Sunday, April 12, 2009

Marathon Legends- Clarence DeMar 1888-1958

“Run like hell and get the agony over with.” -Clarence DeMar

DeMar had an incredible string of Boston Marathon finishes. Diagnosed with a heart murmur and following advice by doctors who examined him, DeMar took several years away from marathoning. Eventually, he must have ignored their advise and resumed racing, and you can see the results.

Boston Marathon Champion 1911, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1930
Other Boston Finishes
1910-2nd
1917-3rd
1925-2nd
1926-3rd

Olympic Games, 1912, 1924 (3rd),1928

According to The Athlete Within by Dr. David Costill, autopsy results on DeMar revealed "a significantly enlarged heart with relatively clean coronary arteries." Left ventricular wall thickness- 18 mm (10-12 mm is normal)
Right ventricular wall thickness- 8 mm (3-4 mm is normal)
Diameter of coronary arteries (2-3 x normal size)

Here is a clip of DeMar winning his 7th Boston Marathon.

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