Dick Murphy, Bay Shore man who ran 27 consecutive Boston Marathons, dies at 91

In April 2003, Dick Murphy was about to run his 25th Boston Marathon. A Massachusetts newspaper asked the then 68-year-old why he kept coming back.

"My only notoriety is that I've been running in the Boston Marathon for 25 years." Murphy joked. "It’ll be good for my obituary."

There was a lot more to Murphy, who lived in Bay Shore for 20 years, than running 26.2 miles. But he was right: Murphy — who died at age 91 on Jan. 27 — completed 27 consecutive Boston Marathons between 1985 and 2011, a feat that puts him in an elite class in the iconic 129-year-old event.

Part of what separates Boston from other marathons is its arduous entry criteria: Would-be competitors must run a qualifying time, based on age and gender. "In 56 years of running, I couldn’t qualify for Boston once," said Mike Polansky, of Plainview, former president of the Greater Long Island Running Club. "Dick did it year after year after year. It’s absolutely incredible!"

According to the marathon's organizer, the Boston Athletic Association, only 130 of the total field of about 30,000 runners this year have active streaks of more than 25 races. "Completing the Boston Marathon is an accomplishment for any runner," said association spokesman Chris Lotsbom. "Finishing more than 20, year in and year out, is a testament to an athlete’s perseverance and determination."

Murphy had plenty of both — although his talent as an endurance athlete wasn’t discovered until he was in middle age. "He didn’t run a step in his life, until he was over 40," said his son Bob Murphy.

Born on June 30, 1934, in Queens Village, Queens, Richard Thomas Murphy attended Jamaica High School and then served in the U.S. Coast Guard before embarking on a career in sales. He eventually landed with Southern Container, a manufacturer of corrugated cardboard, where — selling to retail giants like Anheuser-Busch and Regent Sports — he became one of the company’s top salespeople. "He worked his butt off while putting six kids through Catholic high schools," said Bob Murphy who, along with two of his brothers, attended St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington.

By the time his father was in his 40s, Bob Murphy said, "he was able to manage his key accounts to the point that he had a little more time for himself. That’s when he started running."

Murphy ran his first 26.2 mile race, the Long Island Marathon, in 1978. He qualified for Boston and completed it for the first time in 1979. He ran Boston four more times — clocking a personal best time in 1983, of 2 hours, 50 minutes, 8 seconds — but then suffered a knee injury and wasn't able to complete the1984 race. He returned to Boston the following year, the first in what would become his 27-year long race streak.

He attributed his success as a later-in-life athlete to his wiry, 135-pound frame, an ideal physique for distance running. But his son thinks it was more than that. "When dad put his head to anything, he accomplished his goals," Bob Murphy said. "He did it with his work, he did it with his children and he did it with his running. He put in the work. And generally when you put in the work, you’re successful."

Murphy kept running until his mid-80s. He moved from New York to Dracut, Massachusetts, near where several of his children live, in 2024.

In marked contrast to the stereotype of marathoners engaged in a grim, solitary sport, Murphy was an outgoing fellow. "He was gregarious," said family friend Jim Young, of Northport. "He loved a party and he loved being the life of the party."

Like many runners, Murphy enjoyed a beer or two after his races. As a tribute to him, his stepson Bill Crager — co-owner of Whitman Brewing, a craft brewery in Saratoga — introduced a Dick Murphy Lite in 2021.

Murphy’s sense of fun encompassed his running, as well. He was the co-founder of a group of fellow enthusiasts who trained along River Road in Nissequogue, and dubbed themselves "The River Road Rats."

"He was an elite athlete," Polansky said. "But he really just enjoyed running up and down the road with his buddies."

He is survived by six children — five sons and one daughter — he had with his high school sweetheart, Joyce Alice Phillips Murphy, who died in 1989. In 1994, Dick married Carol Crager, who died in 2020. They counted 28 grandchildren.

A wake was held Sunday at Frederick J. Chapey and Sons in West Islip. A funeral Mass was celebrated Tuesday  at St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Bay Shore followed by burial at Calverton National Cemetery.