john a. kelley: 1907-2004
john aldebert kelley passed away on the eve of 6 oct 2004. he was 93 years old, but don't ever tell him that. by all of his accounts, i am quite sure that he would say that he was 93 years young. "old john" was by any standard, one of the most well rounded runners to have ever lived. by my personal standard, he is the greatest to ever run.
he was a world class marathoner. he competed as an olympian for the united states and won two baa boston marathon titles, but is most well known for his finishing 61 baa boston marathons in his lifetime, a record unlikely to be touched for generations to come.
he was a world class citizen. he worked as a florist, then as a electrician during his formative years in boston. he would say that the manual labor would help strenghten him for training and competition in races.
he was a world class family man. he had strong ties to his siblings; he married four times during his life. one marriage was short lived (Barbara) due to differences, but he lost his first spouse (Mary) to cancer at a young age, was married to his third spouse (Laura Harlow) until she passed on after 40+ years of marriage, and was married to his fourth spouse (Ginger DeLong) up until his death.
he was a world class human. he enjoyed singing, playing the piano, and painting. to call johnny kelley an icon of american marathoning would be doing him little justice.
i had the pleasure of meeting johnny kelley, if but just for a minute, when i ran the boston marathon in 2000. it was after a presentation he gave to a SRO crowd of about 200. i wrote about this experience for my running club's newsletter that summer:
However, [Amby Burfoot] was there only to introduce John A. Kelley. Ninety-three years young, "Old John" Kelley has 58 Bostons under his belt, including 2 victories. The educated crowd regarded him as a patron saint. Kelley walked in from the back to a thunderous ovation, to which he responded with a soft-shoe dance. Smiling and jogging, he found his way to the stage so that Burfoot could award him with the Runner's World Runner of the Century award, to which Kelley started crying. He told stories of how Heartbreak Hill got its name, and how the Wellesley girls came to be ("They wouldn't let the girls come out and watch. Well, I changed all that."). Kelley closed with his rendition of Sinatra's Young at Heart, to which he received another standing ovation from the 200 person audience. Being in that room that day felt as if you were at some promised land for those who loved running -- tears were rolling for quite a while after. At that point, Boston meant the world to me, and the race was still two days away.
his advice that he gave runners aspiring to run their first marathon or to achieve new records at this year's running of the baa was simply "Run it like you do at home. you're at home." those words have stuck with me for years, reminding me that home is never further away than my pair of running shoes and the nearest door.
after the presentation, i greeted old john--i told him that if my life turned out to be as half as fruitful and rewarding as his was, that i would have lived a good life. his smiled a frail smile and said 'thank you,' his age showing through his verbal quiver. i had him sign a book of mine (The Quotable Runner, Will-Weber, Breakaway Books 1995) in which he was quoted:
God's been good to me. I've caught a few bad breaks along the way, but God likes me. And I like Him, too. Time marches on and hear I am way up in my 80s. Jeepers. want to run till I'm 100. I'll never stop. People ask me about my philosophy of life all the time. I just put one foot in front of the other and keep going.
mr. kelley, you have been nothing short of a hero to me. i too have had dreams of running until 100, partially, if not completely because of you. by the book, you fell three years short of your desire, but i will not hesitate to say that there is not a soul on earth who would say you fell short of anything. the running world pauses in grief, i pause in grief, knowing to only pause for a short while, for you would prefer them to keep moving, keep experiencing life both on and off the road. we will.
with every stride, your legacy lives on.
happy trails, now and forever. you will be missed deeply.
john a. kelley
6 sept 1907- 6 oct 2004
[for more columns and information, visit http://www.baa.org]
Young at Heart -- Frank Sinatra
Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you
If you’re young at heart
For it’s hard, you will find, to be narrow of mind
If you’re young at heart
You can go to extremes with impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams
And life gets more exciting with each passing day
And love is either in your heart or on it’s way
Don’t you know that it’s worth every treasure on earth
To be young at heart
For as rich as you are it’s much better by far
To be young at heart
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you’ll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part
You have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you’ll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part
You have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart
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