Walter Gordon was one of Western
Pennsylvania’s pioneer track and field stars when the sport was new
here at the start of the twentieth century. The retired druggist was
small and slender as a youth but played on Rochester High’s early
football teams, graduating in 1907. He also played a little football
at the University of Pittsburgh, where he competed in track as a distance runner and pole vaulter.
Walter’s interest in running began early: as an eighth
grader, he beat top miler Bob Coleman of Pitt with a time of 4:32 at
a time when tracks were primitive and distance
men ran in tennis shoes. By 1909 Walter had set a world record in
the five mile run of 26 minutes flat at Columbia Park, Pittsburgh.
At the first annual Ohio Valley Track and Field Games, Walter won
the five mile race and was second in the mile run. In March of 1909
he finished third among 51 runners in the Great Indoor Marathon Race
at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. On Labor Day of 1909, he won the
United Labor League Mile Run at West View Park in 4:18. Walter also
won the 1909 Pittsburgh Marathon at West View Park in 3 hours and 32
minutes, defeating over 100 runners. His favorite memory is of a
10 mile relay race at the old Beaver Falls Coliseum in which he and
four other local boys defeated world middle distance champion Percy
Smallwood.
Walter Gordon was one of Western
Pennsylvania’s pioneer track and field stars when the sport was new
here at the start of the twentieth century. The retired druggist was
small and slender as a youth but played on Rochester High’s early
football teams, graduating in 1907. He also played a little football
at the University of Pittsburgh, where he competed in track as a distance runner and pole vaulter.
Walter’s interest in running began early: as an eighth
grader, he beat top miler Bob Coleman of Pitt with a time of 4:32 at
a time when tracks were primitive and distance
men ran in tennis shoes. By 1909 Walter had set a world record in
the five mile run of 26 minutes flat at Columbia Park, Pittsburgh.
At the first annual Ohio Valley Track and Field Games, Walter won
the five mile race and was second in the mile run. In March of 1909
he finished third among 51 runners in the Great Indoor Marathon Race
at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. On Labor Day of 1909, he won the
United Labor League Mile Run at West View Park in 4:18. Walter also
won the 1909 Pittsburgh Marathon at West View Park in 3 hours and 32
minutes, defeating over 100 runners. His favorite memory is of a
10 mile relay race at the old Beaver Falls Coliseum in which he and
four other local boys defeated world middle distance champion Percy
Smallwood.