Samuel Ferris

Samuel "Sam" Ferris (August 29, 1900 – March 21, 1980) was a British athlete who competed mainly in the marathon.

He was born in Magherabeg, near Dromore, County Down in what is now Northern Ireland.

Ferris lived for the early period of his life at Magherabeg, however he moved to Glasgow with his father when his mother died. They only stayed in Glasgow for a few years, returning to Dromore to the rest of the family. Ferris was like his mother, always interested in running and at the early age of seventeen he joined Shelteston Harriers, winning many prizes in the Junior Open Category.

When Ferris was eighteen, he joined the Royal Air Force, then known as the Royal Flying Corps, and on enlistment he was posted to India. After his service was up he returned to Dromore, once again taking up his first love of running. He didn't have to wait long for success winning many local races including the Co. Down One Mile Championship. In December 1923 he rejoined the Royal Air Force and was stationed in Uxbridge where he competed in a cross country race. Although he only came third his talents came to the notice of Bill Thomas of Herne Hill Harriers who persuaded him that his true forte might be long distance rather than cross country running. Bill Thomas's entreaty had an effect on Ferris and he joined Herne Hill Harriers with whom he stayed throughout his career.

Ferris made his marathon debut in the 1924 Olympic trials in which there were 80 starters. By the 23 mile mark 3 runners were well clear of the rest of the field. Ferris was third behind Duncan Wright and Jack McKenna who was in all sorts of trouble and collapsed with exhaustion just two miles later. Ferris, although finishing the stronger, could not catch the Scotsman Wright who won in 2.53.47, only 45 seconds in front. The British marathon team selected for the Olympics was Jack McKenna, Duncan Wright and Sam Ferris. The heat in Paris combined with the route chosen for the course, much of it over cobbled roads, led many including Wright to drop out; the only time that Wright was ever to fail to complete a marathon. Ferris' fifth place in 2.52.26, behind the eventual winner Albin Stenroos of Finland was the best achievement to date for a British runner in an Olympic marathon. Making the achievement more remarkabe was the fact that at the 23km mark Ferris was 30th and even after 35km was only 9th.

The County Down man competed again in Amsterdam in 1928 where he finished eighth in the 1928 Olympic marathon but it was in Los Angeles in 1932 that he finally made the medal podium. In later years he was to relate this story, one that best illustrated the lack of a co-ordinated and professional approach on behalf of the administrators of the British Olympic team in those early days. When Ferris and Duncan Wright arrived they were given no briefing on the course, indeed Ferris only saw the course once before the actual race.

In contrast Juan Zabala of Argentina, the eventual winner had trained on the course and knew it intimately. On race day they were given their British running vests to find that they were much too long and they both felt that it would be a disaster to use them in the competition. Duncan Wright was adamant he would not use the vest and he eventually competed wearing his own Scotland vest. Ferris tried to redesign his vest cutting some eighteen inches off its length, but this was to prove catastrophic during the race.

After a distance into the race the vest began to ride up Ferris' back exposing the kidney area to the wind and causing it to chill. He stopped several times during the event to adjust the vest eventually, holding it down using the safety pins that held up his number. Despite this he ran well coming up through the field until he had Juan Zabala in his sights.

Once again Ferris' backup team were to let him down. He was told Zabala was going well and to ease off for the silver medal. The truth was that Zabala had been through a difficult period in the race and was on his last legs. A concerted attack by Ferris at this point would possibly have finished him off. Ferris finished 2.31.55, only nineteen seconds behind Zabala and won the Olympic silver medal, with both runners breaking the world record.

Ferris eventually got over his disappointment and raced on for many years, increasing his tally of awards and honours both national and international. He won the first ever AAA title to be contested, was victorious in eight consecutive Polytechnic marathons and was runner up in the first Empire Games in 1930.

He set a course record in Turin of 2.46.18 beating the Belgian, French and Italian champions. They even came to England to get their revenge but, he destroyed them winning in 2.40.32 a margin of five minutes. Course records were his speciality, in Liverpool he came home in 2.33.00 some fifteen minutes in front of the next man.

Ferris, a strict non smoker held strong views on marathon running and indeed training in general. A newspaper article written in 1931 said of him "In order that the novice may evaluate Sam Ferris, he must do as Sam Ferris did, train wisely, train conscientiously and train consistently. Spasmodic bursts of energy serve no useful purpose." His training for any marathon began some eight weeks before the race and was set to a strict regime, one that he kept to and which served him well.

As a Warrant Officer in the Royal Air Force Ferris served in many stations throughout the world over the years, at Dieppe in 1940 he was the officer in charge of evacuating the men prior to the advancing German Army. Sadly Ferris died in 1980.

External links

* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=FERRISAM01 profile]