James Duffy (marathoner)

Jimmy Duffy (born May 1, 1890, in County Sligo, Ireland, died April 23, 1915, outside Ypres, Belgium) was a distance runner from Canada. He was the winner of the 1914 Boston Marathon.

Duffy, born in Ireland, grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1911 he emigrated to Canada, where he worked as a tinsmith and stonecutter. He came in second in the 1911 Ward Marathon, a twenty-mile event in Toronto. In May 1912 he came in second again in the nineteen-mile Spectator Marathon in Hamilton, Ontario, which served that year as the Canadian Olympic trial.

Duffy placed fifth in the marathon at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. In October 1912 he won both the Ward Marathon and the Hamilton Herald's race around Hamilton Bay, setting a new course record in the latter event. After the Hamilton Bay race Duffy accepted full-time coaching from athletic trainer Tommy Thomson.

With Thomson as trainer, Duffy won seven consecutive marathons, including one in Yonkers, New York. On April 20, 1914, Duffy won the Boston Marathon in 2:25:14. His first request after his victory was for a cigarette, and after his post-race medical examination he asked for a bottle of beer.

After the Boston Marathon Duffy turned professional, but ran only one professional race, which he lost to Edouard Fabre (who had come in second in Boston) before enlisting in the Canadian Army at the outbreak of World War I. He joined the 91st Argyle Regiment and was subsequently tranferred to the 16th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Duffy was killed in a charge against the Germans while serving with the 16th Battalion near Ypres, Belgium.

References

*citeweb | url=http://www.davidblaikie.com/david_blaikie/boston/baa_1914_duffy.htm | title=Jimmy Duffy 1914 | accessdate=2008-08-14
* Wallechinsky, David (2004). "The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics", Toronto: Sport Classic Books. ISBN 1-894963-34-2

ee also

List of winners of the Boston Marathon