Albert Smoke

Albert Smoke (1891-1944) was a marathon runner and Olympian, the son of James Smoke of Alderville and Hannah Knott of Curve Lake.

Smoke began his amateur road racing career around 1910 in Peterborough as a teenage “junior” in the Peterborough Examiner Road Race and through the 1910s worked his way up the ranks in the sport. Had the 1916 Olympic Games been staged (they were cancelled because of WWI) a question remains whether Smoke would have made the Olympic Marathon Team at that point. He certainly did for the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, making the trek to Belgium to participate for Canada in the marathon. Smoke failed to win gold and to even place well, having suffered from blisters in that race. However, upon his return Smoke won the 1921 Hamilton Herald Road Race in 1:50:04, and then in 1922 placed third in the Boston Marathon in 2:22:49:3/5 to cement his legacy.

Albert Smoke married Margaret Whetung of Curve Lake and they went on to have seven surviving children. After his career ended he eventually made the move to Lindsay where he lived for about 18 years. Smoke died relatively young in 1944 still in his early to mid-50s. His wife Margaret passed away a year later in her mid-40s. Albert Smoke was the last Mississauga Ojibway marathon runner to compete in the Olympics Games.