There is nothing quite so simple about this serious and competitive running event that is named for a iconic writer not particularly known for his athleticism, featuring dozens of actors dressed in period consume, and is that is dedicated to writers and journalists kidnapped, killed or persecuted for putting pen to paper.

 

It may be difficult for highly paid professional sports marketing mavens to get their cubicle minds around, but the thousands of people who have run the James Joyce Ramble and return to the Endicott Estate each year somehow appreciate what is attempted in this most unique sporting event.

 

The race organizers approach the organization of this " fine arts running event" in a way that a museum curator or Broadway producer surely would.  The famous Dedham Choral Society sings before the start of the race, which by the way is heralded not by a gun but a huge gong.

The top two winners win Banzai Trees, not trophies.

 

If the challenging six mile course, each named for a literary Joycean work, punctuated with what some find to be incomprehensible verse performed by animated thespians is not engaging enough, how about a huge concert on the grassy lawns of the Endicott Estate headlined by the critcally acclaimed "Dennis Brennan Band" and with an opening act by "Erne and the Automatics" featuring the founding members of the band "Boston" and yes, your favorite New England car retail magnate on rhythm guitar?

 

You can register for this event on Saturday, Noon to 6 PM, or on race day beginning on Sunday at 8:30 AM at the Endicott Estate, 656 East Street in Dedham,  MA .  The race begins at 11:00 AM.  This free concert begins at Noon and everyone is invited.

 

Since 1989 the James Joyce Ramble added to its mission the effort to make people aware of the sanctity of human rights. They petitioned on 
behalf of such writers as Vaclav Havel, Xu Wenli, Aung San Suu Ky, and  many others during the course of the race..  
They dedicated their event to the late "Wall Street Journal" writer Daniel Pearl and campaigned on behalf of "Christian Science Monitor" freelance journalist Jill Carroll, (released just days before last years race).  Their  focus continues to be on  journalists, whose safety all over the world has become a great concern  for those who believe in and practice democracy.  The death this week of David Halberstam whose reporting from the ground opened America's eyes to the realty of a American military disaster in Vietnam lends a particular poignancy to the importance of protecting the rights of an independent and skeptical Fourth Estate.  The 2007 James Joyce Ramble has memorialized this year’s human rights effort on behalf of Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist who was shot dead in October of  last year in Moscow. 

 

They will also add the region's voice to demands for the immediate release of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston missing since March 12 in Palestine.   Johnston, 44, the only Western journalist to both live and work in Gaza, was apparently abducted at gunpoint on March 12 as he drove home. He had been due to finish his posting there at the end of March. He lived in Gaza for the last three years.