Freddie's 1996 Boston Marathon Page

AMAZIN Fred did it again! On April 15, 1996, Mr. Fred crossed the the finish line in 6 hours:45 minutes:45 seconds. This was his fourth Marathon completion in five attempts with his second fastest time (AMAZIN!!!). The Boston Marathon claimed its first fatality since 1973 when a runner, Humphrey Siesage, 61, from Sweden collapsed after suffering a heart attack just as he crossed the finish line. He was in full cardiac arrest as he crossed the finish line. He was defibrillated, intubated and taken to hospital but he did cross the finish line and that's what its all about i.e. crossing the finishing line!!

There have not been one hundred World Series, Super Bowls, World Cups, or Modern Olympics but SMOKIN Fred, as a lottery participant, was part of the 100th running of the Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest and famous road race. It is a race that is respected, yet feared, and champions and did-not-finishers alike have tales to tell regarding the course’s punishing features. It is a race that has crowned its winners in glory and laurel, yet dashed the hopes of thousands of would-be conquerors through its significant up(hill)s and down(hill)s. To "toe" the line in at the start in Hopkinton, and to hours later cross the finish in Boston, is to mark an achievement that will stay in the heart of every Boston participant.

Freddie's Official Results: Finish Time: 7:12:30 Net Finish Time: 6:45:45 Net Half Marathon Time: 3:03:12 Overall Place: 35,737 (oi!) Place Within Gender: 27,287 Place Within Division: 4,765

Boston Marathon tidbits:

• Over 200,000 people have run the Boston Marathon representing nearly 5,240,000 measured course miles.....that's 5 "MILLION" miles folks!

• Only 15 runners completed the first Boston Marathon in 1897.....compared to over 35,000 in 1997.

• The youngest winner in the men's division was 18 year old Timothy Ford from Cambridge, MA in 1906.

• The youngest winner in the women's division was 21 year old Joan Benoit from Maine in 1979.

• Over 60 countries have been represented in the marathon.

• Only the last 1.5 miles of the Boston Marathon are actually in Boston proper; the other 24.7 miles weave throughout the western suburbs of Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Newton, Wellesley, and Brookline.

• In 1975, the Boston Marathon became the world's first major marathon to allow wheelchair racers to compete.

• Next to the Super Bowl, the Boston Marathon is the largest single-day sporting event in the world.

• Johnny Kelly - Simply.....Amazing!
  • Completed the Boston Marathon a record 58 out of 61 starts!
  • Has run in the race consecutive years from 1933 to present.
  • He has placed SECOND a record SEVEN times.
  • Has won the Boston Marathon Twice:

    1935 - 2:32:07 age 27

    1945 - 2:30:40 age 37

  • His last complete marathon was run in 1992 at the age of 84 in 5:58:00.

  • John Kelly served, most appropriately, as the Grand Marshall for the 1995 and 1996 Boston Marathon.

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