Ellison Brown

Ellison Myers Brown (September 22, 1914 [cite web | url = http://members.shaw.ca/tarzanbrown/legend%20of%20tarzan%20brown.html | title = Legend of Tarzan Brown: A Native American Hero | first = David Gary | last = Wilson | accessdate = 2007-03-18 ] - August 23, 1975 [cite web | url = http://www.quahog.org/factsfolklore/index.php?id=7 | title = Ellison Myers 'Tarzan' Brown aka Deerfoot | work = Notable Rhode Islanders publisher = Quahog.org | accessdate = 2007-03-18 ] ), widely known as Tarzan Brown, was a two-time winner of the Boston Marathon in 1936 (2:33:40) and 1939 (2:28:51). A member of the Narragansett tribe, he also participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He was scheduled to participate in the 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, but these were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II.

Biography

Tarzan Brown won the Boston Marathon in 1936 and 1939.cite book | title = Ellison "Tarzan" Brown: The Narragansett Indian Who Twice Won the Boston Marathon | first = Michael | last = Ward | publisher = McFarland & Company | date = 2006-06-05 | isbn = 0786424168 ] He took off so fast in the 1936 Boston marathon that the press followed the second runner, John A. Kelley, until the 20 mile mark where Kelley caught up to Tarzan. As Kelley overtook Tarzan--an amazing feat given the steady record break pace Tarzan had set--Kelley patted Tarzan on the back. What followed was a struggle between Tarzan, who took the lead on the downhills, and Kelley, who took the lead on the uphills, until finally Tarzan took the lead again to win the race. This struggle inspired reporter Jerry Nason to name the last Newton hill Heartbreak Hill because Tarzan "broke Kelley's heart."

In the 1939 Boston Marathon he was the first runner to break the 2:30 mark for the marathon. After the 17-mile mark in this race he also broke every checkpoint record. In 1939 Brown entered two different 26-mile races within 24 hours of one another, and he won both races. [cite web | url = http://www.nascsports.org/index.php?page=athletes&sub=brown&back=olympians | title = Ellison Myers 'Tarzan' Brown | work = Native American Sport Council | accessdate = 2007-03-18 ]

Tarzan was born and raised in poverty on a Narragansett reservation. In addition to running, he worked as a stone mason and a shellfisherman. He married Ethel Wilcox Brown and had four children. He was killed in 1975 when a car hit him outside a bar in Westerly, Rhode Island.

Legacy

*"The economy in these depression times provided little for most Americans and nothing for Indians. They were a conquered people living on the margin... Ellison Myers Brown, born on the margin, saw running as his only way out of poverty." -- Tom Derderian [cite book | title = The Boston Marathon: The History of the World's Premier Running Event | first = Tom | last = Derderian | isbn = 0880114797 | publisher = Human Kinetics Publishers | year = 1996 | month = February ]
*"Tarzan ran against people, not against numbers. He probably could have broke other records, but I never pushed him. When you're in a race you don't go out for records, you go out to win." -- Tippy Salerno [cite news | url = http://www.eccentrix.com/members/billrod/tarzan.htm | title = The Best Racer of All | first = Bill | last = Rodriguez | work = Providence Journal-Bulletin | date = 1981-04-19 | accessdate = 2007-03-18 ]

ee also

*List of winners of the Boston Marathon

References

External links

* [http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/mcnh_running/brown.html "Running Today: Olympians: Ellison Myers 'Tarzan' Brown] profile at Against the Winds: Traditions of Native American Running at Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.