Evening star., 1937-05-18
There's Something to 1t.

Aie ~, ~ oNolS GAL 1loN Vic NOllQ IldS
progressed.
There's Something to 1t.
A ND don't think they don't come
near dying in these marathons.
There was Pat Dengis, winner of The
Evening Star marathon back In 1895.
Pat ran second in the Boston mara
thon that year Along about the
twenty fourth mile his heart began to
pound and he nearly keeled over. For
more than 2 miles he hot-footed over
the asphalt pavement, believing that
every step might be his last He
thought the old pump was ready to
quit and at the end the medicos called
1t lust stitch" In his side, after he'd
struggled to a second-place finish be-
hind Johnny Kelley.
There must be something to this
marathon game. Any sporting racket
that gets guys ranging from the nearly
rich down to plumbers to run that dis
tance over smoking pavements under
sun that cracks down at 80 degrees
in the shade, must have something
behind it. And at the end what is
there? There's the ephemeral ma
tlonal championship and a silver
mug. but it takes more than that to
make guy literally run his heart and
lungs out over such a distance.
We All Have Vain Urge.
WHAT is it that makes EN- run
marathon races? Rod Thomas,
who has ballyhooed marathon running
into sport that has drawn some
where around 10000 persons annually
along the route of The Star marathon
(twill be held this year on June l2)
says this: Hell, they just like to run"
But that can't be the only answer.
There must be more to it than that.
These must be, for instance, that
intensely atavistic human urge to excel
At something; that desire in the breast
OF all humans to salve their vanity by
brief moment in the limelight. We
al have 1t in a way, no matter how
modest we may think we are. But
marathon running takes more out OF
. man than even headlines would re-
pay, with pictures and broadcasting
rights and all the other ballyhoo. For
marathon running today is and prob
ably will remain an amateur sport. It
hasn't been professionalized extern
sively and probably won't be, while
lungs and hearts are standardized and
quits" are not the exclusive properties
Of any man or group Of men.
De Bruyn Is Dramatic.
HOW, for example, could you ex-
plain the most dramatic incident
Of the first Of The Star marathons,
the collapse Of Paul De Bruyn, the
Bandy- legged Teuton, 100 yards from
the finish line, and his mental resusci-
tation to drive wobbling legs across
the tape to finish fourth?
Paul had run a good race. For
miles down the Mount Vernon Boule-
ward. he'd led the parade. But that
soul-taxing trek up Capitol Hill got
him. He saw loping Clyde Martak
pass him to win the race, but he
stuck 1t out. One hundred yards from
the finish those cramped muscles,
tense and throbbing from more than
76 miles OF putting one foot in front
Of the other under soaring sun,
gave up.
An elderly German leaned over the
heap Of flesh that was Paul De Bruyn.
whispered something in his ear, and
Paul staggered to his feet. He fell
across the finish line and for hours
lay, nearly dead, on a cot at Erner-
genoy Hospital
There was Bill Agee, the Baltimore
harrier, and Dave Komonen, the
loping Finn, twice q winner of The
Star marathon; sparrow -chested, 98-
pound Percy Wyer and all the gallant
company from Canada and Finland !;
Bill Mcnlanon, the present champion;
gallant Monteverde, the 67-year-old
man Of wealth from Los Angeles;
aging Mike Lynch, dean Of local mara
thoners, and all the valiant men
who've competed, In all the mara
thons, men Of steel and muscle, of
heart and wind and lung power.
And for what?
Komonen Boasts Distinction,
A GEE, great l5-mile man. ran his
heart out in the marathons IL
which he took part. But his stride
geared to IS miles, couldn't carry him
the marathon distance. He tried te
match himself against Komonen, the
tireless Finn. and he couldn't make
1t, or he didn't make it. So did
others. KOmonen remains the one
man who has won two marathon
races in Washington.
Young an dold, thin and tall, short
and chunky, the marathon game pull.
in all types and conditions of men
But first they must be men, It's nc
game for weak hearts and pulling
muscles. Even to finish is 4 feat ir
itself, for the route of The Star mara.
thon has been called by the runner.
themselves the toughest of them all
The winners aren't limited to one
physical class, although the small
men have the edge. How, you ask
could . guy run that distance and
keep his poundage? The answer i
obvious. He couldn't. If he didn't
train it of in pre-race work he'd
run it of in the race itself. So men
light Of bone, wiry and 1.-the Of muscle
have been the victors. But they've all
been men.
He'll Stick to Golf.
DILL MCMAHON, the 1885 cham