Coach Pimm remembers...
I am terribly saddened to learn of the recent passing of Canada’s greatest marathoner, Jerome Drayton. He was truly an inspiration to all Canadian distance runners due to his accomplishments, as documented by the Sports Hall of Fame HERE.
As a past young member of the Toronto Olympic Club, I had the pleasure of being one of Jerome’s club mates and even ran with him - on a few of his easy days. And of course his 3 victories between 1969 and 1975 of the most prestigious Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship over the world’s best, made him my hero. Here’s an excerpt of some of that race's results:
I am terribly saddened to learn of the recent passing of Canada’s greatest marathoner, Jerome Drayton. He was truly an inspiration to all Canadian distance runners due to his accomplishments, as documented by the Sports Hall of Fame HERE.
As a past young member of the Toronto Olympic Club, I had the pleasure of being one of Jerome’s club mates and even ran with him - on a few of his easy days. And of course his 3 victories between 1969 and 1975 of the most prestigious Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship over the world’s best, made him my hero. Here’s an excerpt of some of that race's results:
Note – Drayton’s 1975 time of 2:10.09 stood as the Canadian record for 43 years until Cam Levins broke it in 2018.
Drayton in the Fukuoka Marathon
WORLD RECORD
Needless to say, all of us were in awe of his accomplishments, including his 1977 Boston Marathon victory. But for me, the pièce de résistance was when, in 1970, he set the World Record for 10 miles on the track with a time of 46:47.6. And this record, was set in Toronto on the old CNE 440 yard track.
AUDIO
I was a privileged participant in that race, and in 2013, I made an Audio commemorating Jerome’s performance. You can listen to that Audio by clicking HERE and scrolling down to the one titled, Reflections about Jerome Drayton: Canadian marathon record holder...still. The portion of that Audio re: Drayton begins at 2:00 minutes.
JEROME DRAYTON : Thanks for the inspiration !
Needless to say, all of us were in awe of his accomplishments, including his 1977 Boston Marathon victory. But for me, the pièce de résistance was when, in 1970, he set the World Record for 10 miles on the track with a time of 46:47.6. And this record, was set in Toronto on the old CNE 440 yard track.
AUDIO
I was a privileged participant in that race, and in 2013, I made an Audio commemorating Jerome’s performance. You can listen to that Audio by clicking HERE and scrolling down to the one titled, Reflections about Jerome Drayton: Canadian marathon record holder...still. The portion of that Audio re: Drayton begins at 2:00 minutes.
JEROME DRAYTON : Thanks for the inspiration !
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