When Did John Kerry Run the Boston Marathon?

Football Fans for Truth ^ | October 4, 2004 | Football Fans for Truth

[americaprd]

Recently, Football Fans for Truth learned that John Kerry claimed a significant achievement: qualifying and running the Boston Marathon.

In an ESPN interview, he said, "I ran a marathon back in '80, something like that. Did the Boston Marathon."

An ESPN analysis of his athletic achievements mentions that "[he] ran the Boston Marathon in the 1970s".

In its November 2004 issue, Runner's World observes that John Kerry "[ran] the Boston Marathon in the '70s".

In April 2002, John Kerry was the starter for the Boston Marathon. The Daily Free Press reports that Senator Kerry "lamented the fact that time constraints had made it impossible for him to run in the Marathon, which he participated in 20 years ago."

In a conversation with a Iowa state senator, John Kerry said, "I remember my first Boston Marathon ... it's a great run."

In a later article, ESPN tried to nail down the exact date and reported that "there's no official record of his feat, and his campaign did not provide further details despite repeated inquiries." The November issue of Runner's World reports that "he doesn't recall his time, and no official record exists".

While we hold that John Kerry is not fit to be sports-fan-in-chief, Football Fans for Truth will alert their many readers to John Kerry's Boston Marathon run as evidence of our dedication to honesty and openness. But we're not sure exactly when this event occurred. Did he run it twice, once in the 70s and once in 1980, or once in 1980 and once in 1982? When did he qualify for the marathon?

We aren't too surprised that John Kerry doesn't remember his time. After all, he can't remember the name of an historic football stadium or current baseball players, so how can we expect him to remember an event that happened 20....no, 22...no, 24 or 25, maybe?...years ago?

[VadeRetro]

Also, the qualifying times back in the seventies were under 3 hours. There is no way that a sub-3 hour marathoner would not remember running Boston for the first time. What a maroon!!

What a flat-out liar! Cambodia is one thing, but this is serious stuff.

[OldFriend]

The same year he spent Christmas in Cambodia?

My daughter ran a maraton and let me tell you, it's not something you forget. You know your time and you sure as heck know the year.

[rabidralph]

All Kerry has to say now is that he would have beat that Kenyan if he hadn't tripped him.

[ironman]

From what I can tell it is not a bike race, it is a bike-a-thon for charity. There are no "places."
http://www.pmc.org/

[johnny7]

It was around the year he sighted a 16 point buck on Cape Cod.

[RightField]

Also stunt flyer?. until recently???

Very interesting ESPN article!

[deport]

Well maybe it was one of the following years........

---

The Year Of The Rat

1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996

People born in the Year of the Rat are noted for their charm and attraction for the opposite sex. They work hard to achieve their goals, acquire possessions, and are likely to be perfectionists. They are basically thrifty with money. Rat people are easily angered and love to gossip. Their ambitions are big, and they are usually very successful. They are most compatible with people born in the years of the Dragon, Monkey, and Ox.

[Route66]

That's right. He should have had to run other races before Boston. There have to be records of him finishing at least one race somewhere with a recorded time. With some digging, this should be verifiable...if it's true. [I'm not holding my breath.]

[ProudVet77]

Having your picture taken at the finish line is common practice at all major races, and particularly marathons. I have mine from several I ran. I ran boston as a back of the packer because I couldn't qualify, so you don't get your picture taken at the finish, but I did something better. My 2nd time I brought a disposable camera with me and took pictures all the way into boston. Including 3 or 4 on Boyleston street.
Give me 3 minutes with Kerry and I'll be able to tell you if he ever ran it. There are little things like what is on the left hand side when you cross 128? When you turn onto commonwealth to start the hills, what is on the corner. How do you know there are no more hills ahead. etc etc...

[RightField]

uh oh ... my link is bad ... try the link in post #22 ...the stunt flyer reference is near the bottom

[mountaineer]

Bottom line, in case anyone hasn't yet caught on, is that John Effin Kerry is a liar. He didn't run the Boston Marathon, but for some reason has decided it makes sense to claim he did.

[infogeekmom]

This is so sad. Kerry is one sick individual. You look up the definition of narcissism in the dictionary and it says: a personality disorder characterized by the patient’s overestimation of his or her own appearance and abilities and an excessive need for admiration. Then it shows his picture.

As President (God forbid) what will he give away in order to gain the admiration of the UN, France and Germany? Oh, not to mention North Korea, because he would of course be able to have successful bilateral negotiations with them to suspend their Nuke program.

[AmericanMade1776]

< With the exception of Ronald Reagan, every president since the mid-'70s has been a runner. George W. ran a 3:44 marathon at Houston a decade ago. Kerry says he completed a Boston in the '70s but forgets his time (Question: Did he forget his qualifying time, too, or didn't he have to qualify?).

Even 2000 Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore finished a marathon once.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/131-09302004-374518.html

[King David]

Exactly my point--you don't just decide one day to go run the Boston Marathon. You have to qualify at sactioned marathons around the country. I wonder if Kerry can name the qualifying event he ran in to become eligible for Boston?

[conservativecorner]

Two other instances of Kerry's claim to have run Boston are here and here. You'll have to scroll down a bit and his comments are really asides to the articles. The first article is by Roger Simon, the Chief Political Correspondent for US News and World Report. The second article dates back to 2002, so this is apparently not a new claim.

You'd think the list of entrants still exists somewhere for an enterprising reporter to dig up...

http://www.rogersimon.com/archive/000292.html

http://www.dailyfreepress.com/news/2002/04/16/News/17000.From.Across.Globe.Begin.106th.Boston.Marathon-237930.shtml?page=2

The quote from the second site, so you don't have to register:

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who fired the starter's pistol, also expressed his admiration for the runners. He lamented the fact that time constraints had made it impossible for him to run in the Marathon, which he participated in 20 years ago.

"I love the Marathon," he said. "I admire everyone. To run, it takes a lot of spirit and a lot of guts."

[Twinkie]

And in a surprise announcement, the Kerry campaign announced today that John Kerry had also won an Olympic Gold Medal in the javelin toss back in '72 or '80, something like that; however, clearly someone in the Bush camp has not only stolen the original medal, but the Olympic records as well. John Kerry did locate the ribbon which held the medal which is seared, seared in his mind as having been placed around his neck.

[bonny011765]

falcon--I will chase you down for that one. Sincerely, FloJo
(that is a joke, not a threat :) )

[Twinkie]

Oh yeah, the medal was won for France.

[AmericanMade1776]

IMUS: Yes. I have a picture here of you—a pretty attractive photograph of you on the cover of “Runner’s World.”

EDWARDS: Yes. And somebody told me you said I hadn’t run a real marathon.

IMUS: Well, you haven’t run New York or Boston, have you?

EDWARDS: No. Are those the only marathons in the country?

IMUS: Well, no, but the marathons you run are treadmill marathons.

(LAUGHTER)

I mean, Oprah Winfrey ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington.

(LAUGHTER)

EDWARDS: Listen, if it’s 26 miles, it counts.

IMUS: Senator Kerry says he ran the Boston Marathon in the ‘70s, but he can’t recall his time and there’s no record of it. And my question is, a guy runs one marathon in his life and he can’t remember the time, and I was talking to my sportswriter friend Mike Lupica and he said, “Are we looking at a Boston Marathon Veterans for Truth ad situation here?”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6131397

[RXSalesman]

That was Rosie Ruiz in 1980.