Alfred Shrubb
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Alfred Shrubb (12 December 1879 – 23 April 1964) known as Alfie Shrubb was an English middle and long-distance runner. During an amateur career lasting from 1899 to 1905 (when he was barred from amateur competition for receiving payment for running) and a professional career from 1905 to 1912 he won over 1,000 races of about 1,800. At the peak of his career he was virtually unbeatable at distances up to 15 miles, often racing against relay teams so that the race would be more competitive. On 4 November 1904, at
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,
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, he broke the
one hour run The one hour run is an athletics event in which competitors try to cover as much distance as possible within one hour. While officially recognized by World Athletics as a track event, it is rarely contested apart from occasional world record atte ...
record as well as all amateur records from six to eleven miles, and all professional records from eight to eleven miles, running eleven miles, 1137 yards (18.742 km) in one hour. Altogether he set 28 world records. He raced ten times against the record-holding Canadian
First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...
marathoner Tom Longboat,Humber, William
''Bowmanville: A Small Town at the Edge''
Natural Heritage Books, 1997.
winning all the races shorter than 20 miles and losing all the longer races. In 1908 he became coach of the
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
cross-country team, leading it to a national title. From 1919 to 1928 he coached the
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Athletics Club. In 1928 Alfred made his home permanently in Canada, where he operated the Cream of Barley Mill in
Bowmanville, Ontario Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along Highway 2. Bowmanville was first incorporated as a ...
until 1949.Taws, Charles
"When Barley was King!"
''ClaringtonPromoter'', December 2012.
He died there in 1964. He is commemorated by the annual Alfie Shrubb Museum Run in Bowmanville, and the annual Alf Shrubb Memorial 5-mile cross-country run in
Slinfold Slinfold is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. Geography The village is almost west of Horsham, just off the A29 road. The parish covers . The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,647 people living ...
.


See also

*
5000 metres world record progression The official world records in the 5000 metres are held by Joshua Cheptegei with 12:35.36 for men and Letesenbet Gidey with 14:06.62 for women. The first world record in the men's 5000 m was recognized by World Athletics (formerly called the ...
*
10,000 metres world record progression The official world records in the 10,000 metres are held by Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei with 26:11.00 minutes for men and Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey with 29:01.03 for women. The first world record in the men's 10,000 metres was recognized by the Int ...
*
Two miles The 2 mile (10,560  feet or 3,218.688 metres) is a historic running distance. Like the mile run, it is still contested at some invitational meets due its historical chronology in the United States and United Kingdom. It has been lar ...


References


Further reading

*Rob Hadgraft
Biography of Alfred Shrubb
*Shea, Kevin (2008). "Alfie Shrubb", pp. 36–37 in ''Bowmanville: 150 Years, 150 Stories''. Bowmanville Sesquicentennial Society. 1879 births 1964 deaths Sportspeople from Clarington English male middle-distance runners English male long-distance runners World record setters in athletics (track and field) Harvard Crimson coaches People from Slinfold {{England-athletics-bio-stub