September. Last of the summer wine.

[Bierzo Baggie]

Jack Holden was the hero of my grandparents’ generation. He probably helped inspire my dad and the intrepid group of 6 to run their inaugural marathon 35 years ago. You could say that he forms part of our running heritage (in the beginning there was Jack…..) although I must admit that until a week ago I didn’t know anything about him. Now I feel as though there’s unfinished business to do, to put the story down on paper, to do the old man justice. Here goes…..

Jack Holden was born in the Black Country one of 9 children and started work in the same foundry as his father when he was 13. His first sport was boxing but he was not destined to emulate the local hero “the Tipton Slasher” and instead veered towards athletics. One day a local publican organized a 3-mile race and Jack won easily. His prize was a live pig.
“I took it home, we killed it and ate it. There were 9 of us. Times were hard”.

Jack soon became a Tipton Harrier, competing in the Birmingham League in the inter-war years. He excelled in cross country at club and later at international level. Meanwhile he continued working in the foundry and at dinner times would perform his own particular version of cross-training by smashing pig-iron with a sledgehammer.

Between 1933 and 39 he was 4 times international cross country champion (forerunner of today’s IAAF World Championships). His last cross country vest for England would come in 1946 but in the meantime his triumphs as an athlete were interrupted by the war and he served with the RAF. By the end of the war years he was now nearly 40 and at this late age he decided to have a go at the marathon.