When it comes to competitiveness that borders on maniacal, Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird ranks right up there with Michael Jordan. He took pride in competing every night, driven by a desire to prove he was the best on the court.

But unbeknownst to some, that competitive drive extended past the four corners of the hardwood floor and onto the streets of Boston. To be exact, Bird found himself running in the Shamrock Classic, a five-mile road race in March, where the starting point was at the Boston Garden. Even in the middle of the season, he received approval from Celtics head coach K.C. Jones and even convinced a teammate, former All-Star Scott Wedman, to join him.

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While Wedman knew how badly Bird wanted to win at everything, he didn’t expect him to go all out and risk injuring his legs. Apparently, he didn’t know his teammate as well as he thought.

Bird began running more

While the NBA didn’t know what the term load management was back then, teams were still pretty cautious about their players’ activities. Although they never sat them out unless they absolutely had to, they were pretty strict about their training and exercise routines.

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So when Bird started running more, his teammates were surprised.

“When I didn’t play much during a game, I’d get into practice a half-hour early and I’d run for about 20 minutes beforehand around the court,” Wedman, a 6’7″ small forward, said. “About a month before that road race, I came in one time and Larry was running. I was like, ‘What’s he doing?’ He just said quietly, ‘I need to stay in shape.'”

After a few more weeks of consistent laps, Bird eventually came clean to his teammate, admitting to the run and inviting Wedman to join, saying “Buddy of mine is having a fundraiser for such-and-such thing. You wanna run with me?”

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After Jones gave the go-ahead on the condition that nobody ran too hard and pulled a hamstring, off they went to the streets of Boston, running alongside thousands of people.

Bird suddenly took it seriously

As hard as they tried to be inconspicuous, it was futile, especially since both Bird and Wedman were at least a foot taller than anyone on the road. Nevertheless, they enjoyed the sights and sounds of the event.

“So we take off, beautiful day, and there are a couple of thousand people in this race. So we’re running along — and Boston is a big sports town — and you hear, ‘Hey, there’s Larry Bird! Hey there’s Larry Bird! Look, Larry Bird! Hey, is that Scott Wedman?'” Wedman recalled. “And then you start to hear, ‘Hey, I’m passing Larry Bird!’ People were running fast and enjoying the fact that they’re passing us.”

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Bird, in particular, was amazed at how some kids were running past them. Even though they were basketball players and not runners, they still were elite athletes who were used to being the best.

“It’s amazing to me when you run those races. Some people you think can’t run, they run right by you,” Bird stated. “It’s amazing. Kids 10 years old flying by you at the four-mile marker. You’re like, ‘What the hell?'”

As they entered the final mile of the race, the legendary suddenly got serious and sprinted, determined not to let anyone get past him any longer, including Weldman.

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“So the last mile, Larry’s noticing this, and he says, ‘Nobody’s passing me anymore. Let’s go.’ And he took off,” Wedman conveyed. “Remembering what K.C. said, I didn’t try to beat him. Don’t know if I could have. He did the last mile in under five minutes.”

Bird clocked in at 33 minutes and 40 seconds. The time, though, didn’t matter at all. All that mattered was that he got to the finish line well ahead of his teammate.

“I beat Scotty, so that was good,” he said.

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Such was the incredible competitive drive within Bird; even a road race in March was treated like the NBA title was on the line in Game 7 of the finals.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 20, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.