Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush: the 1908 Olympic marathon and the three runners who launched a sporting craze

Two of the competitors featured in this book had strong Irish connections. The pre-race favourite, Tom Longboat, was a Canadian First Nations athlete who was trained by Pat Flanagan of Kilmallock and spent considerable time training in Ireland before the London games. Johnny Hayes, born and raised in squalid New York City tenement apartments, was ... Read more

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