Jack Clarke was a New Zealand long-distance athlete who won a bronze medal representing his country in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

Athletics

Clarke took up running in 1943, and by 1947 he had won both the Canterbury cross-country championship and the Canterbury three-miles track title in three successive years. In 1945, he finished third in the New Zealand national cross-country championship. In 1948, Clarke won the marathon at the New Zealand athletic championships held in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, recording 2:44:06, the second-fastest winning time in the championship's history at the time. Despite not completing the marathon course at the 1950 national championships in Napier, Clarke was one of four runners selected to represent New Zealand in the marathon at the

the following month in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. In that event, Clarke won the bronze medal in a time of 2:39:26, despite having a large dog snapping angrily at his heels at one stage of the race. In 1952, Clarke won his second national marathon title, in a time of 2:38:42.

Other activities

Clarke was farm manager for the Roydon Lodge Stud, established by John McKenzie in 1927, at

Yaldhurst Yaldhurst is a semi-rural suburb on the western outskirts of Christchurch city. Frederick William Delamain (1835–1910), a settler and horse breeder, named a horse Yaldhurst after some stables in England. The area was named after the horse. The ...

on the western outskirts of Christchurch. He was also jointly responsible for maintaining the training track. In 2018, it was proposed that a new road in the Yaldhurst Park

subdivision Subdivision may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Subdivision (metre), in music * ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009 * "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2) * ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005 * "Subdivisions" (song), by Rus ...

be named Jack Clarke Road.

References

External links

* Year of birth missing Year of death missing New Zealand male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games New Zealand Athletics Championships winners {{NewZealand-athletics-bio-stub