William George Iffrig (June 13, 1934 – January 8, 2024) was an American

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

runner. He became well known to the American public after appearing in a photo that captured his fall near the finish line during the

Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing, sometimes referred to as simply the Boston bombing, was an Islamist domestic terrorist attack that took place during the 117th annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarna ...

Life and career

William George Iffrig was born in

Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...

on June 13, 1934, the son of Clarence and Fannie Iffrig. He graduated from Everett High School. He was a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

and a

brick mason A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsperson An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or stri ...

. In 2013, Iffrig competed at the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

. While competing, he fell 60 feet near the finish line after a bomb went off. He gained national attention after his fall was captured by

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

John Tlumacki. Iffrig died in

Marysville, Washington Marysville is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The city is located north of Seattle, adjacent to Everett on the north side of the Snohomish River delta. It is the second-largest ci ...

on January 8, 2024, at the age of 89.

References

External links

* 1934 births 2024 deaths People from Everett, Washington American male marathon runners Boston Marathon bombing American carpenters American bricklayers 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-longdistance-athletics-bio-stub