The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1981, Page 33

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
31
Jonsson and Magnus Markusson — were
included in the field of seven who competed
in that race, a race plagued by squalid condi-
tions. But let Mr. Kristjanson tell it.
“The race began at 9 p.m., in the pres-
ence of a large crowd. Seven men took to the
track which was in very good condition.
Music was furnished by the Infantry School
band and it was curious to watch the effect
on the runners. At 10 p.m. Texas Jack
Hornsby and Jonsson were leading at seven
and six miles, respectively, but at 3 a.m. the
order was Hordal, 34 miles; Jonsson, 32
miles; Markusson, 32 miles; Texas Jack, 31
miles.
“Heavy rain fell during the night, testing
severely the stamina of the runners. All
through the drenching downpour of Friday
night the six men left in the race marched on
or ran on. The track became very soft and
bad in the morning, but still the procession
went round the track till it was tramped
down hard. When day came the men began
dropping out and in the afternoon only the
three Icelanders were left in the race.
“John Hordal was the winner. Greatly
exhausted, he pluckily kept to the track till
the time was up, making a desperate effort
to beat the record of 102 miles made by a
runner named McDermott in the previous
race. Had it not been for the rain, he would
have succeeded as he covered all but a mile
of the distance and the spectators applauded
him warmly as he staggered over the last
few laps. Markusson, lightly built and a
beautiful runner, but lacking the sheer phy-
sical strength of the sturdily built Hordal,
was taken ill towards the end of the race and
only by sheer grit did he keep going until the
time was up.
“The final standing was: Hordal, 101
miles, one lap; Jonsson, 97 miles, 1 lap;
Markusson, 85 miles, 6 laps; Hornsby, 66
miles, 3 laps.”
That was the beginning and the progeny
of those early settlers have been doing ex-
tremely well in Manitoba sport ever since.
The Falcons, provincial, Canadian and
Olympic champions of 1920 are the most
famous, but there are others ... far too
many others to even attempt a complete list.
Instead, let us simply consider a broad
sampling, with forgiveness begged of those
who should have been mentioned, but
aren’t.
First to the Falcons. The members of the
team were Frank Fredrickson (captain),
Wally Byron (goal), Konnie Johannesson,
Mike Goodman, Halli (Slim) Haldorson,
Bobby Benson, Harvey Benson, Ed Ste-
phenson, Chris Fridfinnson (sub) and Huck
Woodman (sub). The coach was Fred
(Steamer) Maxwell, who wasn’t Icelandic.
The manager was Herbert (Hebbie) Axford,
who was.
It’s worth mentioning that Fredrickson
later played and coached in the National
Hockey League before settling in Vancou-
ver where he became prominent in civic
politics. Konnie Johanneson went on to
become one of Manitoba’s aviation pioneers
and Mike Goodman, the only surviving
member of that storied team, was also a
speed skating champion.
He also had some athletically gifted
sisters. Freda Goodman and twin sisters
Babe and Goody were prominent members
of the Ramblers softball team, one of the
best in Manitoba in the late ’20s and early
’30s. So was Lillian Blondal, another girl
with the blood of Iceland in her veins. She
was rated as the top pitcher of the day.
There have been so many other prominent
Icelandic athletes, it’s hard to know where
to begin.
One of those I have admired most is
Sveinn Sigfusson, who wandered into Win-
nipeg from Lundar one day and promptly set
a Canadian record for the hammer throw.
He remained at or near the top of the throw-
ing sports for an incredibly long time. He
won his first championships in 1954 after
having taken time out to fight a war.