A Motley Crew
Five Americans were among the favorites for the event. John Lordon, A. L. Newton, Sam Mellor, Thomas Hicks, and Michael Spring were all experienced marathon runners. Spring had won the 1904 Boston Marathon with Hicks in second place. Fred Lorz was another interesting entry. While he had only won his Olympic spot by virtue of a good performance in a special 5-mile race organized by the Amateur Athletic Union, he was an excellent marathon runner. Lorz had finished fifth in that year’s Boston Marathon and fourth in the 1903 version.
Not every entrant was as skilled as the above. Ten of the runners were Greeks who had never competed in a marathon event before. There were two members of the South African Tsuana Tribe who were only in the city for the World’s Fair. They elected to run barefoot. Felix Carbajal was a Cuban national and former mailman. He had shown his endurance by once trekking the length of Cuba. He arrived at the starting line in a pair of street shoes, long dark pants, and a beret. Someone ended up doing him a favor by trimming his pants to knee length.
Let the Farce Begin
At 3:03 pm, the athletes began racing over what was described as the most difficult course any human has ever been asked to run across. Leaving aside the awful organization and sky-high temperatures for a moment, it was a truly monstrous course for the time. There were seven hills ranging from 100 to 300 feet high, and several had insanely long ascents. There was cracked stone on multiple points of the course which made things treacherous for the competitors.
Unlike today’s specially designed courses that are closed off during the race, the 1904 marathon took place on a public road. As a result, the runners had to avoid people walking their dogs, trolley cars, delivery wagons, and railroad trains. Believe it or not, the aforementioned stupidity of only having two water stations was deliberate. The chief organizer of the games, James Sullivan, wanted to test the limits and effects of purposeful dehydration.
A South African runner had the misfortune to attract the attention of farm dogs. The snarling beasts attacked him, and he was forced over a mile off the course. Carbajal fared a little better. The flamboyant Cuban started well and was clearly filled with energy as he was able to chat with spectators in broken English as he ran.
He stopped at a car and asked for a peach, and when his request was refused, he took two and began eating them. Not satiated as he hadn’t eaten for 40 hours having hitch-hiked his way to the starting line, Carbajal stopped by an orchard and took some apples. Unfortunately for him, they were rotten, and soon enough, he began throwing up and eventually decided to take a nap. Meanwhile, William Garcia almost died after the dust thrown up by the cars covered his oesophagus and ripped his stomach lining. As the novelty athletes fell by the wayside, it was up to the experienced runners to show them how things were done, or not.