11 Facts About Clarence DeMar

Clarence Harrison DeMar was a US marathoner, winner of seven Boston Marathons, and Bronze medalist at the 1924 Paris Olympics.

Clarence DeMar was one of the twelve members of the US marathon team in the 1912 Summer Olympics, where he ran poorly, finishing 12th, complaining that the coaching staff's dictatorial control over the athletes' training had harmed the team's performance.

In June 1915, Clarence DeMar received an Associate of Arts degree from Harvard while working as a printer in the Boston area.

Clarence DeMar resumed marathoning in 1917, finishing third in the Boston Marathon despite little training.

Clarence DeMar was selected as one of the six US Olympic marathon team runners for the 1924 Summer Olympics, where he finished third.

Clarence DeMar continued his success with a second-place finish at the 1925 Boston Marathon and a third-place finish the next year.

Clarence DeMar followed that with five consecutive marathon victories: at the Baltimore Marathon in mid-May 1926; the Sesqui-Centennial Marathon in June; the Port Chester Marathon in October; the Baltimore Marathon again in March 1927; and, on April 19,1927, the Boston Marathon.

Clarence DeMar won at Boston again the next year to secure a spot in the 1928 Summer Olympics but ran poorly there in cool weather, finishing 27th.

In 1929, Clarence DeMar married and took a job teaching printing and industrial history at Keene Normal School to secure a more stable income.

In 2010, Clarence DeMar was posthumously inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame.

The Clarence DeMar marathon has been held in Keene annually since 1978 in his honor.