Jack Holden

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John Thomas "Jack" Holden (born March 13, 1907 in Bilston , West Midlands , † March 7, 2004 in Cockermouth ) was a British long-distance runner who achieved his greatest successes in cross-country and marathon .

Life

Jack Holden grew up in a working-class family with eight siblings. At the age of 13 he left school to work in a foundry . Originally a boxer , he discovered his running talent in a local race where he won a pig . This winners' bonus almost cost him amateur status before his career really started. In the following years he joined the Tipton Harriers club .

As a track runner , Holden was champion several times in Great Britain in the early 1930s, but he achieved little international success. His best performance was fourth over six miles at the British Empire Games in 1934 .

Jack Holden won the Cross of Nations , the forerunner event of today's World Cross Country Championships , in 1933–1935 and 1939, making it a record winner. Up to and including 1939, Holden had nine places in the top ten. After the Second World War, in which he served in the Royal Air Force , he reached sixth place again in 1946.

Jack Holden, who now worked as a groundsman for a sausage factory, turned to the marathon and was English champion four times in a row between 1947 and 1950 . He took the lead at the 1948 Olympic Games marathon in London, but had to give up after two thirds of the route due to severe blistering of his feet.

The following year, his wife persuaded him to make a comeback. He won the Enschede Marathon in 2:20:52 hours, 14 minutes faster than Delfo Cabrera in his Olympic victory in London, although the distance was more than two kilometers too short.

At the British Empire Games 1950 in Auckland in February, Jack Holden was able to win in 2:32:57 hours with a four-minute lead, although he covered the last third barefoot because his shoes had softened and fell apart in the rain. On top of that, he had to fend off attacks from a dog. At 42 years and 335 days, Holden is still the oldest winner in track and field at the Commonwealth Games , as the event is called today.

In total, Holden won five marathons in 1950. On August 23, he won the European Athletics Championships in Brussels in 2:32:13 h. At 43 years and 163 days, Jack Holden also set an age record for winners here. After he was beaten by Jim Peters in the Polytechnic Marathon the following year , Holden ended his sporting career.

Jack Holden died in 2004 a few days before his 97th birthday.

literature

  • Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 2005. SportsBooks, Cheltenham 2005, ISBN 1-899807-27-6 (obituary on page 95).
  • Bob Phillips: Honor of Empire Glory of Sport. The History of Athletics at The Commonwealth Games. Parrs Wood, Manchester 2000, ISBN 1-903158-09-5 (via the Empire Games).

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Holden, Jack
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Holden, John Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British long distance runner
DATE OF BIRTH March 13, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Bilston , West Midlands
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 2004
Place of death Cockermouth