Marathon Runner
Needing money to pay his lawyers, Wada began running indoor marathon races. These were gambling events, in which prizes were measured in thousands of dollars. Wada ran well, too, winning a Nome marathon in March 1907. Said the Dawson Daily News on May 6, 1908:
| “ | All the Japanese boys in town had wagered their last cent of money on their fellow countryman, and their confidence in their man was never lost. Wada was the surprise of the race. Many people believed that he would make a strong showing, but only a few had given the dark-skinned boy credit for the wonderful powers of endurance which he displayed... During the entire race he was off the track but once -- and for only six minutes, the actual time consumed in changing his shoes. While on the run he ate a little raw egg and some tomato, drank a little mineral water, and that was all. | ” |
In August 1907, Wada took his money to Vancouver, British Columbia. The Vancouver Daily Province of August 7, 1907 reported that Wada was a fine storyteller, a favorite being the one about the time he trained two polar bear cubs to pull his sled.
After a month in Vancouver, Wada returned to Dawson City. He secured a dog team, and then drove to Rampart, Alaska, to do some prospecting. He visited whalers wintering at Herschel Island on March 15, 1908. He left the whalers on March 21, and returned to Dawson City via Rampart House, Yukon Territory. It was on this trip that Wada, running short of dog food, reportedly fed the animals his sealskin pants. "Fortunately," he said, "the spring days were so warm that I did not suffer so keenly as such a sacrifice would have entailed in winter." Then, after filing some mining claims and buying a new worsted suit and brown derby, Wada caught a series of steamers to Nome.
Wada left Nome on December 18, 1908, and arrived in Fairbanks on January 11, 1909. This meant his sustained rate by dog team was about 35 miles per day. The reason for this haste was an indoor marathon scheduled for January 15, 1909. Wada finished second.
Wada signed up to run in Fairbanks' Independence Day Marathon, which was scheduled for July 1, 1909, but he fell ill and so didn't participate. After recovering, Wada went south, to run in more long-distance races. On October 7, 1909, he ran a 20-mile race in Vancouver, British Columbia. He lost. He was scheduled to run an officially sanctioned marathon in Seattle on October 17, but did not. The winner, Henri St. Yves, set a world record in that race (2 hours, 32 minutes, 9 and 1/5 seconds).
Read more about this topic: Jujiro Wada
Famous quotes containing the word marathon:
“The mountains look on Marathon—
And Marathon looks on the sea;
And musing there an hour alone,
I dreamed that Greece might still be free;
For standing on the Persians’ grave,
I could not deem myself a slave.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)