Edward Gardner was born in Birmingham, Alabama in December 1898. Shortly after his birth, his family moved west and eventually settled in Seattle. Gardner returned to Alabama in 1914, to attend Tuskegee Institute, where he learned a trade as a steam engineer and became a star on the school’s track team. By 1921, Gardner was living in Seattle and began competing in the annual Ten Mile Washington State Championship, sponsored by the Seattle Post Intelligencer . Gardner won the race three times from 1921-1927, setting course records as he went and beating the best amateur and military runners in the Pacific Northwest. As he trained, he adopted his trademark outfit, a white towel tied around his head, a white sleeveless shirt and white trunks. His Seattle fans would call out “oh you Sheik.” The name stuck and Eddie Gardner became known as "the Sheik” of Seattle. In 1928, Gardner entered the first foot race across America, nicknamed the “bunion derby” (A 3,400 m...