115: Ultrarunning Stranger Things – Part 5: Steve Brodie – New York Newsboy

Ultrarunning History

By Davy Crockett You can read, listen, or watch Steve Brodie The 19th century ultrarunner was a different breed of athlete compared to those today who participate in the sport. A large number of those early runners were not necessarily the most outstanding citizens. For the vast majority, the motivation for participating was not to see what they could personally accomplish running long distances. They were primarily motivated by greed and gaining fame. It should not be too surprising that many were involved in wild free-spending lifestyles, scandals, illegal activities, and run-ins with the law. A pattern emerged for many of the most successful ultrarunners of the 1800s. They would quickly gain fame and build up a massive fortune, only to come crashing down a few years later through their own mismanagement, dishonesty, and huge egos. Even the most famous pedestrian of all, Edward Payson Weston, blew through his money, filed for bankruptcy, and was criticized for abandoning his family at times. In this episode, the story of seventeen-year-old Steve Brodie of New York City is a case study of one who gained fame and fortune ultrarunning but treated many people terribly along the way and eventually used fraud to revive his fame. The American vernacular term “do a Brodie” meaning taking a bad risk, or experiencing a complete failure/flop, came about because of Steve Brodie, the New York Newsboy Pedestrian. Run Davy Crockett's Pony Express Trail 50 or 100-miler to be held on October 14-15, 2022, on the historic wild west Pony Express Trail in Utah. Run among the wild horses. Crew required. Your family and friends drive along with you. http://ponyexpress100.org/ Stephen Brodie, (1861-1901) “the New York Newsboy,” was the son of Richard and Mary Brodie of New York City. Richard was a member of the Bowery Boys street gang that menaced the city in the Bowery neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. The gang was an anti-Catholic, anti-Irish, and a somewhat criminal gang. The uniform of a Bowery Boy generally consisted of a stovepipe hat, a red shirt, and dark trousers tucked into boots. Richard was murdered shortly after Steve was born in 1861. The Bowery Boys reached the height of their power in 1863 taking part in looting much of New York Citty during the New York Draft Riots. Steve’s older brothers were groomed for the gang at a young age. Steve Brodie was the youngest of seven children. Instead of attending school, Steve worked as a child selling newspapers starting at the age of six. His older brothers constantly beat him and took his hard-earned money. At age nine, he moved out of his poverty-stricken home and moved into a boy’s home and later went to live in a newsboy lodging house. Newsboy The career was a newsboy was explained, “You had to sell newspapers every day, or else your risked becoming homeless. You fought for street corners and fought to protect your property. Men robbed the boys and older boys robbed the younger boys.” In his late teens, he led his own gang of newsboys. “He won the friendship of everyone he came in contact. He became acquainted with people of many classes, brokers, capitalists, lawyers, newspaper men, athletes, sporting men, actors, cranks, crooks, bums, and all the various kind of humanity that united to make New York an inexhaustible field for the student of mankind.” Brodie was a strong and daring swimmer who became a member of the Life Saving Corps organized on the East River front. As a youth he was credited for making many rescues including two women who fell of an excursion barge. Brodie’s First Ultra In February 1879, at the age of 17, Brodie made his first attempt to break into the sport of Pedestrianism. The New York Daily Herald took notice. “Pedestrianism has wrought its way into the favor of the upper circles of newsboydom, as was proven last evening by the commencement of the feat, proposed by Master Stephen Brodie,