George Hirsch recalls how 50 years ago all you needed to run Boston was $2 and a note from your doctor

Love reading stories about the history of the Boston Marathon

Wrote this earlier today on the 50+ masters training thread:

I ran Boston once 45 years ago at age 23. At the time the largest marathon field ever at about 1,500. It still had a relaxed feel unlike the corporate events of today. I even relieved myself shortly before the start along side one of the houses. Something I would surely be arrested for today. Race began at noon in moderate temperatures and an overcast day. The pace at the start was fast and the leaders soon disappeared. Race splits were given as you ran thru the various towns and they were benchmarks of sorts. I thought I was running a mediocre race but it proved to be my best time. No GPS, wrist stop watches or race clocks and I did not get my result until it was posted. Water stops were equally haphazard. The last mile or so to the finish the crowds were pretty deep. Somewhere in here I passed a slowing Bill Rogers (next year he won his first) grabbing his hamstring. The cheering was especiallly loud the last 100 meters and I thought it was all for me. Turned out the cheers were for Daniel Monihan wearing a Boston College jersey who passed me just before the finish. I finished 13th in 2:19:15 and today I cannot run 200 meters at that pace.

Igy

Great story! Thanks for sharing

That was my second year at Boston. I cannot separate many memories of that one from the year before. I know I took about a half hour from my time the previous year but that still left me with nothing to brag about.I had lined up next to some German who spoke no English. We had a simplistic chat and I remember thinking that it was the first practical use my three years of studying German in high school and college. I had heard the year before that when the race went past Fenway Park you were about a mile from the finish. I had not noticed Fenway Park the year before and could not see it that year either. In fact, I don't think I ever noticed where it was in relation to the course until almost a decade later and had moved into the neighborhood. The Citgo sign was always my bench marker.

Are you sure Moynihan wasn't wearing a Tuft s' jersey? That's where he went to school. I remember reading the race preview in the Globe the day before and they listed him as one of their picks to do well because he'd been running so well in local road races. It also mentioned that he was running his first marathon that year which made me wonder how well you needed to run in local road races to be allowed in without a qualifying time.

That actually nearly became a point for discussion maybe ten or so years later when a mutual friend told me that Henry Rono wanted to make his debut marathon at Boston. The BAA official I spoke to immediately asked if Henry had ever run a marathon. When I said he hadn't the guy started yelling, "I suppose Rono thinks he can enter any race he wants to just because he has four world records!" Then he asked me if Henry was in shape. After I got off the phone I wished I'd thought to ask him how many world records Dan Moynihan had when they let him in without a qualifying time but didn't think of it in time. As it was, they evidently entered Henry because a few days later the Globe was doing a preview article and it said that "an interesting development for (that) year's race was the late entry of multiple world record holder Henry Rono. Henry never showed.

HRE,

That’s right, Tuft’s, but that is in Boston right? There were no qualifying times that I know of in 1974. I had run 2:20:08 for second at the Western Hemisphere Marathon the previous December. That was the Southern Pacific Association AAU Championships and they paid my way to Boston. I may have gotten some preferential treatment with my previous time but really can’t remember. I think things were only beginning to get more formal at that time.

Igy

Also, at that time only the top 15 received medals. Everyone received a certificate with your time and place.

For all practical purposes, yes, Tufts is in Boston. Technically it's in Somerville but it's only a few miles from Boston itself. You needed to get under 3:30 to get in in those years, it had been 4:00 not too long before that. So there was qualifying but it wasn't a big deal. You might have been allowed to wait in the locker room at the junior high at the start with that time rather than wander around in the gym and hallways. I think that was as formal as things had gotten by then. In thinking a bit more about Moynihan getting in with no previous marathon, I imagine the BAA let him in because they knew who he was. The standard was put in place because as the race got more popular they were getting more and more entrants who really did not run and who entered as a joke. The standard was supposed to be attainable by anyone who did a reasonable amount of serious training. But the local running clubs have always been given a number of automatic entries, no need for a qualifying time, to use as they want. It's up to the clubs to decide who gets those entries.

HRE,

I mentioned this elsewhere on LRC, that I traveled to Boston with Orville Atkins. He drove us around the course the day before and showed us around. Made the entire experience pretty easy.

Igy

Luv2Run wrote:

Love reading stories about the history of the Boston Marathon

Here is my Boston experience:

Ran Boston twice - in '78 (I turned 40 the previous Sept.) and '79. Rainy and chilly both years. Another poster mentioned peeing by a building. Not me. I squatted low and peed in the street while waiting for the start. No shame. Heck, Ron Daws, the '68 Olympian, mentioned a hot year when he went into a house in Hopkinton (owners probably watching pre-race stuff) went upstairs, ran a cold tub to lower temp. Dripped down stairs and went to the start. You do what you gotta do.

'78 was a good year for me. Felt great over Newton hills and a spectator told me I was 2nd Master. (Only Open and Masters then; no 5year age groups) and Masters runners had "V" before their numeral. Then I passed Jim Green of the BAA. Could I be leading the Masters division at Boston? Seemed very unlikely but still gave me a chill/thrill. Actually I wound up 7th in 2:33:55 so the spectator must have missed a bunch of "V"s.

In '79 I felt great for 12-13 then rapidly fell apart. No idea why. Very frustrating. . Trotted thereafter, just to get to the finish area hotel where a friend had a room. Didn't plan to finish but the crowds in the last mile were so thick there was no way to get through them. Crossed the line but didn't go all the way through the chutes (long before chips) so I probably screwed up timing/results. Still feel guilty about that.

Don't recall what Boston cost then but New York in '81 cost $12.

jesseriley wrote:

You didn’t even need a doctor’s note for our $2 marathons that Hirsch was so eager to stop ?.

Why did he want to stop them?

Too bad Orville is gone.

HRE,

Good guy. We got together a couple of times around 2005. My mother was still alive and I would make the trip out to Santa Monica. A little known fact he funded the Henry Rono attempt to return as a master in 2006.

Igy

Jim Green (yes, the same Jim Green) was a substitute teacher at my high school in Marblehead MA. I graduated in 2016 and I'm not sure if he's still doing it, he's about 85 now. He's a super nice guy, and my cross country teammates and I would often spend an entire class period listening to him tell marathon stories. The year after the bombing he decided to run Boston again and I believe ran it every year 2014-2017. When I'm home from college sometimes I'll see him running on the bike path that goes through town and he always calls out some words of encouragement to me.

Any other LRC'ers out there who know Jim? I hope he's doing well.

The 1965 Boston Marathon was filmed by documentary filmmaker Robert Gardner and the film is called Marathon. It is more concerned with the race as a cultural institution than a report of who were the top contenders. It is an underappreciated piece of Boston history. http://www.robertgardner.net/marathon/

That sure is a little known fact but it doesn't surprise me.

Ha ha, he was RW publisher, our sponsor, and by then a very “establishment” guy. I was a crazy young entrepreneur organizing the longest race in the world as a first-time RD, and it probably seemed like everyone would die & they’d get sued! A marriage made in Hell.

UltraRunning Magazine ran a prize poll: whoever guessed the number of finishers & winners won the prize. Over half the entries voted zero finishers!

Gary Cantrell admitted to me four years ago he’d have bet ANYTHING no one would make it. Of course, I never dreamed crazy Barkley would become world-famous!

Can't recall if this is NYC or Boston, but if you won you'd get a bowl of clam chowder and a pair of new balance shorts.

Yes, Orville is missed.