Word: pulkkinen
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...heads." But by the time the field reached the first check point in Framingham, the tangle had unwound. The nickel noggins had dropped back; a Staten Island, N.Y. schoolteacher named William Welsh was striding easily in the lead. Close on the pace, a scant 100 yards back, came Eino Pulkkinen, a smooth-running Finn, and Nick Costes, a Natick, Mass, schoolteacher who finished ninth last year. Almost unnoticed, in 13th place was Hideo Hamamura, 26, a light (132 lbs.) little Japanese clerk. Last time he had run himself out in the early stages, and finished sixth. Now he was taking...
Veteran in the Rear. Up "Heartbreak Hill," the steep slope near Boston College, Pulkkinen began to turn it on. He passed Costes, but he could not hold the pace. Behind him, and gaining steadily, was Hamamura, the tireless Japanese. When he passed the Leyden Congregational Church, Hamamura was in front. At Coolidge Corner, the last check point, he was right up with the course record set by his countryman, Keizo Yamada, in 1953. "Record, y'understan'? Record!" screamed a reporter from the press bus. Hamamura, who understood not a word, grinned back, a gold tooth glinting through...
...sprinted across the finish line at the Lenox Hotel with such momentum that Mayor John Hynes had to run after him before he could crown him with the traditional laurel wreath. Hamamura's time: 2:18.22, just 29 seconds better than Yamada's record. Third, back of Pulkkinen, Nick Costes clocked the fastest American time (2:19.57) since Vic Dyrgall finished second in 1952. Way back in 24th place was U.S. Veteran John Kelley, 47, who earned the laurel wreath twice (1935 and 1945), in the days before the foreigners took over the Patriots' Day marathon. Since...
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