Phil Granville

Born in Jamacia in 1894, Phil Granville later moved to Canada where he became a world-class long-distance athlete in racewalking, running, and snowshoeing. By the time he was 15-years-old Granville was appearing in the local Jamaican press, which commented on his unorthodox running style, leading him to compete in racewalking. Two years later he had already become one of the best athletes on the island when he set a Jamaican and West Indian record in the mile walk. In 1913 he attracted large crowds to watch him win a prestigious 37-mile event that finished in Kingston. By 1919 Granville had left the Caribbean to live in Canada where he spent most of the next decade at the YMCA in Hamilton. He returned briefly in 1921 to win a marathon race held in Cuba.

Now a Canadian citizen, Granville continued to compete in racewalking events, which included him breaking the American 100-mile record in a race from Buffalo to Toronto. This earned him a place on the Canadian Olympic team for the 1924 Paris Games where he competed in the 10 kilometres racewalk. His trip to Europe, however, was disappointing after only managing to finish eighth in his heat due to illness. Granville then stayed in England for some time where he married his wife and, in 1925, won the Manchester to Blackpool walk in the north-west of the country. That same year he travelled across the United States working as a painter.

Racewalking events were not part of the Olympic programme for the 1928 Amsterdam Games so Granville ventured into ultra-marathon running instead. This cumulated in him running in the race across the United States from Los Angeles to New York during the first months of 1928 with $25,000 offered up to the winner. He initially began the trek as a racewalker before switching to running to pick up the pace to cover between 50 and 75 miles per day. Passing through Texas and Oklahoma resulted in Granville being threatened by the Ku Klux Klan before he was cheered on by the black community when he arrived in Chicago. 84 days after the race started Granville crossed the finish line in third place in New York, resulting in a heroes’ welcome in Hamilton. In 1929 he ran the next edition of the race, this time from New York to Los Angeles, with him coming sixth despite suffering with a broken foot.

In 1930 a Canadian brewery company put up money for a 200-mile snowshoe race from Québec to Montréal. The inaugural edition of the Usher Green Stripe Snowshoe Marathon was won by Canadian long-distance runner Ed Fabre, with Granville finishing second. By 1933 he had given up on long-distance racing and had moved to England where he lived until his death in 1954.

Personal Best: 10kmW – 48:13.4 (1924).