The
Second Running of the Boston Marathon
The
following is an account of the 1898 Boston Marathon which appeared
in the May 1, 1898 edition of the Boston Sunday Journal.
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A
MARATHON RUN.
McDonald
Lowers the Record and Runs to Boston in 2 Hours and 42 Minutes.
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The Marathon run held by the
Boston Athletic Association on Patriots' Day (April 19) was
successful beyond the strongest hopes of the management. The
record of 2h. 55m. and 10s., made last year was beaten by
four of the runners. This old record was 10s. faster than
that made by Loues at the Olympic Championship Marathon run.
The names of the four men breaking the record are Ronald J.
McDonald, Cambridgeport Gymnasium Association; Hamilton Gray,
St. George's A. C. of New York; R. E. McLennan, East Boston
A. A.; and John J. McDermott of the Pastime A. C. of New York.
Ronald J. McDonald finished first
and established the new mark for the distance at 2h. and 42
m. McDonald was born in Antigonish, N. S., June 13, '76, and
is 22 years old. He is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about
142 pounds. He has been running about three years, and has
won several prizes. He took up cross-country at the beginning
of the winter, and has competed in all the B. A. A. cross-country
runs and won a prize in all of them. He was one of the members
of the club's team which competed at the national cross-country
championships, and finished 12th.
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RONALD
J. McDONALD
Of Cambridgeport,
Who won the Marathon race and lowered the record, by making
a time of 2h. 42m.
(From a photograph by Beckford.)
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McDonald won
the last cross-country run held by the B. A. A. over a course 10
miles long. He finished second in the N. E. A. A. A. U. championship
three-mile run on July 4, '97. He won the first race at Newton on
July 4, '96, this being in a mile handicap run.
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HAMILTON
GRAY
Of New
York,
Second in the Marathon race .
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R.
E. McLENNAN
Of East
Boston,
Third in the Marathon race.
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Hamilton
Gray, an old member of the St. George's Athletic Club of New
York, finished second, 3 minutes behind McDonald.
R. E.
McLennan is a member of the East Boston Athletic Association
and a young runner. He has competed in handicap races and
cross-country events, and has aquitted himself very creditably.
he is a light fellow. He was trained for this race by J. F.
Moakley, and handled so well that he felt no ill effects from
the 25-mile jaunt, but went to work the next day just the
same as ever. He finished at a fast gait, and it is said that
if he had been lucky enough to have been coached and encouraged
along the last four or five miles of the course to the finish
he would have bettered his position. He came in third, his
time being 2h. 48m. 2-5s. McLennan was born in Edinburgh,
Scotland, and will be 22 years old in June. He is 5 feet 6
inches tall and weighs 135 pounds. He won a prize in all of
the B. A. A. cross-country runs.
John J.
McDermott, Pastime A. C., of New York, finished fourth and
made the distance in 2 hours 54 minutes 17 3-5 seconds. This
broke his own record, made in 1897 by 52 2-5 seconds. He was
the winner in last year's run. McDermott has been very clever
in Marathon runs, for he secured first place in the race held
by the Knickerbocker A. C. of New York in the fall of 1896
from Stanford to New York.
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JOHN
J. McDERMOTT
Of New
York,
Fourth in the Marathon race.
(First
Boston Marathon Champion.)
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Nov 12
