Thawn Harris Ran Marathon To Honor His Great Uncle “Tarzan” Brown

Charlestown resident and Narragansett Tribal member Thawn Sherenté Harris ran the 2026 Boston Marathon on April 20 to honor his great uncle, Ellison “Tarzan” Brown.

Ellison Brown was a two-time winner of the Boston Marathon, in 1936 (2:33:40) and 1939 (2:28:51). A member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe, Brown also participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Brown was scheduled to be in the 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, but they were cancelled due to WWII.

Harris, 47, ran the marathon in under four hours, which is an impressive time, and represents weeks of training, speed work, and hill training. We think “Tarzan” would have been proud of both his great nephew’s achievement and his motivation for running.

This video showcases Thawn Harris, pre-marathon, explaining his motivation for running: