When Did John Kerry Run the Boston Marathon?

Football Fans For Truth ^ | 5 Oct 04

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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".

[wildandcrazyrussian]

I ran the Boston Marathon in April 1971 as an unofficial runner (I think only 1,000 - 2,000 were qualified and numbered, and 10,000 other people ran just for the heck of it like me, but we never heard the term "bandit" runner 33 years ago). The proof that Kerry couldn't have possibly relaly run the Boston Marathon is that he referred to it as "a great run".

It is NOT a great run. It is physically exhausting because it is not on flat ground. If he had mentioned "Heartbreak Hill" at the 20 (?) mile mark, THEN it might be more plausible that he knew what it is like to run the Boston Marathon!