Cape Cod History

2004: John Kelley dies at 97; 1984: Ninety-four whales die after beaching in Eastham

  John Kelley crossing the finish line a the winner of the 1935 Boston Marathon, the first of two wins for this Yarmouth legend who died on this day in 2004.

On this day in 2004, Yarmouth's great marathoner John Kelley died. A legend of the Boston marathon, Johnny Kelley made his mark as a true endurance athlete.  In the seventeen years from 1934  to 1950, he won it twice, finished in the top five 15 times at, consistently running in the 2:30s.  He ran his last Boston in 1992 at the age of 84, his 61st start and his 58th finish.  Johnny has also run the Yonkers Marathon 29 times.

John A. Kelley, Marathoner, Dies at 97

A 97-year-old John A. Kelley (1935, 1945 winner) breakfasts at the Boston Marathon breakfast for champions in 2004.

John A. Kelley, who ran 61 Boston Marathons, won two and became almost as celebrated as the race itself, died on Wednesday in South Yarmouth, Mass. He was 97.

A stepson, David DeLong, said Kelley died in a nursing home, less than three hours after he arrived from his home in nearby East Dennis.

Kelley was a Boston sports hero in the mold of Ted Williams, Bill Russell, Larry Bird and Bobby Orr, but of that illustrious group the only one home grown and the only amateur. He ran perhaps 1,500 races, including 112 marathons, and won 22 diamond rings, 118 watches, one refrigerator and no money.

The Boston Marathon is the world's most storied running event. In 1935, Kelley covered its 26 miles 385 yards in 2 hours 32 minutes 7 seconds to win for the first time. In 1945, his winning time was 2:30:40, the fastest in the world that year.

He finished Boston 58 times, took second seven times and placed among the top-10 finishers 18 times. After his second victory, the next American winner at Boston was the unrelated John J. Kelley in 1957. When John J. won, he became known as Kelley the Younger and his predecessor and hero Kelley the Elder.

"For me, the race these days is to try to beat the girls to the finish and to wave to all my old friends along the course."
       - John Kelley at 65 in 1972.

When the Elder grew elder, he kept running the Boston race. An hour or more after the leaders had passed by, he and his white hair and his gnarled and bony body, all 5 feet 6 inches and 130 pounds of him, would arrive.

At 65, he said, "For me, the race these days is to try to beat the girls to the finish and to wave to all my old friends along the course." At 70, when he was running 50 miles a week and 15 to 17 races a year, he said: "I'm afraid to stop running. I feel too good. I want to stay alive."

Even in his later years, he ran every day except one, the day before the Boston Marathon. But by 1992, when he was 84, his time at Boston had slowed to 5:58:36. That was his last full marathon. In 1993 and 1994, he ran only the last seven miles, starting at his statue on Heartbreak Hill. Starting in 1995, he was the grand marshal, riding in a convertible at the head of the race and waving to an adoring public.

In 1999, hospitalized with pneumonia, he missed the race. He sent a tape that was played at the champions' breakfast two days before the race, his Irish-tenor rendition of his favorite song, "Young at Heart"... NY Times.

94 Whales Die After Beaching on Cape Cod

On this day in 1984 workers from the New England Aquarium began giving lethal injections to beached pilot whales that could not be saved.

Ninety-four whales, some 20 feet long, were stranded Saturday on a beach near Eastham. The cause of the mass beaching, the largest in the Cape Cod area in recent years, is not known.