Somewhere up in heaven, probably at a track meet, two best friends are rejoicing at the announcement of men’s track and field being reinstated at the University of Vermont. One of the “old timers” is Archie Post, the long time cross country and track and field coach at UVM. The other “fella” is Art Tudhope, a quiet man, small in stature, but with a large amount of wisdom who according to his son Miles, bled Vermont green and gold.
For years, the GMAA has had races named after these two “gents”. Much has been written about Archie Post; an athletic field has been named after him and he was revered by hundreds of athletes who competed under his watch during his forty year tenure at UVM.
But who was Arthur Tudhope? I was asked to write about the man who I really got to know and admire when he served as a volunteer assistant coach at Essex Junction High School in the 1960’s. Colonel Tudhope (he was a 37 year Army veteran) was a native of Grand Isle who attended Burlington High School and then when on to UVM, graduating in 1926. While at Vermont, he participated in rifle, cross country and track and ultimately was elected to the UVM Hall of Fame.
Art Tudhope and his wife, Helen, raised their children (including a son named Archie) near the two mile mark of the Rollin Irish Half Marathon course (the brick house on the corner of Old Stage Rd and Brigham Hill Rd). Another son, Miles, a high school teammate of mine, remembers “being dragged to countless track meets at UVM where his father was in charge of the officials.
Col. Tudhope knew of my strong interest in the marathon. I remember a conversation I had with him during basketball season while in my senior year at Essex Jct HS in 1967. I mentioned I would someday like to run the Boston Marathon. Having run Boston himself back in the 1920’s and 1930’s with another former Grand Isle resident by the name of Clarence DeMar (who would go on to be a seven time winner at Boston), he offered to write a training schedule for me if I wanted to run that year. Being quite naive, I readily accepted and ran the 1967 Boston Marathon while being coached by Art Tudhope.
Art Tudhope continued to help many of us early marathon pioneers and would show up at the starting line in Hopkinton to give a final bit of advice and send us on our way. This was a man who just absolutely enjoyed the sport and helping many runners with their training when many of us had no idea what we were doing.
In the early 1970’s, Duane Ranard, the founder and first president of the original GMAA, approached me and suggested we hold a five kilometer cross country race and name it after Art Tudhope. So on a warm summer’s day, we ran that first Tudhope race at what is now the Albert D. Lawton School in Essex Jct and dedicated it to a man who was a real pioneer in Vermont distance running. While never getting (or wanting) the acclaim of his best buddy, Archie Post, Art Tudhope was a man much larger than his small frame who helped countless runners before running became the popular sport it is today.
After his death in 1974, I remember being at Art Tudhope’s wake and speaking to his wife Helen. What she said to me is something I will never forget – “You will never know how much Art loved running and working with you”. These words meant a lot to me, but also to the many others who knew this kind and quiet gentleman.
So, if you are ever out running and hear a cheer and don’t know where it came from, it could very well be Archie Post and his best friend, Art Tudhope cheering you on as you run down the road.
On September 7, 1971 Larry Kimball was the first race director of many for the third oldest Vermont foot race. Originally called the Arthur Tudhope Cross Country Race, the event has changed names, distances, formats and locations over the years, but has always been held in memory of Colonel Arthur Tudhope. It is now held every October in Shelburne, and is known as the GMAA Apple Harvest 10K.