![]() This story is mostly for me, to look back and understand where I came from, but it also may be of interest to others as they too become an ultrarunner. But along these unexpected paths, running somehow evolved. I personally never dreamed to be a runner of any kind and in fact most of my life, pretty much despised running. The journey to becoming an ultrarunner has many varied paths. During his running career, he won the equivalent of $3.5 million in today’s value and lost it all. He competed in at least 110 ultras, including eleven in Madison Square Garden, where he set a world record, running 565 miles in six days in front of tens of thousands of spectators and wagerers. ![]() This biography also presents twenty-three years (1879-1902) of the amazing pedestrian era history as experienced by Hart when ultradistance running was the most popular spectator sport in the country. He was the first black pedestrian to compete against whites in high-profile, mega-mile races in front of tens of thousands of people. It is an important story to understand, both for the amazing early inclusiveness of the sport, and to understand the cruel racist challenges he faced as he tried to compete with his feet and sometimes with his fists. ![]() ![]() In a sense, he was the Jackie Robinson of the sport of ultrarunning in the 19th century, overcoming racial barriers to compete at the highest level in the world, in the extremely popular spectator sport of ultrarunning/pedestrianism.įrank Hart’s full story has never been told before. In 1879, just twelve years after the Civil War ended, Frank Hart of Boston, Massachusetts, became the first black running superstar in history, and the most famous black athlete in America. The first is about Frank Hart (1856-1908) from Boston, Massachusetts. New Book! I’ve started to compile some of my research and stories in books. ![]()
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