Page 41 - Summer2016Gazette

Feature 39

the stadium, he turned in protested and this was upheld this professional race. The
the wrong direction to the with the gold medal going to first was Pietri, The other
finish line and when umpires Hayes. However as a mark of competitor in the 1909 race
redirected him, he fell down recognition for having been at the Royal Albert Hall
for the first time. the would be winner, Queen
He got up with their help, in Alexandria subsequently
front of 75,000 spectators. presented Pietri with a special
He was by now seriously gilded Cup.
dehydrated and took 10 Turning professional
minutes to finish the last 350
meters before being helped Following these games Pietri
over the line by two officials raced as a professional for
in first place. three years. His first income
came from a collection
Conan-Doyle continued… proposed by the Daily Mail
He has gone to the extreme and organized in 1908 by
of human endurance. No Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle
Roman of the prime ever bore which raised the equivalent
himself better than Dorando of £28,248 today to help
of the Olympics of 1908. The Pietri set up in business Gardiner and Pietri line up at the start
great breed is not yet extinct. as a baker. Pietri suddenly of the race.
The runner-up was the became an international was C W Gardiner from
American Johnny Hayes, less celebrity. Composer Irving London who won the race
than a minute behind Pietri Berlin dedicated a song to in 2 hours 37 minutes. Pietri
who had crossed the line him entitled “Dorando” and did not finish, dropping out
in 2.54.46. The Americans he embarked on a tour of in his 24th mile. He had
exhibition races in the United problems, having run in
States, in a busy program of new shoes a mistake many
22 races of which he won people still make competing
17, including a race between in marathons today! The lap
Hayes and himself on was boarded, with the boards
25 November 1908, in covered in coconut matting.
Madison Square Garden, There were doubts expressed
New York. Pietri won the race and many believed the
as well as a second similar course was short. In fact the
race on 15 March 1909. marathon distance had not
properly been standardized
A two horse race and would not be so until
Another such event was a 1924, although the course for
Marathon race that December the recent Olympic Marathon
1909 at the Royal Albert Hall. had effectively set the
Loss of the gold medal was compensated There were just two runners distance of the marathon at
by the award of a special gilded cup. at the Royal Albert Hall in 26 miles, 385 yards.