Ray, Joie
Track and Field
b. April 13, 1894, Kankakee, IL
d. May 13, 1978
America's first great miler, Ray was often called "Chesty" by sportswriters because of his competitive spirit--"chest" being used as a synonym for "heart." He was the AAU national 1-mile champion seven times, in 1915 and from 1917 through 1923, and he also won the 880-yard championship in 1919. Indoors, Ray was the national 1,000-yard champion from 1918 through 1920.
Suffering from a leg injury, Ray finished only eighth in the 1,500-meter run at the 1920 Olympics. However, he was the anchor man on an Illinois Athletic Club team that set a world record of 17:21.4 in the 4-mile relay in 1923, and in 1925 he tied the world record for the indoor mile at 4:12.0.
Ray retired soon after that, but returned in 1928 to run longer distances. He won the national 10,000-meter title that year, finished second in the Boston Marathon, and ran in two Olympic events, running fifth in the marathon and 14th in the 10,000-meter run.
"Tex" Rickard, owner of Madison Square Garden, promoted a professional match race between Ray and Boughera El Ouafi of Algeria, the Olympic gold medalist in the marathon. Ray lost to El Ouafi in the marathon at Madison Square Garden, but later beat him in a marathon at Boston Garden and in 16-mile and 20-mile races.
After retiring once again, Ray took part in many dance marathons, a craze of the late 1920s and early 1930s, and he ran a ritual mile on his birthday each year until he reached his late seventies. On his seventieth birthday, his time was 6:11.5.