06/04/2026
🪶In 2008, Ontario officially proclaimed June 4th, as Tom Longboat Day.
Tom Longboat, was an Onondaga runner, from Six Nations of the Grand River reserve near Brantford, Ontario. He served in Canadian Armed Forces in WWI as a dispatch runner in France and Belgium.
Look around and his presence can be felt around Toronto.
The original West End YMCA, now known as The Great Hall, maintains the track Longboat used to train for races in the early 1900, and has a commemorative plaque in his honour.
In addition to a street in the St. Lawrence Market area, a Scarborough school is also in his name.
In 1995, he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
Amongst his achievements are in Canada and abroad are:
🥇1906 Victoria Day Race (Caledonia, ON):
🥇1906 Hamilton Around the Bay (Hamilton, ON):
🥇1906 Ward Marathon (Toronto, ON)
🥇1907 Boston Marathon (MA, USA)
🥇1909 World's Professional Marathon Championship (New York, NY)
🥇1912 Powderhall Marathon (Edinburgh, Scotland)
iRun articles about Longboat include the following:
https://irun.ca/.../against-all-odds-why-now-more-than.../
Most recently, his great-great grandson, Kristian Jamieson, who is running to extend his legacy, was featured in an article called Family Man: https://irun.ca/racing-news/family-man/
For over 40 years, an annual race in his name is organized on Toronto Centre Island, and is run by a run club that shares the his namesake.
Register for the race here: https://raceroster.com/events/2026/124485/toronto-island-run-2026
