Ellison Myers Brown Sr (September 22, 1913 – August 23, 1975),[1] widely known as Tarzan Brown, and Deerfoot amongst his people, was a two-time winner of the Boston Marathon, in 1936 (2:33:40) and 1939 (2:28:51). A member and direct descendant of the last acknowledged royal family of the Narragansett Indian tribe of Rhode Island, he also participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He was scheduled to participate in the 1940 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but these were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II. Tarzan Brown is still one of only two Native Americans to have won the Boston Marathon (the other being Thomas Longboat of the Onondaga Nation from Canada, in 1907) and the only Native American to have more than one victory in Boston. He was inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973.

Brown set the American men's record for the marathon at the 1939 Boston Marathon (2:28:51) and at a 1940 marathon in Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts (2:27:30).[2]

Ellison Myers Brown Sr was born on September 22, 1913 in Porter Hill, Rhode Island to Narragansett Indian parents Byron Otis Brown and Grace Ethel Babcock, who had three daughters (Myra, Alice aka "Nina" and Grace) and four sons (including Ellison).[3] Brown received little formal schooling. He attended the Tomaquag School in Alton for at least 3 years, and didn't complete his schooling beyond seventh grade. The nickname "Tarzan", so the story goes, was given to him early in life. He was a natural outdoorsman with an athletic build and lots of strength. He liked to climb trees, swing from branches rope to ropes. He wasn't afraid of heights, had lots of strength, good balance, and seemingly had no limits. Tarzan Brown first received notice for running when he was merely 12 years old, as he ran and followed fellow Native American runner, Horatio Stanton, as Stanton was training for an upcoming race. Thomas "Tip" Salimeno, Stanton's trainer, took young Ellison under his wing when Ellison reached the age of 16, and the first steps to an illustrious career in marathon running were underway, a career that saw Brown eventually win the Boston Marathon in 1936 and 1939 and become a member of the 1936 U.S. Olympic team.[4]

Heartbreak Hill & 1936 Boston Marathon Victory

Heartbreak Hill is an ascent over 0.4-mile (600 m) between the 20 and 21-mile (32 and 34 km) marks, near Boston College. It is the last of four "Newton hills", which begin at the 16-mile (26 km) mark and challenge contestants with late (if modest) climbs after the course's general downhill trend to that point. Though Heartbreak Hill itself rises only 88 feet (27 m) vertically (from an elevation of 148 to 236 feet (45 to 72 m)),[5] it comes in the portion of a marathon distance where muscle glycogen stores are most likely to be depleted—a phenomenon referred to by marathoners as "hitting the wall."

"Tarzan" Brown had taken off so fast at the start of the 1936 Boston Marathon that the press followed the second runner, John A. Kelley, until the 20-mile mark, and it was on this hill that Kelley caught up to Tarzan. As Kelley overtook Tarzan—an amazing feat given the steady record breaking pace Tarzan had set—Kelley patted Tarzan on the back. What followed was a struggle between Tarzan, who took the lead on the downhills, and Kelley, who took the lead on the uphills, until finally Tarzan took the lead again to win the race, as Kelley faded to a fifth-place finish. This struggle inspired reporter Jerry Nason to name the last Newton hill "Heartbreak Hill" because Tarzan "broke Kelley's heart" there.[4]

From Wikipedia

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