DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Native Trailblazer

The Glory and Tragedy of Penobscot Runner Andrew Sockalexis

Ed Rice author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Gooseberry Patch

Published:15th Sep '21

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Native Trailblazer cover

Following an extraordinary debut--17th place in 1911 Boston Marathon--Penobscot Indian Andrew Sockalexis returned to run a spectacular Boston Marathon on muddy, rainy course on April 19, 1912. Only 20 years old, running just his third marathon ever, he came in second and narrowly missed breaking the record time for that course. That same year he became the first Native American to compete in the Olympics, returning to his home of Indian Island, Maine, a champion.

Ed Rice chronicles the tragically short life of Sockalexis--he died at the age of 27 from what was likely tuberculosi--focusing on his running and the races that earned him recognition from the sports community and made him revered at home.

Mike Ryan, who beat Sockalexis in that 1912 Boston Marathon, had this to say about his rival:

"He is a wonder, and when he gains a little more experience he will be a tough one to beat."

ISBN: 9781684750108

Dimensions: 219mm x 141mm x 20mm

Weight: 445g

380 pages