualistic to ever toot his own horn, or be well known by today's runners. But he was clearly the first modern American distance runner, as well as a 2x U.S. Olympic marathoner and 8-years-in-a-row national marathon champ.
He was also my coach, mentor, and all-areas inspiration, so I feel a certain responsibility to share his story now.
I've written a long obit-essay at link below. Some of you will be interested.
http://footloose.runnersworld.com/2011/08/john-j-kelley-rip-1930-2011-1957-boston-marathon-winner-americas-first-modern-road-runner.html
thanks Amby. He was a great x-country and distance runner for Boston University, too.
I remember sitting on a curb in Framingham almost every year on Patriots day for a decade or more when I was a tyke and my folks would say: "we can't go home till we see Young Johnny and Johnny the Elder."
Sure you don't want to take a while longer to craft your reply?
are you sure about that wrote:
wineturtle wrote:thanks to momo on the tracktalk board we have the Frank Litsky obit
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/sports/john-j-kelley-marathon-champion-dies-at-80.html?_r=12:14?
Correction: August 25, 2011
An obituary on Monday about the champion marathon runner John J. Kelley misstated his fastest marathon time. It was 2 hours 20 minutes 5 seconds — not 2 hours 14 minutes 38 seconds. (Kelley did finish the 1956 Boston Marathon in 2 hours 14 minutes 33 seconds, but the course that year was later found to be more than 1,000 yards short of regulation marathon length.)
A version of this article appears in print on August 22, 2011, on page D9 of the New York edition with the headline: John J. Kelley, 80, Marathon Champion
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