The late
Johnny Kelley won the Boston Marathon twice, the first time in
1935, the second in 1945. He came in second 7 times and
finished in the top ten on 18 occasions. In all, he ran 61
Boston Marathons and innumerable other races. His stellar
record is a testament to a true life-long athlete.
Johnny’s last Boston finish and my first one came in the same
year, 1992. (For the record, I passed him in Framingham and beat
him by a couple of hours. OK, he was 50 years older than I, but
hey, the guy was a two-time Olympian!)
The press made a big noise when this monument was unveiled—you
could even buy a bronze miniature of it for about eighty gazillion
dollars. (Does anyone out there have one?) At first it was more
prominently displayed, although it was “running” the wrong way.
Today it’s facing the right way, but it’s tucked back under the
trees where fewer people see it than before. You could drive right
by and never notice it.
I met Johnny
several times, and found him a sweet, modest man who was very
generous with both running expertise and encouragement. This
sort of thing deserves to be remembered in the days of steroid
cheaters, multimillion dollar endorsement contracts and
Hall-of-Fame wannabees who charge kids cash for autographs.
Johnny was a world-class athlete who never stopped being a
regular guy.