On This Day: Clarence DeMar wins Boston Marathon for record seventh time

APRIL 19, 1930: Legendary long-distance runner legend Clarence DeMar won the Boston Marathon for a record seventh time on this day.

The 41-year-old American completed the prestigious endurance race in a time of two hours, 34 minutes and 48 seconds.

It would prove to be his last victory in the world’s oldest marathon, which he went on to run a total of 33 times before finally retiring at age 65.

However, his 1930 win - coming 19 years after his first – ensured he set a record that is unlikely to be surpassed.

DeMar, who was filmed in a British Pathé newsreel coming seventh in the 1938 race, completed his first Boston Marathon in 1910 and, incredibly, finished second.

Yet it was nearly his last race after doctors urged him to stop long distance running after diagnosing a potentially fatal heart murmur.

But DeMar, who would come to be nicknamed Mr DeMarathon Man, ignored their advice and carried on.

He was determined to win and the following year, in 1911 - and he did, setting a then course record of 2:21:39 in the process.

But amid continuing health warnings, he took a five-year break after the representing the USA in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm.

In the mean time, he earned a received an Associate of Arts degree in printing from Harvard before being drafted into the army in 1917 amid the First World War.

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That year he also decided to resume marathoning, coming third in Boston and winning the Brockton Fair despite being virtually unprepared.

He concentrated on his work as a printer until 1922 when he returned to serious training and won in Boston again with a new record of 2:18:10.

He repeated the victory in 1923 and 1924 – when the full Olympic distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run for the first time instead of 24.5 miles.

He then won a bronze medal after coming third in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The following year, he came second in Boston and was determined to do better.

He did, winning five consecutive marathons, including the Boston one in 1927.

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He continued his success with another victory in the Massachusetts capital in 1928.

But after turning 40 in June 1928, age appeared to have finally caught up with DeMar and he finished a lowly 27th in the next Boston Marathon 10 months later.

So, his win in 1930, was in many ways the sweetest of all.

At that time, the next closest competitors in the all-time winners’ rankings had each only won two of the races.

DeMar’s record of seven looked unsurpassable.

It was not until Kenyan Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot’s fifth Boston victory last year that his feat looked like it might possibly be matched – but it still remains a long shot.

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The 2013 marathon – the 117th race – was marred by a bombing attack that killed three spectators as other competitors reached the finishing line.

The Boston Marathon - which began in 1897 after the event was staged for first time at the 1896 Olympics – is now one of six majors that take place annually.

The others are Tokyo (established in 2007), London (1981), Berlin (1974), Chicago (1977) and New York (1970).