Jerome Drayton, 1976 Olympian and last Canadian man to win Boston Marathon, dies at 80
He won the 1973 Canadian championship before finishing third in Boston in 1974. Three years later — his fifth try in Boston — he pulled ahead when eventual four-time winner Bill Rodgers began to tire in the 77-degree heat and gave Canada its first victory in the race in three decades. His time was 2 hours and 14 minutes. Mr. Drayton finished second at the New York Marathon that fall.
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'Jerome remains the most recent Open Division Men's Champion from Canada, and set the stage for generations of world-class Canadian marathoners to follow in his footsteps,' Boston Athletic Association president Jack Fleming said.
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Mr. Drayton, with a traditional laurel wreath and a wide smile after winning the Boston Marathon.
Uncredited/Associated Press
Mr. Drayton also set a world record on the track for the 10-mile run in 1970 in 46:37.6 and he finished sixth in the marathon at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. The Canada Sports Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 1978, said that he held 12 national titles and set 13 records in his career.
After retiring, he worked as a consultant with the Sports and Fitness Division of Ontario's Ministry of Youth, Culture and Recreation.
'He was a runner who cared not only about his own performance but the growth and development of the sport,' Fleming said. 'The feedback and interest he showed in the Boston Marathon undoubtedly helped shape the marathon in the late 70s and beyond.'
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