11 FEBRUARY 8-14, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | There was already ample Stroud family history to invoke 96 years ago, starting with the young runner’s parents. Stroud’s father, KD Stroud, had been born free in 1870 on a Texas plantation, but his family tree included enslaved people from Ghana, the Tawakoni of the southern plains and the English/Irish owners of the plantation. His wife, Lulu Magee, was a woman of the Creek Nation whose family had narrowly survived the Trail of Tears. They met in the Oklahoma Territory, where KD helped to build — as well as attended and graduated from — Langston University, and later became a minister and studied law. Thinking of their children’s future, the pair moved to Colorado when statehood (and Jim Crow) arrived in Oklahoma. Once there, however, KD was unable to continue working in law and was forced take a job shoveling coal seven days a week, but he still brought home a newspaper every night to read with his children before going over their homework. With mentors such as these, it’s easy to imagine the conversations Stroud had with the “family past” during that long night in the cem- etery. The next day, he decided to push on. Soon after, he managed to snag a ride that took him the rest of the way, in part because a newswire story of his trip had begun to circulate. He made it to the Boston trials just in time, but his herculean effort had taken its toll. “He said by the time he ultimately got there, his feet were just so swollen, he put on his shoes and he could hardly move,” says Shines. With his body on its last legs and only hours remaining before he had to compete, Stroud knew he had to stay awake at all costs. Scared to sit for long lest he drift into much-needed sleep, he wandered the campus and visited the library at Harvard, where he hoped he would eventually study if he was successful at the upcoming games. He checked in for that morning’s race and was given a red, white and blue uniform to run in, which “was a real source of pride,” Shines says. As the event neared, Stroud stretched and began to warm up, still fi ghting off exhaustion. “He said that he could hardly keep his eyes open at the start of the race,” Shines says. Stroud recalled his previous victories and his many summits at Pikes Peak and tried to tell himself, “I’ll make it, I’ll be fi ne.” But a limit had fi nally been reached. “When the gun went off, he ran and his feet just wouldn’t move,” Shines says. “He felt like he was shuf- fl ing...and it didn’t take long before people were just passing him up. He made six laps and collapsed on the sixth lap.” It was a bitter disappointment for the young athlete. “He felt he let everybody down,” Shines says. “That was his comment in his notes [and] in his journal.” Stroud spent the summer recovering and working in Boston, after receiving a recommendation at the YMCA from a fellow leading runner, Joie Ray, who had witnessed the disastrous race. During this time, however, he also developed a new personal philosophy. “There’s a phrase he used to always use: ‘Obstacles are stepping stones,’” Shines says. “And that’s the way he thought about it from that point forward.” Stroud put that mantra to good use in the decades to come, and his further ac- complishments could easily be the subject of another full-length documentary. He gradu- ated from Colorado College and became a professor, a dramaturge, a historian and even the manager of a professional baseball team, the Black Giants. Toward the end of his long life, he traveled the United States for speaking engagements. Shines’s fi lm is pushing toward the home stretch of its journey as well. He’s hoping to premiere it next fall in Colorado Springs, but he and his team still have much to do, including fi lming with the young actor portraying Stroud in the portions of the fi lm that are dra- matic re-creations. A GoFundMe campaign is part of a larger fundraising push targeting both public and private donors, and contributors will receive “an insider’s view, exclusive pre-release footage access, unseen historical family photographs and insight into ancestral research and fi lm- making process.” Participants will be contributing to the costs of research, fi lming and post-production. In addition, they’ll have helped unearth the story of a Colorado pioneer whose recognition is long overdue. To the end of his life, Stroud stated that he had always intended for his ef- forts to give inspiration to both his Front Range neighbors and people like him everywhere who are striving toward goals and dreams. “He said that he did it for the family, for the Rocky Mountain region and for people of color around the world,” Shines concludes. “That’s why he ran.” Running to Harvard is accepting donations at go- fundme.com. Learn more about Dolphus Stroud and his family at stroudfamilycolorado.com. A Rocky Mountain News story commemorating Dolphus Stroud’s marathon win; Stroud’s running shoes. FRANK SHINES FRANK SHINES .................................................... ............................................................ ..................................................... ................................................. ..................................................... .................................................... .................... 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