Aging Olympian slowed by numerous aliments
John Woodruff to miss annual 5-K race Age and the frailties that sometimes come with it have combined to do something that an elite field of world runners couldn’t do more than 60 years ago – stop John Woodruff, the first runner from the state of Pennsylvania ever to win an Olympics gold medal.
Yes, that is another “first” that John Woodruff owns.
The annual John Woodruff 5-K Race will be run in Connellsville July 10, and for the first time since its inception 20 years ago, the man the classic honors won’t be able to attend.
John recently moved from his home in New Jersey to a community in Arizona where the daily warmth and low humidity make it easier for him to enjoy his days. But numerous ailments that have caught up to the octogenarian Olympic champion will force him to cancel his planned trip back to Connellsville for the race.
However, while he can’t be here in person, John will still be present in another sense. Recently, local artist Rich Newill made a large sketch of John in running stride and some Olympic reminders in the background. The sketch has been reproduced, and a member of the local race committee will be going to Arizona shortly to visit John and will have him sign the reproductions. The reproductions will then be sold locally with the proceeds going to help finance the race.
John said the last time he was in Connellsville that he looks forward to the annual race for “it give me the chance to come home and visit with many friends here.”
Historically, John now owns another “first” that not too many people were aware of. When Woodruff won the gold medal in the 1936 Olympics at Berlin, Germany, as the 800-meters champion runner, it was noted then that this was the first time since 1912 that an American runner had won this particular event. This was also the last time the Olympics in general and the 800-meters in particular would be held prior to World War II.
A recent check of records also showed that not only was John Woodruff the first American runner to win the 800-meters in a quarter of a century – he was also the first runner from the state of Pennsylvania ever to win a gold medal in the Olympics.
Sadly, John also has a distinction of another kind. He is the last surviving American gold medalist from those 1936 Games. Right at the moment, no figures are available on how many 1936 gold medallists are alive in the entire world, but the guess here is that they can be counted on one’s fingers.
John Woodruff is a man of great character traits, character itself being number one. But he also has a delightful sense of humor, a big contagious smile, a warm, friendly manner, and he loves to tell you about his family. But when the talk turns to him and his achievements, he exhibits another side of his personality – modesty.
Ask John about his record-setting running career at Connellsville High, the University of Pittsburgh and finally the Olympics, and he will purse his lips, pause for a second, and then answer, with a smile “ohhhhhh…..,” but then quietly answer your question.
He still holds the all-time records at Connellsville High for the mile and 880-yard runs, and still owns the county 880 record. His county mile record was broken some years ago by Uniontown runner Joe Thomas, and he set a hatfull of school, NCAA and national records while at Pitt, all of which have been surpassed.
The records he set at Connellsville, including state and one national mark, earned him a scholarship to Pitt where he competed four years for legendary coach Carl Olson. At the end of his freshman year, Olson got him to enter the Olympic trials, and after winning the semifinals at Harvard Stadium, he advanced to the finals at Randalls Island, N.Y.
There, he outran an elite field of American competitors, including Ben Eastman (California) who some observers called “invincible” (how wrong they would be!), and Chuck Hornbostel of Indiana. John outran them all in 1:51 and was on his way to Germany. John forever commemorated his win at Randalls Island by naming his daughter Randalyn.
Woodruff owned a stride that was measured at nine feet, which had earned him the nickname “Seven League Boots” conceived by James M. Driscoll, owner and publisher of the Connellsville Daily Courier.
Arthur Daley, long time great sports writer for the New York Times, wrote prior to the 800 race, “if the other half-milers are smart enough to keep cutting in front of him (Woodruff) and force him to chop that gigantic stride of his, they may beat him. But if they let him get out by himself, he should breeze in.”
Prophetic words, indeed.
On race day, John lined up with Phil Edwards (Canada), Mario Lanzi (Italy), Harry Williamson (USA), Hornbostel (USA), Kazimiere Kocharski (Poland), McCabe (England) and Backhouse (Australia).
Edwards took the lead at the start with Woodruff second over the first lap. As they headed down the backstretch on the second go-round, Woodruff took the lead, but only for an instant as Edwards, who had run in two previous Olympics, moved around him.
John recalled one time in one of our visits “I was just a young, novice runner, against these experienced veterans, and pretty soon they had me boxed in and I couldn’t get out.”
Then, as they moved into the final lap, Woodruff made a move that caused the crowd to gasp, a move that Jese Abramson, covering the Games for the New York Herald-Tribune, called “the most daring move seen on a track.”
In describing the “move” to me, John recalled “I came to a complete stop on the track and let the other runners get around me, then I moved to the outside two lanes wide. I actually stopped running, but what I didn’t know at that moment was that while the other runners were moving past me I got spiked.
“I moved out into the third lane and was last in the pack. I felt I had to do something drastic, for I couldn’t break between the two leaders because I would have been disqualified on a foul. So, I just started running from the third lane, then got around everybody and went for the lead.”
John charged for home in that long, lengthening stride of his, and in one final burst of speed, he took the lead and held it to the tape, winning in 1:52.9, followed by Lanzi, who had just edged ahead of Edwards, Kucharski, McCabe, Backhouse, Anderson, Hornbostel, and Williamson.
As he recalled the race, John pondered, “I was boxed in and had to get out, so I had to stop, let them go by, and then regain my stride. They were all smart, experienced runners, so I had to do what I did.”
Then, as he leaned back in his chair, John smiled and said, “To this day, two questions bother me. One, if I could have led all the way, I wonder what my time might have been, and second, when I had to go two lanes wide around everybody, I wonder just how far I really ran that day.”
Every winner that year received an oak tree sapling from the Black Forest in Germany presented by the German government. John brought his home and presented it to the city of Connellsville. It was planted at the north end of the football stadium, where today it stands more than 60-feet straight tall, just like the man who brought it home from Germany.
Ironically, John had one Olympic honor he was able to keep only two months.
Connellsville presented John with a fine Lord Elgin watch, with an engraving on the back acknowledging his achievement. Returning to Pitt, he was engaged in a workout and the athletes were told they would be assigned lockers the next day, but for today, put their clothes in baskets in open lockers when changing into their sweat suits. John put the watch in the pocket of his pants, and when he returned to dress, the watch had been stolen.
But while he had this watch only a couple of months, his great honor of two Olympic “firsts” still stand three score years plus later. And nobody can ever steal those marks.