The strangest Olympic marathon

The first Olympics hosted by the USA in 1904 might have been one of the strangest. The marathon was supposed to be the big show stopper but turned in to a sideshow.

The majority of the field was composed of middle-distance runners. Americans Sam Mellor, A.L. Newton, John Lordon, Michael Spring and Thomas Hicks, all experienced marathoners, were among the favorites. One more American, Fred Lorz, did all his training at night because he had a day job as a bricklayer, and earned his spot in the Olympics by placing in a “special five-mile race” sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Union. There were ten Greeks who had never run a marathon, two men of the Tsuana tribe of South Africa who were in St. Louis as part of the South African World’s Fair exhibit and who arrived at the starting line barefoot, and a Cuban national and former mailman named Félix Carbajal, who raised money to come to the States by demonstrating his running prowess throughout Cuba, once trekking the length of the island.

Cuban marathoner (and former mailman) Félix Carbajal

On the 30th of August, at 3.03 pm. The president of the Louisiana Purchase Company fired the pistol and the runners were off. With temperatures well over 30 degrees the 40 km stretch was officially described as “the most difficult a human being was ever asked to run over”, the runners had to run across roads filled with dust. The track included seven hills with long ascents. The runners also had to dodge the town traffic, and pedestrians. Only 2 places for the runners to get fresh water the stations located at 9.5 km and 19 km were a water tower and a well respectively. James Sullivan, the organizer of the games wanted to minimize the fluid intake to test the limits and effects of purposeful dehydration. They had organized doctors to motor alongside the runners which in turn kicked up a lot of dust and driving them into coughing spells.

The American Fred Lorz let the 32 men but Thomas Hicks took the lead soon after. William Garcia from California had a nearly fatal experience when he collapsed on the road and was hospitalized with hemorrhage. The dust had filled his esophagus and wounded the inner lining of the stomach. runner John Lordon suffered from vomiting and quit midway. South African Len Tau, was chased over a kilometer off course by a few wild dogs.

Cuban Félix Carbajal, stopped a car, saw it’s occupants eating peaches and asked for one. Upon being denied he snatched them as ate as he ran. A bit further along the course, he stopped at an orchard and snacked on some apples, which turned out to be rotten. Suffering from stomach cramps, he lay down and took a nap.

Sam Mellor, now in the lead, also experienced severe cramping. He slowed to a walk and eventually stopped. At the 14 km mark cramps also affected Lorz, who decided to get a ride in one of the accompanying automobiles, waving at spectators and fellow runners as he passed.

Hicks, one of the early American favorites, came under the care of a two-man support crew at the 16-km mark. He begged them for a drink but they refused, instead sponging out his mouth with warm distilled water. 27 km from the finish, his handlers fed him a concoction of strychnine and egg whites—the first recorded instance of drug use in the modern Olympics.

In the meantime Lorz, recovered from his cramps, finishing his 17 km ride in the car. One of Hicks’ handlers saw him the asked him to finish his participation, but he kept running and finished the marathon with a time of just under 3 hours. The crowd roared and began chanting, “An American won!” Alice Roosevelt, the 20-year-old daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, placed a wreath upon Lorz’s head and was just about to lower the gold medal around his neck when, one witness reported, “someone called an indignant halt to the proceedings with the charge that Lorz was an impostor.” To which he smiled and said he finished only for the sake of a “joke”.

Thomas Hicks, assisted by his trainers.

When Hicks heard that Lorz had been disqualified he perked up and forced his legs into a trot. His trainers gave him another dose of strychnine and egg whites, this time with some brandy to wash it down. They fetched warm water and soaked his body and head. After the bathing he appeared to revive and quickened his pace. “Over the last two miles of the road,” wrote race official Charles Lucas, “Hicks was running mechanically, like a well-oiled piece of machinery. His eyes were dull, lusterless; the ashen color of his face and skin had deepened; his arms appeared as weights well tied down; he could scarcely lift his legs, while his knees were almost stiff.”

He began hallucinating, believing that the finish line was still over 30 km away. He begged for something to eat. Then he begged to lie down. He was given more brandy but refused tea. He swallowed two more egg whites. He walked up the first of the last two hills, and then jogged down on the incline. Swinging into the stadium, he tried to run but was reduced to a graceless shuffle. His trainers carried him over the line, holding him aloft while his feet moved back and forth, and he was declared the winner.

It took four doctors and one hour for Hicks to feel well enough just to leave the grounds. He had lost eight pounds during the course of the race, and declared, “Never in my life have I run such a touch course. The terrific hills simply tear a man to pieces.” Hicks and Lorz would meet again at the Boston Marathon the following year, which Lorz won without the aid of anything but his legs.