John J. Kelley
John J. Kelley ( John Joseph "Johnny" Kelley ; born December 24, 1930 in Norwich , Connecticut , † August 21, 2011 in North Stonington , Connecticut) was an American marathon runner .
Career
From 1956 to 1963 he was US champion eight times in a row as the winner of the Yonkers Marathon .
At the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956 , he came in 21st place. The following year he won the Boston Marathon , where he had finished second the year before (in 2:14:33 h on a 1.1 km short course) with his personal best of 2:20:05 h. After he had finished second again in Boston in 1958 and 1959, he won the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago.
In 1960 in Rome he finished 19th in his second Olympic participation. In 1961 he finished second in Boston and Canadian champion. He was placed in the top ten three more times in Boston: in 1962 he was fourth, 1963 second and 1964 seventh.
In total, he started 32 times in Boston and reached the finish line 31 times, most recently in 1992 as a 61-year-old.
John J. Kelley worked as a teacher at a high school in Groton . He also coached and discovered Amby Burfoot , the 1968 Boston winner. He later worked as a taxi driver and freelance writer, co-authoring a biography of Jock Semple, former race director of the Boston Marathon, which he opened in 1980 Wife Jacintha runs a sports shop in Mystic, where he lives . In 2002 he was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame . Kelley died of melanoma that metastasized to his lungs. He left three daughters and eight grandchildren (his wife died in 2003). His grave is in the Elm Grove Cemetery in Mystic.
He is often referred to as The Younger to distinguish him from Johnny Kelley (The Elder) , who won in Boston in 1935 and 1945.
Publications
- with Jock Semple & Tom Murphy: Just Call Me Jock: The Story of Jock Semple, Boston's Mr. Marathon. Waterford Publishing, 1981, ISBN 0942052013
Web links
- Profiles: John J. Kelley on Running Past
- John J. Kelley, RIP, 1930-2011: 1957 Boston Marathon Winner; America's First Modern Road Runner , Obituary by Amby Burfoot in Runner's World , August 21, 2011
- John J. Kelley, Marathon Champion, Dies at 80 , obituary by Frank Litsky in the New York Times , August 21, 2011
- John J. Kelley, 80; Marathon champ carried hopes of the nation , obituary by John Powers in the Boston Globe , August 22, 2011
- John J. Kelley in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Amby Burfoot: The Man Who Taught Me Everything ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Runner's World . March 27, 2007
- ↑ National Distance Running Hall of Fame: John J. Kelley ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ John J. Kelley in the Find A Grave database
- ↑ Amby Burfoot: John J. Kelley - A Different Kind of Teacher . In: Runner's World . August 28, 2011
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kelley, John J. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kelley, John Joseph; Kelley, Johnny; The Younger |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American marathon runner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 24, 1930 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Norwich (Connecticut) |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 21, 2011 |
| Place of death | North Stonington , Connecticut |