Birthday: 04/13/1894 Mile PR: 4:12.0 (indoors) - 1925 (former world record)
Metric Mile (1500m) PR: 3:57.0 (indoors) - 1920
High School: Dropped out in 8th grade
Hometown: Kankakee, IL
Joie Ray was one of America’s first great Milers, setting the indoor Mile world record, twice (4:14.6 in 1919 and 4:12.0 in 1925). The versatile three-time Olympian is the only American male to have represented the USA at the Olympics in the 1500 (1920) and the marathon (1928).
During his long career, he won 17 AAU titles, most notably the Mile in 1915, and 1917-23, for a record eight wins at that distance. He also won the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games seven times in 1917-20 and 1922-24.
In 1923, he ran on a world record setting 4×Mile relay team.
He made the 1928 U.S. Olympic Team by winning the AAU 10,000m, which doubled as the Olympic Trials that year. For the marathon, he won the New York-Long Beach (NJ) Marathon in May 2028, which was an Olympic selection race, and also finished third at the Boston Marathon and 5th at the Olympic Marathon in Amsterdam.
Ray was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1976.
FUN FACT: His nicknames were "Chesty" for his muscular chest and "The Kankakee Kid" for his hometown.
FUN FACT II: Ray was only 5-foot-5 and weighed just 118 pounds.
FUN FACT III: On his 70th birthday, he ran a Mile in 6:11.5.
Multi-talented Illinois native won a record 8 national titles in the outdoor Mile
By Jack Klasey, Daily Journal
Joie Ray was a gutsy little guy who loved to run whether the opponent was a Kankakee streetcar or a field of world class runners in the Olympic Games.
Although he was only...
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