1985: Lisa Weidenbach is last American victor. Smith repeats. Bad business deal with Marshall Medoff declared void. Lacking financial incentives to run, best runners stay home.

1986: Commonwealth Games, Fukuoka, and World Championship marathon winner Rob de Castella thunders to record. Mazda contracts Ingrid Kristiansen, who wins $35,000 and a car. Sock Racers.

1987: It’s Seko, Jones, and Smith, 1-2-3. Huge appearance fees abound. Start rope causes confusion. Rosa Mota wins. A winning name overcomes petty Portuguese politics. 1988: Johnny Kelley, 80, 4:26:36. Guy Morse is appointed director. Forty-one of first 42 men are foreigners. Ibrahim Hussein wins by :01. Mota wins again.

1989: Abebe Mekonnen of distance-runner10 KULINGRL AR rich Ethiopia wins 300 times the yearly in-come of his countrymen. Priscilla Welch wins Three-time Boston Marathon asters title. Kristiansen crushes 1,133 winner Rosa Mota motors to women.

Victory OE: 1990: Juma Ikangaa is second, third straight time. John Campbell sets masters world-best 2:11:04. Finally, an Olympic champ, Gelindo Bordin, wins. Mota motors again. 1991: Five women break 2:27 with Pole Wanda Panfil winning. Kim Jones is second. With all eyes on Douglas Wakiihuri, Hussein earns second laurel wreath. 1992: Hussein repeats. He and Olga Markova both run course’s second best times. Each wins $60,000. Over 11,500 enter. Uta Pippig nets third top-three finish. 1993: South Africa is back after long international ban. Cosmas Ndeti rushes from behind. Olga repeats. Wheelers Jim Knaub and Jean Driscoll roll to world bests. 1994: Ndeti (4:51 miles) and Pippig (5:24 miles) are blown to course records. Bob Kempainen lowers American record. Doug Kurtis runs 74th sub-2:20 in 2:15:48.

1995: Pippig, Ndeti become first woman and man to repeat same year. Moses Tanui is second. Pippig’s drink is chamomile tea. Ndeti three-race average: 2:08:43!

1996: Chips are used to score 35,847 finishers. Tanui wins world’s largest marathon. Pippig three-peats, overcoming physical distress. Winners earn $100,000. Jean Driscoll wins seventh.

My Most Unforgettable Marathon…

And What I Learned From It

BY JOHN A. KELLEY WITH RICHARD BENYO

Most marathoners associate me with the Boston Marathon, which I won twice, here in 1945. YONKERS, NEW YORK, May 13, 1962—Most marathoners associate me with the Boston Marathon. I must admit that after starting 61 Bostons and finishing 58 of them, I fondly make that association myself. I also won Boston twice, in 1935 (2:32:07) and in 1945 (2:30:40). I also have the dubious distinction of being a “bridesmaid” of record proportions—I took second place seven times. I also finished in the top 10 at Boston some 18 times.

From the hindsight of 88 years on this earth, I look back at my life as a runner and can’t help but feel blessed. I’ve met so many wonderful people through running and have so many fond memories. Of course, like all runners, especially marathoners, I have also experienced my share of crushing defeats. It seems to me that sometimes we learn more by losing than we do by winning—which is fortunate, since only one person wins a race while the rest of us learn our lessons for that day and apply them to the next race.

When the subject of the single most unforgettable marathon in my long running career comes up, I find I must shift gears (for the uphills) and shift states (to New York). My most unforgettable and most satisfying marathon is my 2:37:42 fourth-place finish at the May 13, 1962, Yonkers National Marathon. What makes that race so special to me is the fact that I was 54 years old when I ran it.