John Christian Hopkins: When a Narragansett runner made it to the Olympics

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Marathon runners at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France. Photo: Olivier

When a Narragansett runner made it to the Olympics

Thursday, August 15, 2024

By John Christian Hopkins

The Paris 2024 Olympics has come to an end, leaving in its wake the glory of competition, the pride of champions and the sting of defeat.

But what does it mean to be an Olympian?

For those vying for gold, it must feel akin to walking among the gods of Mount Olympus. To hold your head high and know that you are among the best in the world at what you do.

In the end it isn’t about gold or silver, it’s about the challenge of pitting your power, your skill and your heart against other champions with the same dream.

Three Rhode Islanders competed in the Paris Olympics this year; sailor Stu McNay, rower Emily Kallfelz and marathoner Emily Sisson. But Sisson won’t be the first Ocean Stater to run in the Olympic marathon.

Roger Williams on YouTube: Ellison “Tarzan” Brown – Boston Marathon winner

Ellison “Tarzan” Brown, a member of the Narragansett Tribe, competed in the marathon during the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

In 1936 Brown became the youngest winner of the Boston Marathon, which secured him a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. He was 22.

He’d reclaim the wreath from Boston in 1939 – this time breaking the course record and becoming the first ever to finish the race in under two-and-a-half hours – he ran it in 2 hours and 28 minutes. This win also earned Brown a spot on the 1940 U.S. Olympic team. But the games were cancelled due to World War II.

Anna Brown Jackson, Tarzan’s granddaughter, recalls the first time she saw Tarzan honored, “The first monument in the park in the 1980s … a tree was planted in his memory.”

Tarzan’s grand-nephew, Brian Lightfoot Brown was proud to advocate for his relative’s inclusion in the North American Indigenous Athletic Hall of Fame.

“I wanted to see if my Uncle Tarzan was in here, of course he wasn’t, so I thought ‘Well, here’s an opportunity to educate someone about him’,” Brian Brown said. Brown has also written several articles on Indianz.Com about the Narragansetts and his grand-uncle Tarzan.

A photo from the collection of the Boston Public Library shows Narragansett citizen Ellison “Tarzan” Brown winning the Boston Marathon in 1939.

Ted Brown said he’s always meeting people who remember his grandfather – and usually they have a Tarzan memory to share.

The latest tribute to Tarzan Brown was recently when The four-mile-long Tarzan Brown Trail opened in the Carter Preserve, off of King’s Factory Road.

Tarzan’s grandson, Ted, helped place the plaque inside a bigger boulder.

John Christian Hopkins is an award-winning Narraganset journalist, author, poet and public speaker who resides in Tuba City, Arizona. After having grown up in Hope Valley, Rhode Island, Hopkins graduated from the University of Rhode Island with degrees in journalism and history. He has worked at newspapers across New England, in New York, Florida, most recently in Arizona. He was a former nationally syndicated newspaper columnist for Gannett News Service.