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Bill Donahue is a writer for Outside, Harper’s, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, and more…

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April 22, 2025April 25, 2025 by Bill Donahue

Tarzan Brown and the Truth About Boston’s Infamous Heartbreak Hill

Narragansett Indian Tarzan Brown won the Boston Marathon in 1936 and 1939, and the marathon’s infamous Heartbreak Hill owes its name to him. So why did he die in obscure poverty?

Runner’s World
Edited by Pavlina Cerna


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April 18, 2023July 10, 2023 by Bill Donahue

The Challenger

Why Kenyan distance runner Evans Chebet will beat the great Kipchoge at The Boston Marathon.

Runner’s World
Edited by Leah Flickinger


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June 29, 2015October 10, 2017 by Bill Donahue

Rise of a Running Nation

Lon Myers was the greatest American runner of the nineteenth century and also a Sephardic Jew. In 1882, he ran a series of three one-on-one footraces against England’s best runner, Walter George, at the Polo Grounds, in New York City.

Runner’s World
Edited by Christine Fennessy. Illustrations by Bruce Emmet.

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February 11, 2011October 10, 2017 by Bill Donahue

Fixing Diane’s Brain

Diane Van Deren overcame epilepsy and then became a top ultramarathoner. Did her brain surgery help improve her pain tolerance, or is she just tough?

Runner’s World
Republished in Best American Sports Writing 2012.
Edited by Charlie Butler. Photograph by Evan Hurd.

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August 1, 2008May 27, 2021 by Bill Donahue

Wonder Boy

At the age of four, slum kid Budhia Singh ran 40 miles without stopping in the blistering heat of his native India. Then, afterwards, his childhood only grew stranger.

Runner’s World
Edited by Peter Flax. Photo by J. Carrier.
Republished in Going Long: The Best Stories from Runner’s World.

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© Bill Donahue. All rights reserved.

Site photography:
Cycling in the hills of New Hampshire, by Hector Emanuel. Cross country skiing in the Alaskan Arctic, by Otso Könönen. Interviewing Syrian refugees in Idomeni, Greece, by Julius Motal. Among the Maasai in Kenya, by Georgina Goodwin. At the desk, by Julie Keefe. Outside the barn, by Michele Olvera. Scrambling across Thompson Peak boulder field, by Justin Garwood.

Website by curio museum design.

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