Stephen Farrell (track and field)

Stephen J. Farrell
Farrell from 1925 Michiganensian
Born	26 December 1863 Rockville, Connecticut
Died	17 October 1933 (aged 69) Ann Arbor, Michigan
Citizenship	United States
Years active	1888–1930
Known for	Track athlete and coach
Home town	Rockville, Connecticut

Stephen J. Farrell (26 December 1863 – 17 October 1933) was professional track athlete, circus performer and track coach.

Farrell was a professional foot-racer in the 1880s and 1890s, beginning as a competitor in the hook, hose and ladder teams of New England. He was the first American to win England's Sheffield Cup on two occasions and competed in races from 100 yards to one mile. He became known as "the greatest professional footracer this country has ever known."

Seeking out new challenges, Farrell performed with the Barnum & Bailey Circus for several years racing against a horse, and he was never known to ever lose to the horse. Farrell later became a track coach at Yale University, the University of Maine, Ohio State University, and the University of Michigan. He coached at Michigan for 18 years and developed many great athletes, including DeHart Hubbard and Eddie Tolan.

He was born on December 26, 1863 in Rockville, Connecticut to Matthew Farrell.

Farrell grew up at a time when professional foot-racing was one of the most popular sports in New England, attracting as much attention as football would in the 20th Century. Farrell gained fame as one of the world's foremost professional runners in the 1880s and 1890s. Sports writer Walter Eckersall called Farrell "the greatest professional footracer this country has ever known." It was said that Farrell "could run any race from the hundred to the mile." In his day, he was considered by his opponents "the best money racer who ever pulled on a running shoe." Harry Gill, who later became the track coach at the University of Illinois, competed against Farrell and said he had never seen Farrell's equal.

Farrell got his start competing in the hook, hose and ladder events that were popular in New England. Farrell was much in demand as a No. 1 man on fire department teams and represented "many a team." Each town's fire team was made up of 16 men, and Farrell was the captain of three hose teams in Massachusetts. In those competitions, a hose cart was placed 300 yards from a dummy hydrant, and the team pushed the cart to the hydrant where the hose was uncoupled and fastened to the hydrant as the cart then raced another 200 yards and the nozzle affixed to the hose. In the hook and ladder days, Farrell raced with some of the greats of the sport who later became major college track coaches, including Keene Fitzpatrick, Mike Murphy, Johnny Mack and Bill Donovan.