The 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, featured what may be the most bizarre marathon in history. The race included a runner who rode in a car for 11 miles, another who was given rat poison as a performance enhancer, a Cuban postman who ran in street clothes, and two South African runners who were chased off course by dogs. Only 14 of the 32 starters finished the race. What should have been a celebration of athletic achievement became a comedy of errors that nearly killed several participants.
The Setting
The 1904 Olympics were poorly organized from the start. Held in conjunction with the World’s Fair in St. Louis, the games stretched over several months and attracted few international competitors. Travel was expensive and difficult, and most countries sent no athletes at all.
The marathon was scheduled for August 30, one of the hottest days of summer. The temperature reached 90°F (32°C) with high humidity—conditions dangerous for a 26-mile race. The course wound through dusty roads filled with vehicles that kicked up clouds of choking dust into the runners’ faces.
Race officials provided minimal water stations, believing excessive hydration weakened athletes. This medical misconception nearly proved fatal.
The Competitors
Thirty-two runners started the race, a mix of experienced marathoners and complete novices. The field included:
- Thomas Hicks: American runner and favorite to win
- Fred Lorz: American distance runner
- Félix Carvajal: Cuban postman who funded his trip by running demonstration races in Havana
- Len Tau and Jan Mashiani: South African Tswana tribesmen who were in St. Louis as part of the World’s Fair’s anthropology exhibit
- Various American runners, mostly amateurs
Félix Carvajal’s Journey
Carvajal’s story began before the race even started. He had raised money for the trip to St. Louis by running demonstration races in Cuba. However, upon arriving in New Orleans, he lost all his money gambling.
He hitchhiked to St. Louis and arrived at the starting line in his street clothes: long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and heavy walking shoes. Fellow competitors took pity on him and cut his pants into makeshift shorts. He ran in this improvised outfit.
During the race, Carvajal stopped at an apple orchard and ate some apples. He then became ill from eating rotten apples and had to take a nap. Despite this delay, he still finished fourth.
Thomas Hicks and the Rat Poison Incident
Thomas Hicks was the pre-race favorite. His trainers accompanied him in a car during the race to provide encouragement and refreshment. What they provided nearly killed him.
At nine miles, Hicks was struggling in the heat. His trainers gave him a mixture of strychnine (rat poison) and egg whites, believing it would enhance performance. Strychnine in small doses was thought to be a stimulant—a dangerously misguided theory.
By mile 20, Hicks was in terrible shape, barely conscious and struggling to continue. His trainers gave him more strychnine mixed with brandy. Hicks hallucinated, believing the finish line was still miles away when he was actually close.
He staggered across the finish line, supported by his trainers. He had to be carried off the course and required medical attention. He had won the race, but the victory nearly killed him. It would take hours before he could speak coherently.
Fred Lorz’s Ride
Fred Lorz started strong but began struggling around mile 9. Suffering from cramps and exhausted by the heat, he stopped running and accepted a ride from a passing car.
The car drove him 11 miles before breaking down near the stadium. Lorz, now rested and recovered from his cramps, got out and jogged the remaining distance to the finish line. He crossed first, to tremendous applause.
Lorz waved to the crowd and even posed for photographs with Alice Roosevelt, President Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter. Officials began preparing for the medal ceremony.
Then someone revealed the truth: Lorz had ridden in a car for nearly half the race. Lorz initially claimed it was a joke and he hadn’t intended to deceive anyone. Officials didn’t find it funny. He was disqualified and banned from amateur competition for life.
The Amateur Athletic Union later lifted the ban after Lorz apologized, and he went on to win the Boston Marathon legitimately in 1905.
The South African Runners
Len Tau and Jan Mashiani were Tswana tribesmen brought to St. Louis as part of the World’s Fair’s distasteful “anthropology exhibits,” which displayed indigenous peoples as curiosities.
Both were experienced runners and strong competitors. However, during the race, they were chased nearly a mile off course by aggressive dogs. Despite this setback, Tau finished ninth and Mashiani came in twelfth—respectable showings given the circumstances.
Their participation is now viewed as both a remarkable athletic achievement and a sad reminder of the racial exploitation common at the time.
Other Mishaps
The chaos wasn’t limited to the famous incidents:
- Multiple runners suffered from severe dehydration and required medical attention
- Several runners quit and returned to the stadium by car or streetcar
- The dust was so thick that many runners couldn’t see clearly
- Vehicles on the course nearly hit several competitors
- At least one runner was hospitalized for several days after the race
Only 14 of the 32 starters finished the marathon. This remains one of the lowest completion rates in Olympic history.
The “Winner”
Despite nearly dying from strychnine poisoning, Thomas Hicks was declared the official winner with a time of 3:28:53—one of the slowest winning times in Olympic marathon history. He never ran another marathon.
Hicks later described the experience as agonizing and said the strychnine made him hallucinate. He believed he was running in place while the road moved beneath him. Modern medical experts note he’s lucky to have survived; strychnine poisoning can cause seizures, cardiac arrest, and death.
Aftermath and Changes
The 1904 marathon disaster led to several important changes in competitive running:
Medical Oversight: Future races required medical personnel and proper hydration stations Drug Testing: While formal testing wouldn’t arrive for decades, the Hicks incident highlighted dangers of performance-enhancing substances Course Design: Organizers realized that road races needed better planning, including vehicle control and runner safety Training Standards: The incident demonstrated that marathon running required proper training and preparation
Historical Perspective
The 1904 Olympic marathon is remembered as a cautionary tale of poor planning, dangerous conditions, and misguided medical theories. It stands in stark contrast to modern marathons with their sophisticated support systems, medical teams, and runner safety protocols.
The race occurred during a transitional period in athletics. The modern understanding of hydration, nutrition, and training was still developing. Organizers and competitors operated on misconceptions that seem absurd today.
Yet the 1904 marathon also demonstrated human determination. Despite the chaos, heat, dust, and dangerous conditions, 14 runners finished. They persevered through circumstances that would defeat most people.
Cultural Legacy
The 1904 marathon has become one of history’s favorite strange sports stories. It appears in books about Olympic oddities, sports disasters, and American history. The image of Félix Carvajal running in cut-off pants after eating rotten apples captures the event’s chaotic spirit.
The race serves as a reminder that early Olympic games were far different from today’s polished, professional productions. They were often chaotic, poorly organized, and sometimes dangerous events where competitors faced conditions that would be considered unacceptable today.
Lessons Learned
The 1904 Olympic marathon teaches several lessons:
- Proper hydration is essential for endurance athletics
- “Performance enhancers” can be deadly
- Race organization matters for athlete safety
- Cheating undermines athletic competition
- Environmental conditions must be considered in event planning
These seem obvious now, but in 1904, they were lessons learned the hard way, through near-fatal experiences and public embarrassment.
Conclusion
The 1904 Olympic marathon remains unique in sporting history: a perfect storm of poor planning, dangerous conditions, medical ignorance, and human folly. It featured cheating, poisoning, exploitation, and absurdity in equal measure.
Yet from this disaster came progress. The lessons learned in St. Louis helped shape modern marathon racing into the well-organized, medically supervised sport it is today. We remember the 1904 marathon not as a triumph of athletic achievement, but as an example of what not to do—and a reminder that sometimes, progress requires learning from spectacular failures.
And somewhere in history, Fred Lorz is still explaining that it was just a joke.