Tom Longboat

Tom Longboat

Tom Longboat with the Ward Marathon Trophy
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Charles Longboat
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1887-06-04)June 4, 1887 Six Nations Reserve Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Died	January 9, 1949(1949-01-09) (aged 61) Six Nations Reserve Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event	Long-distance
Club	Brantford

Thomas Charles Longboat (June 4, 1887 – January 9, 1949), whose Iroquois name was Cogwagee ("Everything"), was an Onondaga distance runner from the Six Nations Indian reserve near Brantford, Ontario, and for much of his career the dominant long distance runner of the time. June 4 was officially declared "Tom Longboat Day" in Ontario with the passage of Bill 120, a Private Member's Bill put forward by Liberal MPP, Mike Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence). He was known as the "bulldog of Britannia", and was a fighter for the air force at the time.citation needed]citation needed]

Athletic history

When Longboat was a child, a Mohawk (Kanien'kehá:ka) resident of the reserve, Bill Davis, who in 1901 finished second in the Boston Marathon, interested him in running races. He began racing in 1905, finishing second in the Victoria Day race at Caledonia, Ontario. His first important victory was in the Around the Bay Road Race in Hamilton, Ontario in 1906, which he won by three minutes. In 1907 he won the Boston Marathon in a record time of 2:24:24 over the old 24-1/2 mile course, four minutes and 59 seconds faster than any of the previous ten winners of the event. He collapsed, however, in the 1908 Olympic marathon, along with several other leading runners, and a rematch was organized the same year at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Longboat won this race, turned professional, and in 1909 at the same venue won the title of Professional Champion of the World by defeating Dorando Pietri and Alfred Shrubb in front of sell-out crowds.

Tom Longboat, 1907

His coaches did not approve of his alternation of hard workouts with "active rest" such as long walks. When he was a professional, these recovery periods annoyed his promoters and the sports press often labeled him "lazy", although the practice of incorporating "hard", "easy", and "recovery" days into training is normal today. Because of this and other disputes with his managers Longboat bought out his contract, after which his times improved.

Knee and back issues began to cause Longboat issues post-1909. Although this was public knowledge, reporters and fans often blamed "Indian laziness" for his occasional poor showing. Longboat's former manager, Tom Flanagan, spread false rumors that Longboat trained infrequently, contributing to this public attitude of sportswriters towards Longboat. In 1911, he was given a suspended sentence in Toronto for drunkenness, which led to additional criticism from reporters. While many newspaper columns were devoted to his supposed alcoholism, the facts of Longboat's racing career and post-athletic work appear to be a strong contradiction. It has been suggested that efforts to encourage the Temperance Movement within First Nations society may have been the cause of such reporting. Regardless of the intentions behind such coverage, not a month later Longboat won two major races at Hanlan's Point Stadium, setting a personal best in the 12-mile race.

Members of his family wouldn't even believe how fast he could run over such a long distance until he gave his brother a half an hour head start driving a horse and buggy while he ran on foot, and yet he still made it to Hamilton first.

Longboat's chief rival was Alfred Shrubb, whom he raced ten times, winning all the races at 20 miles or more and losing all those at shorter distances.

Longboat served as a dispatch runner in France in World War I while maintaining a professional career. He was twice wounded and twice declared dead while serving in Belgium. Stories said that he had entered a communication trench which was buried by an exploding shell, where he and his comrades were trapped for six days (albeit with sufficient oxygen and provisions) before being rescued. However, Longboat himself debunked that particular myth in an interview with Lou Marsh in 1919. He retired following the war.

While officially an amateur, Longboat had lost only three total races, one of which was his first, the Victoria Day race. By the time he had turned professional, he owned two national track records and several unofficial world records. After joining the professional ranks, he set world records for the 24 and 32-kilometer races and had nearly set the world record for 19 kilometres.

Personal life

Longboat grew up on a small farm in a poor family. His father died when Longboat was five years old. He was enrolled at the Mohawk Institute Residential School at age 12, a legal obligation under the Indian Act at that time. He hated life at the school, where he was pressured to give up his Onondaga beliefs in favor of Christianity, as well as his language. After one unsuccessful escape attempt, he tried again and reached the home of his uncle, who agreed to hide him from authorities. After his athletic successes, he was invited to speak at the institute but refused, stating that "I wouldn't even send my dog to that place."

In 1908 he married Lauretta Maracle. In 1916 he enlisted in the Canadian Army, running messages between military posts. After he was mistakenly declared dead during World War I, Lauretta remarried in 1918. While she was pleased to find out he had survived, she had no desire to leave her new husband. Longboat later married Martha Silversmith, with whom he had four children. After the war Longboat settled in Toronto where he worked until 1944. He retired to the Six Nations Reserve and died of pneumonia on January 9, 1949.

Legacy

File:Tom Longboat federal marker.jpg

A federal historical marker in Oshwekan, Ontario, reflects Longboat's status as a National Historic Person

After Longboat's death, Alfred Shrubb stated in an interview that "he [Longboat] was one of the greatest, if not the greatest marathoner of all time."

In 1951 the Tom Longboat Awards were instituted by Jan Eisenhardt. This program, administered since 1999 by the Aboriginal Sport Circle, annually honours outstanding First Nations athletes and sportsmen in each province; national male and female winners are selected from the provincial winners. Longboat was inducted into both Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (in 1955) and the Indian Hall of Fame.

Longboat is also commemorated annually by the Toronto Island 10 km race.

In 1976, Longboat was designated a National Historic Person.

Awards are given out to top Aboriginal amateur athletes in Canada every year.

Tom Longboat was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. He was the first person of Native American descent (Onondaga) to win the Boston Marathon, and one of only two Native Americans ever to win it (the other being Ellison Brown, a Narragansett).

A 46-cent first-class postage stamp honoring Longboat was issued by Canada Post on February 17, 2000.

Google's June 4, 2018, Doodle celebrates the life and legacy of Tom Longboat, and was distributed across Canada and the United States.

See also

• Notable Aboriginal people of Canada
• List of winners of the Boston Marathon

General references

• Jack Batten. The Man Who Ran Faster Than Everyone. Tundra Books, 2002.
• Bruce Kidd. Tom Longboat. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1992.
• David Blaikie. Boston, the Canadian Story. Seneca House Books, 1984 ISBN 0-920598-04-8
• Louis Laforce. 'Tom Longboat'. CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2013 ISBN 978-1494787554

External links

• CEF Attestation Paper
• Louise Cuthand, Tom Longboat... A Notable Indian Athlete
• Cheryl Petten, Tom Longboat: Athlete continues to inspire
• Alfred Shrubb, Thomas Charles Longboat World Championship Iroquois Marathoner 1887-1949
• John G. Lyng, Meeting Tom Longboat's Daughter
• Tom Longboat (Ed Dixon)
• Hark, a vagrant: Tom Longboat (webcomic by Kate Beaton)