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| Boston Daily Globe, May 27 1881, Page 1 |
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| Boston Daily Globe, May 27 1881, Page 1 |
I recently wrote about a Kittson County native, Ephraim Clow, who went on to become a well-known sportsman of a late 19th century sport, Pedestrianism.
'Eph' also features in Chapter 22 (Rose Belt) of the book King of the Peds in a race in which he finished with 460 miles in that 6-day race.
Here are a couple of extracts from Chapter 28...
There are many other mentions of the 'Canadian Champion of Toronto', in King of the Peds. For example:Out of the thirty men that started the 70-hour walking match at the Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, between the 16th and 21st of February, 1880, only seven finished. The winner was Peter Panchot with 345 miles. Jimmy Albert came in second with 330, Clow, third with 326, McEvoy fourth with 321, Dufrane, fifth with 318, Campana, sixth with 300, and Barrett seventh with 304. During the early part of the match, Albert had denied charges that he had been abusive in language towards a Mr. Hanson, who he allegedly struck with a cane.---Jimmy Albert was awarded $300 and a gold watch for winning a 75-hour go-as-you-please match (12½ hours per day) which took place at the Opera House in Brockton, Massachusetts, between Monday, the 22nd and Saturday, the 27th of March. The scores at the end were: Albert 435; Hughes, 423.16 ($200); Clow, 411.6 ($100); Hourihan, 385.14 ($75); Geldert, 361.4 ($50): The Boston Globe in its report on the match stated: The track not having been measured by a professional the above records will not stand as it is undoubtedly short. Campana, Colston and Mignault were also in the race.
In the 72-hour go-as-you-please “Toronto Walking Tournament”, which started on the morning of June the 7th 1880, Clow, of Prince Edward Island, had beaten Faber's celebrated record in Buffalo.
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| Ephraim "Eph" Clow, Champion Pedestrian Courtesy of: www.kingofthepeds.com |
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| Photo of Eph Clow, circa 1880
Even after moving to Kittson County to farm, Eph
continued to be involved in promoting competitive
walking and running. From Our Northwest Corner
(1979): "Here encouraged racing among the young
people of the area. Many of the people who grew up
in the Humboldt area remember running in a large barn
where Eph had made a running track. In the April 9,
1921 Kittson County Enterprise, the following article
appeared, 'In the races held at the Humboldt Stadium,
Edna Woodruff won the three mile event. The boys
five mile race was won by Lomas Matthews...' and in
the April 22, 1921 issue, the following article also
appeared, 'Next Friday several races will be run in
the large Humboldt Stadium under the management
of Eph Clow, former World's Champion long distance
runner.' Eph Clow died in 1927."
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