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Item
Title
D7093-1
Date(s)
- 1938-02-16 (Creation)
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Mike Shea marathon. 1937's winner of the Cooks & Waiters annual "bunion derby" -a 4.6 mile high-paced walk from Tacoma to Fife's Century Ballroom- covered the distance in 57 minutes. Mike Shea (left in photograph) felt that the distance was too short to test a man's walking ability. Whitey Flemish disagreed and bet that Mike could not walk the same distance in an hour. Whitey felt confident as the Cooks & Waiters winner was a younger man and presumably fitter. The bet was on and Mike started his heeling-and-toeing from the Olympus Hotel at 12:30 a.m. on February 16, 1938. 20 carloads of fans followed Mike who was paced by policeman Bill Turner (believed to be at right above). Mike won the $10 bet as he completed the feat in 59 minutes, 38 seconds. (T.Times 2-15-38, p. 11-article; T.Times 2-16-38, p. 11-article)
Events--Fife--1930-1940; Men--Social life--1930-1940; City & town life--Fife--1930-1940; Shea, Mike; Walking races; Marathons;