Milkman Joe Smith

I am a runner. 25 years ago I was pretty good. In the Marine Corps I ran a 5k in 17:44. That was in 1987. I was 19...not 44. Although I have continued to run in the intervening years I have not run competitively. I run to stay in shape. Sometimes, like most people, I tend to slack off and I might go a few weeks without running, but I always find myself on the road again. To run competitively you have to do speed work, strengthening, and interval runs, something that I have never bothered to do. I just get out there and run. Maybe I am just lazy, or stupid, because I have a natural talent. I entered my first 5k in nearly a quarter of a century last Saturday. I finished in 25:22 and felt pretty good at the end finishing 6th in my age group, and 35th overall. I can do better. Running is in my blood. My twin brother is a runner. He wins races. When we were kids we would go to our grandmother's house in Natick, Massachusetts and walk around the block to the 10 mile mark of the Boston Marathon. We would wait to catch a glimpse of the legendary Bill Rogers in his little red shorts, or old two time winner Johnny Kelley in his blue tights as they ran by. We memorized all the marathon winners including the Milkman.

                                  "Milkman" Joe Smith 1942 Boston Marathon Winner
    
      Joe Smith of Medford, Massachusetts was a milkman. In a day before professional runners with their power bars and electrolyte drinks runners actually had jobs. Clarence Demar, a seven time winner of the Boston Marathon was a printer. Les Pawson, a three time winner worked in the mills. Joe Smith delivered milk in a very unique way, he would get out of his truck and run to the houses...up flights of stairs, and back down. He was a big man, nearly 6 feet 2 inches tall. Curious to see how far he could run Smith went for a run and ended up running 19 miles in his work shoes! He then began to train for marathons. In 1942 Milkman Joe Smith entered the Boston Marathon. He was considered a longshot.  On the morning of the race Smith was recuperating from the flu and did not want to run. His wife convinced him to give it a go. For most of the race the milkman was a non-factor. He did not expect to even finish the race, however, something clicked within him. For some reason he became stronger as the race went on. By the 20 mile mark it was obvious that nobody was going to beat the milkman on this cool April day. He finished the race at such a great speed that he barreled into some news reporters at the finish line. His winning time of 2:26:51 had set a course record. Milkman Joe had defied the odds and won. As World War II was raging, the milkman enlisted in the Coast Guard where he served for the remainder of the war. He returned to racing after the war, but his better years were behind him. He died in 1993.

     Competitive running is very different these days. More is known about the human body and how it reacts to certain stresses, diets and training. There is a methodology that is present that was not there during the days of the milkman. The milkman was a natural. This years winner at Boston would have come in 14 minutes ahead of the milkman and that was a slow time. However, I can't relate to these elite runners...For some reason I can relate to Demar, running and hitchhiking his way to work, Pawson...jogging to the mill every morning and jogging home...and of course the milkman, running in his white uniform and work shoes. The milkman has inspired me...like him, a humble worker caught in the cogs of the American corporatist machine...to see what I can do....run.