1925 - The Finest Flying Finn's First Flash in America

Paavo Nurmi attempts the most challenging set of racing in the history of track & field

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The Sports Time Traveler

Paavo Nurmi is in high demand by track & field organizers in the United States during his first tour of America. This cartoon appeared in the Boston Globe, January 17, 1925.

Introduction from The Sports Time Traveler™

Last summer, during the 2024 Paris Olympics, I made the virtual journey back in time to experience the 1924 Paris Olympics, exactly 100 years earlier.

I wanted to get a first-hand look at the great Paavo Nurmi. Nurmi was the finest of the famous Flying Finns, whose prowess in middle and long distance running relative to the competition of their time is unsurpassed in the annals of track & field.

Nurmi’s achievements in the 1924 Olympics were super human.

You can read my articles that I posted last summer at these links:

1924 Olympics - part 1

1924 Olympics - part 2

While I was on that virtual time travel trip last summer, I learned that Paavo Nurmi was planning his first trip to America to run a series of indoor track meets in January, 1925.

Naturally, this piqued my interest, and I have been waiting patiently for the past 6 months to make the virtual trip back 100 years to experience the Flying Finn in America.

It was worth the wait.

Here is my summary of the stunning things I have experienced so far.

New York - January 18, 1925

I’m in New York 100 years ago where Paavo Nurmi has finished his attempt to complete the most audacious middle distance track & field challenge ever conceived.

Beginning 3 days ago Paavo Nurmi’s schedule looked like this:

8:30pm ET Thursday, January 15 - 3,000 meter run in Madison Square Garden in NY

10:15pm CT Friday, January 16 - 1.75 mile run in the Chicago Coliseum

11:00pm ET Saturday, January 17 - 2,000 meter run at the 2nd regiment armory in NY

In between each race there would be 1,000 mile train rides from New York to Chicago and back again to New York, each trip taking nearly 24 hours, leaving no time at all for the slightest delay or mishap.

The January 15th New York Daily News described the challenge:

“Paavo Nurmi, the great Finnish runner, will set out tonight to do what many would term the impossible. After competing in the 3,000 meter race at the Municipal Games in the Garden, he will grab the 10:30 train for Chicago to meet Joie Ray at a mile and three-quarters tomorrow night. Before the perspiration dries on his body he will be back again on a train enroute to New York where he has a date to compete in the 2,000 meter race at the Fordham Games Saturday night.”

The New York Times commented on it, “The arrangement is unique in athletic history. No athlete heretofore ever attempted such a strenuous schedule of combined running and traveling in so short a period.”

BACKGROUND

Before I tell you what I experienced following the Flying Finn around America for 3 frantic days, I need to fill you in on the beginning of his trip.

Paavo Nurmi arrived in America for the first time last month, on December 9th, when his ocean liner arrived in New York.

He ran his first workout in Van Cortlandt park in the Bronx on December 11th.

Nurmi’s presence in America created a frenzy. 300 of his fellow Finns came to watch him workout.

Four weeks later it was time for Nurmi’s first track meet in America. The occasion was the Finnish-American Games and they took place 12 days ago on Tuesday, January 6th in Madison Square Garden.

There was great anticipation for this track meet. The New York Times wrote, “The eyes of the athletic world will be focused tonight on Madison Square Garden, where Paavo Nurmi, famous son of Finland, who is regarded as the foremost runner in the world, will make his American competitive debut.”

Paavo Nurmi was set to run in 2 races - the one mile and the 5,000 meters.

In each race he would have a formidable competitor.

In the mile he would face the current indoor world record holder, an American hero, Joie Ray.

In the 5,000 meters he would face a fellow Finnish Olympian, Willie Ritola, who lives in America, and who won the silver medal (behind Nurmi) in the 1924 Olympics last summer.

Ray and Ritola were arguably the 2 best middle distance runners in the world besides Paavo Nurmi.

Nurmi would race them both in 2 separate races just 2 hours apart.

Nurmi didn’t disappoint the fans in his debut.

In a syndicated story, the great sportswriter, Grantland Rice, summarized the results, “Sweeping around the sharp curves of Madison Square Garden with the smoothness of the wind and the durability of a flawless machine, the invincible Finn smashed three world’s records… as he conquered the lion-hearted Joie Ray over the mile route, and then crushed Willie Ritola, another Olympic here, in the final 5000 meter rush.”

“In the greatest mile race ever run… Ray, running his heart out before 10,000 cheering spectators, broke his own record of 4:14 3-5, only to find Nurmi easing up with a six-yard lead as he broke the tape.”

“Just two hours later the light blue shirt of Finland’s mighty son once more caught the quick attention of the big crowd, and the sandy haired Ghost ran way from Time and Ritola, breaking Ray’s indoor record by 9 2-5 seconds.”

In addition to setting new world indoor records for the mile and the 5,000, Nurmi had also set a new 1,500 meter world mark (during the one mile race), thus establishing 2 world records in the same race, and 3 world records across the 2 hour span.

Here were the world indoor records set by Paavo Nurmi:

1,500 meters - 3:56.2 (breaking the old mark of 4:01.6)

One mile - 4:13.6 (breaking the old mark of 4:14.6)

5,000 meters - 14:44.6 (breaking the old mark of 14:54)

Across America the 3 world records in one evening was celebrated.

Here is a banner headline that appeared in the Buffalo Evening News sports section:

It was a spectacular start to Paavo Nurmi’s indoor racing season in America.

But it was just a warm up for what he had in store the past few days.

3 Races in 3 Days With Overnight Trains Between Each

DAY ONE - Thursday, January 15th in New York

The first of the 3 races was the 3,000 meters in Madison Square Garden, and again Willie Ritola was the main competition.

Jack Farrell in the New York Daily News described the race:

“Paavo permitted Ritola to set the pace for five laps and when he figured Willie had shot his bolt he stepped out and ran the field bowlegged. Ritola spent every ounce of energy and speed at his command in a valiant effort to tag onto Nurmi’s flying heels, but the end found him about a half lap to the bad… Nurmi ran a remarkable race negotiating the entire distance without extending himself and without registering a grimace.”

The banner headline on the back page of the New York Daily News shared the results:

In that single race of 3,000 meters, Nurmi had set 3 records as he smashed the world records in the 1.5 miles and 1.75 miles on the way to the 3,000 meters record.

The Brooklyn Times Union summarized the 3 records from January 15th race “last night” and the 3 earlier records from the January 6th race:

Paavo Nurmi had not even been in America 6 weeks and he already had set 6 world records.

Immediately after the record breaking performance Nurmi was interviewed on the radio on WNYC through an interpreter:

“This is a strange experience for me - speaking through your strange wireless device… My message to the youth of your great country is to play the game without regard to the immediate reward. It’s the great thing to know how to know how to win modestly or lose gracefully.”

And as soon as that radio interview was over, Paavo was on his way to the train station where he boarded the 10:10pm for Chicago.

DAY TWO - Friday, January 16th in Chicago

Paavo Nurmi spent 22 hours on the train to get to Chicago.

In a special to the Boston Globe, a reporter wrote that Paavo did manage to get in a workout in the middle of the train ride.

“A 45 minute wait between trains at Pittsburgh permitted him to engage in an extensive workout along the streets near the station.”

And the Flying Finn’s lunch was an astonishing volume of calories and caffeine:

“He proceeded to violate all American training customs by downing five thick tongue sandwiches and two cups of fairly robust coffee.”

The AP reported, “He arrived at 8:10pm, hopped into a taxicab awaiting him at the station, sped to the Coliseum, race, and was off again on another 1000-mile ride back to New York.”

The race in Chicago was a 1.75 mile run on a 12 lap to the mile track.

Nurmi’s competition was America’s best miler, Joie Ray.

Ray was eager to have another crack at Nurmi after losing to him last week in Madison Square Garden, where Nurmi had broken Ray’s record for this distance.

The AP reported that, “the race drew the greatest throng that ever attended an indoor track meet in Chicago. Between 6,000 and 7,000 spectators were jammed into the building and thousands struggling for a glimpse of the marvelous Finn, were turned away at the doors.”

As the race began, The Daily Illini reported that, “Nurmi was off like a flash when the starting gun was fired… literally ran the legs off Ray, who held the world’s indoor record for the mile and three quarters, previous to the Finn’s record smashing exhibition.”

“The historic old Coliseum, the scene of exciting national conventions, shook under the weight of cheers that greeted Nurmi’s victory as he flashed across the finish line, half a lap ahead of the fast fading Ray.”

Nurmi destroyed Ray by 80 yards in a new world record time of 7:55.4, taking a fraction of a second off the record he had broken the prior week.

The AP reported that, “Ray, near a state of collapse, fell into the arms of an admirer standing at the edge of the track, thoroughly defeated.”

Nurmi meanwhile looked completely fresh at the finish as reported by the AP, “At the finish, Nurmi smiled a boyish smile and trotted across track to his dressing room with the cheers ringing in his ears.”

The results of this astonishing race made the front page in the Boston Globe yesterday:

The AP reported that, “A half an hour after his sensational victory, Nurmi was aboard a crack train bound for New York to compete in another race tomorrow night, making his third in as many nights.”

Paavo Nurmi had been in Chicago for less than 3 hours.

Yesterday morning in the Chicago Tribune, a letter to the newspaper from a reader was printed. The writer’s name was Elmer Douglas. Elmer had listened to the race account on the radio on WMAQ.

Douglas described Nurmi’s race as, “the most exciting so far in my checkered listening experience… the writer is but slightly interested in athletic events, but this one was a thriller… the excitement of the race almost swept away all interest in the evening’s preceding programs.”

DAY THREE - Saturday, January 17th - Back in New York

Last night Nurmi was scheduled to run in the 22nd regiment armory here in New York in a special meet organized by Fordham College.

Before that could happen, Paavo Nurmi had to complete a 23 hour train ride from Chicago and make it to the track before the meet ended.

The Chicago Tribune noted that Nurmi’s return trip to New York would require that he change trains in Buffalo, where there would only be 15 minutes to spare.

To ensure his likelihood of reaching New York in time, “Buffalo officials of the road have agreed to put on a special section for the Finn in case he is delayed.”

The New York Times noted that the train left Chicago at 11pm CT Friday, and Nurmi was due in to 125th street station in New York at 9:50pm ET.

The armory, where the track meet was taking place is located at 168th street, approximately 4.4 miles away from the station.

A taxi was planned to take Nurmi from the train station to the track upon his arrival.

The Fordham track meet organizers moved Nurmi’s 2,000 meter race to the final event to help out.

The New York Times reported today that, “The spectators were kept informed of Nurmi’s movements throughout the earlier events, the first report being that the train which was speeding eastward had arrived at Albany on time.

Later it was announced that the great Finn had arrived at the armory.”

It was 10:12pm when Nurmi arrived according to an AP article.

When Nurmi appeared on the track the entire crowd rose and cheered.

He then had half an hour to prepare for the race.

Nurmi’s goal for the evening was to not only set a new 2,000 meter indoor world record, but to break the mile indoor world record of 4:13.6 on the way.

The New York Daily News reported that because of the lack of talent available to challenge Nurmi in the 2,000 meter race, the organizers made a last minute decision to make the event a handicap race.

The other 3 runners were each given a head start ranging from 75 to 150 yards.

As the race began the New York Times noted, “Despite the long journey and the record breaking runs of the two previous nights, Nurmi showed no leg weariness, but started off with his limbs pumping up and down like pistons rhythmically, and his body swaying in perfect coordination with his graceful stride which carried him closer and ever closer to the leaders.”

By the 8th lap, Nurmi had caught and passed each of the other 3 runners.

When he finished in first, by a large margin, he appeared, “as fresh as if he had been eased into the race. He was never tested at any step and did not show the slightest symptom that three races and a 2,000 mile journey in 48 hours had been any more than ordinary routine.”

Nurmi did not achieve his goal of a mile world record. He passed the mile in 4:27, well off the record.

But his 2,000 meter time of 5:33 flat was a world record, for no other reason than this was the first time a race of this length had been run indoors in an official track meet.

None of this mattered to the adoring crowd. The Daily News reported that when he crossed the finish line, “Nurmi was almost overwhelmed by a mob of that swept across the floor and surrounded him. Policemen had to be called to clear a way for him to the dressing room. He showed his pleasure with a broad smile and some words in his own language that no one understood.”

The New York Daily News this morning ran a banner headline on the back page of the Sunday paper celebrating Nurmi’s victory:

And the Daily News summarized his remarkable racing schedule with this paragraph:

Paavo Nurmi had done it.

He had won 3 times in 3 nights, setting world records each time, and doing it while traveling nearly the entire 24 hour span between each race by train - a whirlwind 2,000 mile round trip.

Only the finest of the Flying Finns could have ever pulled it off.

The Sports Time Traveler will continue to follow Paavo Nurmi’s indoor track season in America in 1925. Paavo is scheduled to run next on January 21st in Newark, NJ where he will attempt to break his new 2,000 meter record.

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