The Greatest Runner in Cuba - Andarin Carvajal

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Episode Transcript

(00:04):
As a father, teacher and fulltime student, my life is fueled by
coffee, but not just any coffee. Onyx Coffee Lab is not only delicious,
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Onyx Coffee Lab today. Recently,Obscure History was featured on History Daily,

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a very popular history podcast. IAm Forever grateful for that opportunity. The
episode that was featured was the thirdepisode of Obscure History on the nineteen oh
four Olympic Marathon, and throughout theprocess of arranging that deal, I listened
back to that episode quite a fewtimes, and there was one story that

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felt as if it were unresolved.I've never done this before, but today
we are revisiting the nineteen oh fourOlympic Marathon. We've got unfinished business.
My name is Josh and this isObscure History. The nineteen oh four Olympic

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Marathon was supremely disastrous. The manwho organized the race had no idea what
he was doing. The conditions wereso hazardous that the race was nearly impossible
to even complete. There was cheating, lying, theft, and drug use
during the race, and the winnernearly died after being carried across the finish

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line by his trainers. It was, by all accounts, am plete and
total failure. Now covering such achaotic event is pretty easy for me.
It's got drama, intrigue, disaster, and humor, all of the things
that you need to tell a compellingstory. It also had plenty of interesting

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characters from the American team that wasmostly made up of mailmen and factory workers
to the South African war veterans whobroke the color barrier of the modern Olympic
Games and became the first black Africancompetitors. In my opinion, the people
involved in this infamous event are evenmore interesting than the event itself, and

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perhaps the most interesting of the competitorswas the representative from Cuba and Urn Carva
Hall. You may recall from thatepisode that he ran a very unique race,
but moreover, he lived a veryunique life. Felix day La Cardidad
karaval Isoto was born in San Antoniode Los Banos, Cuba, in eighteen

(04:01):
seventy five. Though very little isknown about his childhood, there are a
few things that can be noted.First, we can say with some confidence
that he was born into abject poverty, where he would remain for his entire
life. Second, we can saywith some confidence that he was an active
boy from the very beginning. Thename Amdurin was not his legal name,

(04:26):
but was rather a given name toreflect his behavior, always moving. And
third, we know that he wasa war veteran. The Cuban War for
Independence is often glossed over in thesocial studies curriculum for American students, despite
being deeply interesting and unexpectedly American event. In much the same way that the

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United States had its own War ofIndependence against Britain, Cuba had a war
for independence against Spain. In fact, the Cuban War for Independence was actually
the third in final round in afight that spanned decades and included two other
wars, those being the Ten YearsWar and the Little War. Normally I

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don't do this, but because Cuba'sstruggle for independence is a neglected portion in
my own historical education, I havefound a brief but comprehensive summary of their
struggle in an Encyclopedia Britannica article editedby Jeff Wallenfeldt. Dissatisfied with the corrupt
and inefficient Spanish administration, lack ofpolitical representation, and high taxes, Cubans

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in the Eastern Provinces united under thewealthy planter Carlos Manuel de Sespides, whose
declaration of independence in October eighteen sixtyeight, the Grietot de Jaa, signaled
the beginning of the Ten Years War, in which two hundred thousand lives were
lost. Sespedes had the support ofsome landowners whose main interest was economic and

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political independence from Spain, whereas thefarmers and laborers were more concerned with the
immediate abolition of slavery and greater politicalpower for the common man. In eighteen
seventy six, Spain sent General ArsenioMartinez Campos to crush the revolution. Lacking
organization in significant outside support, therebels agreed to an armistice in February of

(06:18):
eighteen seventy eight, the terms ofwhich promised amnesty and political reform. A
second uprising, Laguria Chiquita, engineeredby Calixto Garcia, began in August of
eighteen seventy nine, but was quelledby superior Spanish forces in autumn of eighteen
eighty. Spain gave Cuba representation inthe Cortes, the parliament, and abolished

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slavery in eighteen eighty six. Otherpromised reforms, however, never materialized.
In eighteen ninety four, Spain canceleda trade pact between Cuba and the United
States. The imposition of more taxesand trade restrictions prodded the economically distressed Cubans
in eighteen ninety five to launch theCuban War of independence, a resumption of

(07:05):
the earlier struggle. Poet and journalistJose Julianne Marti, the ideological spokesman of
the revolution, drew up plans foran invasion of Cuba while living in exile
in New York City. Maximo Gomeze Bayez, who had commanded the rebel
group during the Ten Years War,was among those who joined Marti's invasion force.

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Although Marti was killed and martyred inbattle about one month after the initiation
of the invasion on April eleventh,eighteen ninety five, Gomez and Antonio Messio
employed sophisticated guerrilla tactics in leading therevolutionary army to take control of the eastern
region. In September eighteen ninety five, they declared the Republic of Cuba and

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sent Massio's forces to invade the westernprovinces. By January eighteen ninety six,
rebel forces controlled most of the island, and the Spanish government replaced Martinez Campos
with a general who would be knownas the Butcher. In order to deprive
the revolutionaries on the rural support inwhich they depended, The Butcher instituted a

(08:11):
brutal program of reconcentration, forcing hundredsof thousands of Cubans into camps in the
towns and cities, where they diedof starvation and disease by the tens of
thousands. In eighteen ninety seven,Spain recalled the butcher and offered home rule
to Cuba, and the next yearit ordered the end of reconcentration. In

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the meantime, the rebels continued tocontrol most of the countryside. Perhaps more
important, they won the sympathy ofthe vast majority of Cuban people to their
cause. Moreover, news of Spanishatrocities and tales of rebel bravery were splashed
in the yellow journalism headlines of WilliamRandolphurst's New York Journal, which beat the

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drums of War. Now, thatwas a lot of information, but it
actually helps us to understand the lifeand athletic ability of andren Carva Hall.
During the war. When the rebelsoccupied the countryside and had their forces spread
about, they needed to deliver messagesto each other, and their primary method

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of delivering messages were day runners.These soldiers pushed the limits of what was
thought to be humanly possible. Itis said that during the war he would
run thirty miles per day, everyday, delivering important messages to Cuban revolutionaries.
In fact, his ability to runvast distances in a short amount of

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time made him a well known figureto all the wrong people. After catching
wind that the Spanish army had learnedhis identity and were preparing to hunt him
down, Andren Carva Hall hopped ona ship and fled to Florida, where
extended family welcomed him into their homes. Shockingly, this is merely the beginning

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of Andren Carva Hall's unbelievable life.But before we get to the rest of
his story, we need to runover to an ad break to pay our
bills. I admit that was areach, even for me. If you
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link to it in my show notes. Come join us as we talk about
history, education and share our bestand worst history memes. Did I mention
it's completely free. After the CubanWar for Independence had ended, Andrew and
Carva Hall returned to his home country, where he picked up a variety of

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jobs. Postman handyman, errand boy, and even bellhop at an upscale hotel
in Havana. Though he was tryinghis hardest to scratch out a meager existence,
working as many jobs as he couldjuggle, he was still passionate about
running and did so as often aspossible. So in word that the Olympic

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Games were to be held in SaintLouis made its way to Cuba, andren
Carva Hall knew it was his chanceto prove himself to the world. The
problem was getting to Saint Louis,andren Carva Hall was poor. He wore
ragged clothes, he worked menial jobs. He didn't have the means to just

(11:20):
pack up and sail to the US. Not only was he lacking personal funding
for the trip, he also neededto be sponsored by his home country,
which proved to be a very talltask. After brainstorming, andren Carva Hall
formed a plan. He had oncebeen so well known for running that the
Spanish Army had put a bounty onhim. He just needed to become well

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known to the right people and hisproblem would be solved. He was confident
in his abilities, he just neededsomebody important to notice him. He at
first attempted to gain the attention diplomaticallyby seeking a personal meeting with the Mayor
of Havana, but was laughed outof the office. Not deterred, he

(12:05):
thought that maybe the mayor needed tosee his abilities firsthand, according to author
Liam boylen Pett. According to Lore, carve Hall did the only thing that
he knew. He began to runlap after lap around the Plaza de Armas.
The five foot three inch one hundredtwenty pound runner ran circles around city

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Hall, jogging past the Mayor's window. Time after time. He ran the
entire day. A crowd began towatch this sweat soaked runner plod around the
park lap after lap. At theend of the work day, the mayor
came out to a throng of people. Once again, carve A Hall ran
by. The mayor returned to hisoffice and wrote up an order. He

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returned outside and stopped carve A Hall. Here is an order for your transportation
to Saint Louis. Now go anddo your best. End his best he
would do, sort of. Hewas sent off to the nineteen oh four
Olympic Games with a wallet full ofpublic funds, but after arriving in New
Orleans, both carve Hall and hismoney disappeared, at least briefly. We

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don't have solid records of what happenedduring his time in New Orleans, but
there's plenty of speculation. Some accountssuggest that he was robbed and had to
make enough money to travel to SaintLouis on his own. Some accounts suggest
that he simply gambled away his funding. We really aren't sure what is true,
aside from the fact that it tookhim longer than intended to make it

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to Saint Louis and that he essentiallyhitchhiked there, hungry, dirty, penniless,
and, as one writer of theday recalled, the ends of his
heavy black mustache sticking out in anaggressive angle, looked both picturesque and pathetic.
To this point, Andrew and carveHall's life had been extremely event and

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unique, and his performance in thenineteen o four marathon was no different.
He stole food from spectators, aterotten food off the ground, became violently
ill, took a nap, wokeup, and still finished fourth. Overall,
it was a genuinely incredible effort,and all in some of the worst
race conditions imaginable. What we didn'treally get into in the nineteen o four

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Olympic Marathon episode is that after therace, Carva Hall became a little bit
of a celebrity. It was saidthat he would give grand eloquent toasts to
his homeland in poetic Spanish at athleticbanquets. He even joined a local athletic
club in Saint Louis where he ranin some small races to make money to
get back to Cuba, which heeventually did do. Once he returned to

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Cuba, he was showered with attention. He had finally gotten all the recognition
he had sought, and, inwhat seemed like a sort of poetic callback
to his days running around ay Halltrying to raise awareness for his cause.
Reports suggest that as a way tobolster support for himself going into the nineteen
oh six Olympics and Athens Andrein,Carva Hall ran the entire length of Cuba

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twice, and much like his lastattempt to gain support of the public,
he was successful. Once again.He was sent off to run an Olympic
marathon, sent off to represent hisnation, which was for the first time
in decades breathing liberated air without slaveryor Spanish rule. It was a great

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time to be Andurin Carva Hall.But just as his old gimmicks worked,
so too did his personal demons.After arriving in Italy, Andrein Carva Hall
vanished. He never made it tothe Games, and his wallet full of
public funding disappeared forever. In fact, he was gone for so long that

(15:56):
the press supposed him dead and afull obitu where he ran. However,
Carva Hall would not stay dead.He returned to Cuba on a Spanish ship
later in nineteen oh seven, anddespite what you may expect, his return
was lauded with limited fanfare. Perhapshis repeating offense of traveling abroad with public

(16:18):
funds only to disappear and lose allof the public funds had worn down his
welcome with the fine people of Cuba, and just as he always had,
Andren Carva Hall simply moved on withhis life. He continued running and actually
took his abilities to the big leaguesand became a professional international runner, which

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disqualified him from future Olympic endeavors.Though he would never compete in an Olympic
marathon again, Andren Carva Hall didcompete in and win many professional races until
he was well into his middle age. Though he was able to maintain relevance

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as an athlete, he could nevercapitalize on his success financially. In fact,
according to a translated article from ECUReed, a Cuban online encyclopedia,
at the end of the nineteen forties, Carva Hall, then seventy years old,
said goodbye to his public as anathlete. While at a baseball game

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that was being held at Saro Stadium, he made a short run. After
receiving applause from the crowd, hestated, this is to show that I
still run. In the mediated Republicof Cuba. As in all liberal democracies
in Latin America, the state didnot support athletes. His trophies and awards
disappeared. Among them were the bronzemedal he won at the first Missouri Athletic

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Club Marathon held on May sixth,nineteen o five, and the Great Silver
Cup obtained in a marathon held inMadrid, Spain. Felix Carva Hall lived
the last twenty years of his lifein a miserable shack, where he died
alone on twenty seventh of January nineteenforty nine, at the age of seventy

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three years. There were probably onlya handful of people in the entire world
they could have even competed with AndreyncarvaHall in his lifetime. In him,
we see nearly limitless untapped potential.He could have been one of the most
legendary athletes of all time, butbecause of his vices, he could never

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really put the pieces together the rightway for himself. It seems that sometimes
even if you are the best runnerin the world, you can't outrun a
tumultuous and impoverished childhood. Thank youso much for listening. I really hope

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