Boston Marathon winner Jerome Drayton, who lived in New Toronto, also competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Staff photo.
A world-class New Toronto marathoner who was a member of the New Toronto Wall of Fame has passed away.
Jerome Drayton, who ran in the Olympics and was among a handful of Canadians to win the famed Boston Marathon, is being mourned by area residents.
Drayton, who was well-known in the community, died unexpectedly on February 10 at the age of 80.
The avid runner took part in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and was also the last Canadian to win the Boston Marathon.
The New Toronto Wall of Famer winning the Boston Marathon in 1977 outpacing thousands of runners.
He beat thousands of top runners in the Boston street race to make it to the finish line in 2 hours, 14 minutes and 16 seconds. Canadian Gerard Cote won the event four times in the 1940s.
“The Boston Marathon was a tough race,” Drayton recalled in an earlier interview. “The race often intrigued me as it had not been won by a Canadian since 1948.”
Drayton during his running career won dozens of races; including the Fukuoka International Marathon in Japan, which he won three times. He also placed second in the New York City Marathon in 1975 and placed sixth in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
Drayton held the Canadian Men’s Marathon record for 43 years. In 1978, he was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
The late Jerome Drayton being inducted in Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
He has lived in South Etobicoke since 1957, first for decades in Mimico, before moving to New Toronto. The athlete moved to Canada from Russia with his parents as a young boy and at one time ran back and forth from Mimico to downtown Toronto to work at a government job.
You may have passed by his portrait many times as it is painted with other high-achieving residents on a Lake Shore Village BIA Wall of Fame, which graces the side of a pharmacy on Sixth Street.
“I loved the running which I did for enjoyment,” he said in 2024. “I also loved travelling to different places to race.”
Visitation will be held on February 13, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Cardinal Funeral Home, 92 Annette Street.
His funeral service will be held on February 14 at 11 a.m. at St. Volodymyr Cathedral, 400 Bathurst Street. Burial to follow at St. Volodymyr Cemetery in Oakville.
Donations in his honour can be made to the Canadian Olympic Foundation.