31: Johnny Salo – 1928 Bunion Derby

Johnny Salo was perhaps the greatest American ultrarunner of the late 1920s. Ultrarunning historian, Andy Milroy, rated him as the top American ultrarunner of the first half of the 1900s. His career was cut short due to tragedy, but during the years 1928-1930 there was no one better or faster. His story is a “rags to riches” tale as he sprang onto the national scene practically overnight. He was the most popular and most successful runner in C. C. Pyle’s historic transcontinental races of 1928-29.  He and other fellow Finnish-American long-distance runners of that time were greatly talented and were able to dominate at many distances.

Today, few know of the name of Johnny Salo of Passaic, New Jersey. His story needs to be told. In telling his story, I will also tell the story of the very famous races across America that were nicknamed the “Bunion Derbies.” Several fine books have been written about this famed race held for two years, that attracted the greatest ultrarunners in the world. I won’t try to duplicate all the details of those races but will tell that story from the perspective of its greatest ultra-distance runner, Johnny Salo. The primary source used are the daily updates published in Salo's hometown newspaper.