Alfie's Trophy's and Medals  ›  World Record

2nd shot of this GREAT medal.

(Article by Rob Hadgraft, author of the Alfred Shrubb biography ‘The Little Wonder’)

Check out Rob’s book at http://www.desertislandbooks.com

“The Little Wonder The Untold Story Of Alfred Shrubb

ALL finishers at the 2005 Alfie Shrubb/Museum 8k Fun Run will receive a special replica of a gold medal that was won by Alfie Shrubb more than 100 years ago when broke the world three-mile record on a grass track.

The medal in question was one of the highlights of the 1902 track season for Shrubb. It was a season of many races and victories, but this particular medal would occupy a special place in Shrubb’s huge collection. Let’s have a look back at the events leading up to the day when Shrubb won it . . . . .

By the middle of 1902 Shrubb had established himself as one of the leading distance runners in the world. And, as spring made way for summer in Edwardian England, Shrubb could be found racing at all distances between one and 15 miles. Since his emergence from nowhere barely two years earlier, Shrubb had amazed the world of athletics by winning race after race. He was piling up the titles and also beginning to break long-standing records.

In mid-May he fancied a crack at the world three mile record and ventured to a meeting in Ilford, just outside London, England, staged by the Essex Beagles club. This event had been postponed earlier in the month due to a violent thunderstorm. Once again thunder and lightning hit the area, but the fixture went ahead anyway and Shrubb bravely attacked the record on the grass track in dreadful conditions. He put in a great display in the circumstances but came home in 14mins.54secs, some way short of the target.

Undaunted, two days later he was in action in the historic coastal town of Hastings where he turned the tables on local hero Albert Aldridge following a rare defeat by him in a 15-mile race in Manchester earlier. This time the 10-mile race distance suited Shrubb better and he won in 53.39.2, with the inclement weather again putting paid to chances of a record.

Shrubb’s summer racing schedule was crammed with fixtures all over the country - just the way he seemed to like it. He even accepted an invitation to the West of Scotland Harriers meeting in Glasgow in June. It meant another lengthy journey and several days away from his Sussex home, but by now Shrubb had developed a real taste for travelling and visiting new places, and welcomed the chance to see Scotland for the fist time.

In strong winds, he raced over three miles at Ibrox Park and clocked an impressive 14.36.4, winning by the length of the home straight, with his old adversary Jack Rimmer back in third. Despite the conditions he’d come close to the world record and his bold front-running thrilled the home fans. Shrubb would comment later: ‘I developed a great liking for Scotland and it can be truly said that the love of long-distance running was a passion with the hardy Scots, who love the element of endurance in field athletics.’

Having clocked world class times in poor conditions, it was clear Shrubb was in great form and it was surely only a matter of time before he would crack one of those elusive world records.

July 1902 saw Shrubb pencilled in to race at a series of major fixtures and he decided to use minor local meets to help him prepare for this crucial month. At a Horsham Cycling Club evening fixture, he hardly broke sweat when winning a two-mile flat race in 9.28.4, toying with the opposition and staying in a group until the closing stages when he powered ahead to win by 12 yards. He appeared to be breathing easily at the finish and it was hard to comprehend how he’d managed to record this world-class time in such casual fashion.

There was a very cosmopolitan gathering for the big AAA championship meeting at Stamford Bridge in July, with athletes from the USA, New Zealand and Hungary challenging the cream of the home nations. Although Shrubb won the four-mile event in fine style, for once he found he wasn’t the centre of attention on this excellent day of athletics. Twenty-seven-year-old Joe Binks of Unity AC ran the race of his life in the Mile, smashing the seven-year-old British record. Shrubb had also entered the Mile and was a central figure in a last lap filled with drama. As the leaders hit the home straight for the final time, two of the five contenders, Shrubb and E.L.Gay-Roberts of Oxford University, both found they had no gas left in the tank for a late sprint and simply walked off the track. Lieutenant Henry Hawtrey of London AC held a narrow lead from Binks, who suddenly surged late for the line to win in an amateur record of 4.16.8. His time would not be beaten by a Briton for 19 years, with Henry Stallard’s 4.14.2 eclipsing it in 1921.

A crowd of around 8,000 basked in the Stamford Bridge sunshine and were entertained by the London Victoria Military band. Shrubb’s main event, over four miles, was an hour after the end of the Mile. It got off to a painful start when he was spiked by a fellow athlete’s shoe in the rush for an early lead. It was a nasty wound, but Shrubb stayed on his feet and ran on, only feeling real pain when the race was over. The event turned into something of a procession, with Shrubb always in control and coming home in 20.01.4, a good 90 yards ahead of Herne Hill’s Fred Appleby, with A.F.Simpson of New Zealand a long way back in third. Shrubb’s leg wound failed to heal properly for a number of weeks but he bandaged it up and didn’t miss any events because of it.

The following weekend, July 19, saw Shrubb and several other leading distance men heading for the city of Chelmsford in Essex for the prestigious annual Essex championships, which were probably the second-biggest event in the country at the time, behind the national championships. A bumper 8,000 crowd turned up, hoping to cheer Shrubb to his third successive win in the three-mile race for huge and valuable Atalanta Cup. He was in great form on the springy grass track and sprinted home alone in 14.25, creating a new world record for three miles on grass. It beat James Kibblewhite’s 1889 record, set at Kennington Oval, South London, and to mark the achievement Shrubb was awarded a gold medal, which he would later describe as one of his proudest possessions.

The enormous Atalanta trophy - which Shrubb reckoned was one of the largest sporting cups in the world - was his for another year thanks to a stunning run that had been the best of his three winning appearances at Chelmsford thus far. He’d simply stormed home, finishing 200 yards ahead of Aldridge, with Appleby third. Shrubb’s mile splits were 4.40, 4.59 and 4.46. He obliterated Kibblewhite’s 13-year-old grass world record by eleven seconds.

The medal that the distinguished Major Rasch presented to Shrubb has now -103 years later - been specially replicated for presentation to all participants in the Alfie Shrubb /Museum 8k race in Bowmanville, Ontario, the town where Shrubb would ultimately spend the last 43 years of his life. Although he died back in 1964, the old runner would undoubtedly be proud to see modern-day runners enjoying their running and taking home a souvenir to remind them about Shrubb’s golden days as a champion.

(ends).