death_place death_date birth_date image article_title
bowmanville , canada 23 april 1964 -lrb- aged 84 -rrb- 12 december 1879 alfred shrubb.jpg alfred shrubb

alfred shrubb

alfred `` alfie '' shrubb -lrb- 12 december 1879 -- 23 april 1964 -rrb- was an english middle and long distance runner .
during an amateur career lasting from 1899 to 1905 -lrb- when he was barred from amateur competition for receiving payment for running -rrb- and a professional career from 1905 to 1912 he won over 1,000 races of about 1,800 started .
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 ibrox park , glasgow , he broke the one hour run 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 -lrb- 18.742 km -rrb- in one hour .
altogether he set 28 world records .
he raced ten times against the great marathoner tom longboat , winning all the races shorter than 20 miles and losing all the longer races .
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 oxford university athletics club .
in 1928 alfred made his home permanently in canada .
he died in bowmanville , ontario 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 .
