Alfred Shrubb

About

English middle and long-distance runner. He competed as an amateur from 1899 to 1905, and as a professional from 1905 to 1912. He won over 1,000 races out of about 1,800. He died in Canada in 1964. 

Before Fame

Until being recruited and financially supported by an elite English running club, he was a rural apprentice carpenter. While running for the elite club, he worked as a tobacco storekeeper.

Trivia

He was mentioned in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel The Lost World. Doyle wanted to illustrate how slow dinosaurs were, and wrote that an ordinary human by comparison would be "a perfect Shrubb." In 1908 he became coach of the Harvard University cross-country team, leading it to a national title. From 1919 to 1928 he coached the University of Oxford Athletics Club. He later settled down in Bowmanville, Ontario, where he worked as a zoo-keeper and manager of a tourist park.

Family Life

He was born in England.

Associated With

At his peak, between 1905 and 1912, he set 28 world records. His dominance of middle and long-distance running put him in the company of Paavo Nurmi and Emil Zatopek.