As the story goes, a British general during World War I, led by a dispatch runner, grew irritated with the pace set by his guide and ordered him to slow down. For God's sakes, who do you think I am? Tom Longboat? The dispatch runner slowed down and answered, No sir, that's me.
And I won't live until I die. I work hard for my whole life Tom Longboat, born of the Onondagin name, Kogwagi, was born on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario in 1887. He would later become one of Canada's most famed athletes and secure his legacy as one of the most celebrated Canadians of the early 20th century. At age 12, under legal obligation by the Indian Act, Longboat was enrolled in the Mohawk Institute Residential School.
And after a first failed escape attempt, Longboat would stage a successful departure to the sanctuary of his dreams. his uncle's home. Tom Longboat would spend his early teenage years working odd labor jobs and farm work.
It was here that Longboat and observers would realize his immense gift of speed. Longboat, a late teenager at the time, began enlisting in races around Ontario and winning by margins never seen before. It was here that the world started to take notice. Now this caught the eye of the West End YMCA at the corner of Queen and Dover Court, right over there. The Y took Tom in.
They trained them, they housed them in what at that point was a 16-year-old building. Here is where Tom Longboat would spend most of his time training in Toronto. The basement of the West End YMCA, now named the Great Hall.
Thousands upon thousands of laps were made in this room. The room, now named Longboat Hall, was also the location of some of the very first basketball games ever played. In March 1907, Tom Longboat ran the ran down Dover Court here in preparation for the world's largest sporting event, the Boston Marathon.
It was sponsored by the YMCA and there was well over a thousand people here cheering him on. By the time Longboat arrived in Boston in 1907, the world's media was already in a fit. What has to be understood here is the importance long distance running held during the first decade of the 20th century. To the surprise and celebration of many, the young and mysterious man from the Six Nations Resort, Reserve near Brantford, would go on to win the marathon and break the former record by a full and astonishing five minutes.
Upon arrival back in Toronto, Longboat was welcomed by thousands of fans and taken for a torchlight parade to City Hall. The next stop? The 1908 Olympics in London.
Longboat would be up against the fiercest competition the sport had ever seen. But Longboat failed. The runner would fall ill and spend the final 10 kilometers of the race getting sick in the back of a car.
Back to Toronto, and back to training. Now Longboat's training methods at the time involved him working hard and then taking time off. He was labeled as being lazy, but by today's training standards he was well above the curve.
But however Longboat trained, it seemed to work. Soon enough Tom would be winning races and breaking new records again. The world of distance running running was big money. So, promoters set up a series of head-to-head marathon races put on in New York City. Picture the world of championship boxing, except with two runners facing off over 262 laps in a smoke-filled Madison Square Gardens.
With live bands, betting, and substantial prize money to the victor, Longboat would become the professional marathon champion of the world. In 1908, Tom Longboat would marry his first wife. He would enlist as a dispatcher runner for the Allied Forces in World War I and twice be listed as dying in battle.
Upon arrival back in Canada, Tom would find his first wife remarried, for she believed that he had passed away. Longboat would remarry, have kids, and live out his days in Toronto and Ontario. Longboat maintained steady and reliable employment throughout the tumultuous Great Recession, still ran and performed well in races, and always provided well for his family.
Tom Longboat died on the Six Nations Reef in 1936. reserve of pneumonia at the age of 61. To this day, June 4th is the National Tom Longboat Day in Canada, with a school, a running club and many other things named in honour of one of Canada's finest athletes, Tom Longboat. Lord, I know how hard I've tried. I won't live, I won't live until I die. Oh, there's more to life than that.