He's probably mixing up the marathon and his time in Camobodia. Its a mix up that could happen to anyone. That or he actually ran the marathon while in Cambodia. Of course, thats it. John F'ing Kerry, War Hero supreme, was fighting in Cambodia and helping the poor children with charity while running the marathon. Ok, the years are a little screwy, but hey, the story is accurate if the facts are fake, if you know what I mean.

I'll play:

April 1972 - Moves back to district to run for House. Not direct proof, but circumstantial evidence that he wouldn't be training.

April 1986
Chairs the Senate subcommittee on the Iran-Contra hearings that investigates US involvement in illegal gun-running and narcotics trafficking in the contra insurgency in Nicaragua.

April 1989
Concludes investigations on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations that exposes the US government's tolerance of drug smuggling under the guise of national security. The committee concluded that US officials "abandoned the responsibility for protecting our citizens from all threats to their security and well-being."

http://www.independent-media.tv/itemprint.cfm?fmedia_id=7073&fcategory_desc=The%20Zero%20and%20The%20Hero (ironically, a pro-Kerry site)

OK, I've done my share. By Bob Woodward jones is satisfied.

April 20, 1970. On deck of Swiftboat, as it meanders through Cambodia, practicing Tai-Chi.

Since 1970, the Boston Marathon has required runners to qualify by running a marathon within a certain amount of time prior to Patriot's Day for the honor of running in their race. So unless Kerry pulled strings, he wouldn't have been allowed to run unless he actually completed another marathon within the qualifying time. I'd settle for proof of him running either.

Everyone knows that when Kerry was in Boston he was secretly ferrying CIA agents - via piggyback - to Irish bars. Of COURSE we won't find proof; it was SECRET!

I think it bears ivestigating. Most people can get away with a few harmless lies in their lives but Kerry is increasingly displaying he thinks he can manufacture his biography as it suits him. As more and more of the petty crap that is easily debunked piles up it makes one wonder about those things of genuine importance he attributes to himself.

The cite for the 1972 move is a Mother Jones profile of Kerry, FWIW.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2004/02/02_400.html

David

Joe -

I know that is true on official entrants. But I thought they let the ordinary joes run it 15 minutes after the start until recent years, and later on had a handicapped start of self driven athletes and a bunch of non-athlete severely handicapped and their designated wheelchair pushers start 30-45 minutes before the official start..

Can you clarify?

8 years ago, I was up there as a fan again, watching (with marital supervision) as an old girlfriend and longtime friend - ran as a qualified Maine Submaster. Now, I run, but 10-15 K is MORE THAN ENOUGH.

If you look at a Marathon, you will notice that few really tall people (Kerry is 6'4 1/2") can cut running long distances because of knee and hip joint impact stresses vs. ligament structure - And the same, obviously, with heavy lads and lasses that may be in great C-V shape in a pool, even fast in shorter runs - but die on the tarmac from mass movement energy requirements and O2 demands over miles.

Hope if you have more on Kerry's Marathon adventures, Joe, you will post.....

I'm pretty sure the qualifying time for the Boston marathon in the late 1970s and early 1980s was 2 hours, 50 minutes. This is fast. Kerry would have had to be a very dedicated runner to accomplish it, running at least 70-100 miles a week for months if not years. There would be a record of the race in which he qualified as well as the Boston marathon itself. He would have run many 10K races in the vicinity of 33-35 minutes (or faster). I have my doubts.

I suppose it is possible he was given special dispensation, though I doubt it. I never heard of anyone being allowed to run back then without having qualified. Nowadays they do it fairly often. For example, I seem to recall that Will Farrell (the actor) was recently given a race number even though he had not come anywhere near qualifying.

The only other possibility is that Kerry ran the Boston marathon unofficially (i.e., without registering). This would have been considered bad form (only registered runners are supposed to be on the course).

You guys, you guys, you digital brownshirt nazi pajama-clad jihadi THUGS. You take everything so literally.

If Kerry said he ran the Boston marathon, that doesn't mean he was there on the day of the marathon, or that he actually, physically, you know, RAN it. Like, ran it with his own feet. Fer cryin' out loud.

He may have 'run' the course in his limo a couple times. Just to say he was there, and to verify the distance on his odometer for the officials.

Like, if you drove up Mt. Washington, you could say, "Yeah, I climbed Mt. Washington," even if it was just your foot pressure on the gas pedal causing the uphill 'climb.'

You filth. Filthy conservative dirt-digging windbags full of filth and lies. Just stop it.

And don't say that he doesn't have the legs for running. I saw his windsurfing pics and in a wetsuit that man has legs like a pinup girl.

I'm not sure about them letting the mere mortals run after the start, but I don't think so. I do know that in 1996 they did let anyone that wanted to run race in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the race.

They usually cap the number of runners, and since it is one of the most prestigious marathons in the world, I doubt that they'd have much room for non-qualifiers. At the time in question, Kerry was a relatively obscure figure and not a US senator so I doubt that he'd have enough pull to angle a slot (Will Farrell, at least had been on the cover of Runner's World magazine prior to getting a slot) and if he did go to the trouble of getting one, wouldn't he have held on to his finisher's certificate and maybe even remembered his time or at least had a ballpark figure?

Additionally, they stagger the qualifying times by age but I'm not sure if they did that during the time in question, but even so, he'd have had to have had a qualifying time of at least 4 hours.

Somebody call the Boston Athletic Association. Here is their contact info:

http://www.bostonmarathon.org/Contact.asp

I'm an amatuer runner and I remember every marathon I've run and my times. Most runners do, especially if they haven't run that many marathons. Running a marathon is a big deal for a runner, and they don't forget these things.

Running the Boston Marathon is an even bigger deal for a runner, so it's just BS that Kerry couldn't remember some very basic details about his marathon experience, if indeed he had one.

Also, as others have noted, not just anyone can run the Boston Marathon...you have to qualify by running another marathon in a very fast time. So anyone running the Boston Marathon would have a record of being a very competitive amatuer runner at the very least, and probably have completed multiple marathons to get to that level. In short, you would have to be a hard core runner to qualify for the Boston Marathon; if Kerry doesn't have such a personal history, it is doubtful he was able to run the race.

Maybe he threw that medal away, too!!

I have run 9 marathons, and you bet, I remember the course, the time, everything. It's a *marathon* fer Pete's sake, considered one of the hardest things to do in sports!!

And Boston is the Super Bowl of marathonsl!!!

As for qualifying, yes, Boston requires either qualification - which is a pretty good speed on a certified previous marathon, or you can do one of those charity deals like "Team in Training" where if you raise a huge pot of pledges you get in. Also, I think they let M.D.s in automatically. There may be some spots set aside for the tour groups like "Marathon Tours" and also for certain international entries.

Running without a number, or using someone else's number is considered bad form and not sporting at the least.

I ran the Philly Marathon 2 years ago along with a 1/2 iron man that year. The amount of training is huge. I will never forget 2002 as I was in the best shape of life and accomplished two of the three things I have always sought after. Now Iron Man before I am 40. Given the training, pain, sense of accomplishment the only way sKerry can forget when he ran the Boston Marathon is that he never really ran it.

This article suggest that Kerry can pull strings to get into teh Boston marathon, but also suggests that he has run more than once...

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/simon031303.asp

However, I also did a nexus search of MA news sources from 1970 to 1990 and found now evidence that Kerry ran; of course, it may not have been newsworthy, either...

From the daily free press (BU student newspaper) april 2002:

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who fired the starter's pistol, also expressed his admiration for the runners. He lamented the fact that time constraints had made it impossible for him to run in the Marathon, which he participated in 20 years ago.

"I love the Marathon," he said. "I admire everyone. To run, it takes a lot of spirit and a lot of guts."

This lying/inventing is typical for persons with a narcissistic personality disorder.

Kerry says he ran "Back in '80--something like that." Rosie Ruiz "won" the Boston Marathon 1980. Remember her? She was the woman who jumped into the race during the last half mile and then crossed the finish line first. When her stunt was finally runcovered, she was DQ'd, and the true winner was honored. http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/day/04_20_2001.html

I found the interview online with Kerry by ESPN. It turns out our hero is also a stunt pilot. Wow, who'd a thunkit. A real live stunt pilot.

All these activities go a long way toward explaining why he was too busy to drop by the U.S. Senate for votes and roll calls, etc.

Here is the link to the interview:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=questions/johnkerry

Quote from an interview by Kerry (http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/simon031303.asp):

"That's great, great," Kerry says. "I remember my first Boston Marathon ... it's a great run. You've got to come to Boston and do it."

First Boston Marathon? Sounds like he's implying he ran more than one.

Runner's World reports that he ran a 7 miler in 60:50. Apparently becoming a Senator takes you from averaging 6:45 for a marathon to qualify for Boston to 8:35 pace for 7 miles....

Tough.

Wrote to BAA, this is what I got back.

Dear Mr. Saye,

It was reported (Summer 2004) to the B.A.A. by aides of the John F. Kerry campaign for President of the United States that the Democratic nominee ran the Boston Marathon in the late 1970s [1977, 1978 or 1979 most likely]. He reportedly ran as an unofficial entrant and finished the entire 26.2-mile race (i.e., without an official bib number); as an unofficial participant, his performance (name, place, time) would not appear among the official record or in any results book publication. Beginning with Kerry's role as Massachusetts Lt. Governor during the Dukakis administration, the presidential hopeful has been involved with the world's oldest annual marathon on various levels: as ceremonial official starter from Hopkinton, as part of the finish line ceremonies and crowning of the champions with the traditional olive wreath and diamond-studded gold medal, and supporter of the wheelchair division.

Accurate as of Oct. 6 , 2004 with the information provided to the B.A.A.

Thank you for your question.

Sincerely,

Jack Fleming
Director of Communications
Boston Athletic Association
40 Trinity Place, 4th floor
Boston, MA 02116
617.236.1652 ext. 2627


-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Saye [mailto:rsaye@verizon.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 2:01 PM
To: Mile27
Subject: John Kerry's number when he ran the marathon

Hello,

I wondered if this information was available to you. John Kerry ran the marathon sometime in the 70's. Is it possible to find out what year, what his number was, and the time he finished?


Thank You,

Robert Saye

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