ALFRED SHRUBB

ALFRED SHRUBB –
the man who was
Longboat’s greatest rival


Article by ROB HADGRAFT, adapted from his book ‘The Little Wonder’, published by Desert Island Books, 2003. (ISBN 1-874287-81-3)


ONE of Tom Longboat’s most deadly and committed rivals during his heyday was undoubtedly the Englishman Alfred Shrubb.

And the greatest of all their contests took place over the marathon distance, indoors at Madison Square Garden, New York, the air clogged with cigarette smoke. The excited 12,000 crowd who witnessed this wonderful contest saw a race they would never forget. Some experienced newspapermen called it the best head-to-head race they’d ever witnessed.

Shrubb had broken a dozen world records in his native England between 1902 and 1904, but was sensationally banned from amateur athletics in 1906 for accepting hotel and travel expenses to races. The best-known runners of this era nearly all committed similar ‘crimes’ - but Shrubb was unlucky enough to be caught red-handed, and the Amateur Athletic Association of England decided to make an example of him.

Shrubb’s reaction was to turn professional and head for North America, where he would wait patiently for Longboat to likewise take the plunge into professionalism, the famous pair then contesting what promoters labelled ‘The Long-distance Championship of the World.’

In January 1909 they were finally pitted against each other. It had been a long time coming, but enthusiastic New Yorkers felt it was worth the wait. Tickets quickly sold out for their head-to-head indoor marathon at Madison Square Garden I nthe heart of sports-mad New York City. An extraordinary level of public interest saw thousands of dollars change hands in pre-race betting, and the authorities laid on special trains to the event.

Longboat had several fine marathon times under his belt, but for Shrubb this was his first attempt at such a distance. Wisely, he insisted on a clause in his contract that he would receive a share of the proceeds, win or lose, and if he lost would be guaranteed re-matches with Longboat over shorter distances. The contract he signed with promoter Pat Powers was very favourable and virtually guaranteed a pay-day of several thousand dollars, whatever the outcome of the race.

Deals such as this - added to the news that longer-term coaching work was available to him at Harvard - convinced Shrubb that the time was right for his family to make firm plans to settle permanently in North America. He told pressmen he would be making a short visit to England in the early spring of 1909 to sort out a few matters and would then return for good. The prospect of making a good living was much brighter now that the likes of Longboat, Dorando Pietri and Johnny Hayes had switched to professionalism.

Of immediate concern to Shrubb was the need to increase his training mileage in order to be able to cope with his first marathon. He only had a few weeks to prepare himself. Plenty of long walks in his lead-filled boots were the order of the day. Plodding along for hours in the cold, wintry weather certainly helped condition him for the strength-sapping ordeal ahead, even though he knew the big race itself would be played out in a smoky, indoor setting. Running without fresh air was anathema to Shrubb, but he cheered himself with the thought that the financial rewards were far too good to turn down. Further consolation arrived with news that the erratic Longboat's training wasn't going well.

Between training sessions Shrubb maintained his business-like approach by planning ahead and conducting negotiations for future races. He offered both Longboat and Pietri a set of 10, 15 and 20 mile races each, with a huge 5,000 dollar prize being paid on a 'best of three' basis. Converted to present-day prices, this prize would have a value of around 100,000 US dollars. Longboat and Pietri both declined, no doubt believing the distances favoured Shrubb too much.

In the mean time, to warm up for more immediate matters, Shrubb familiarised himself with the small Madison Square Garden track by tackling three of the fastest men around over 12 miles in front of a 5,000 crowd on Saturday January 9. Each opponent - Frank Kanaly and Tom Williams from Massachusetts, and Fred Simpson, an Ojibway indian from the Hiawatha reserve in Ontario – had to run four miles each. Shrubb and Kanaly shot off together at the gun like sprinters and after the first turn Shrubb fell in behind Kanaly and ran on his heels until the next turn. Then Shrubb surged and bustled away to open a 100-yard lead. He covered the first half-mile in 2.17.8 and the mile in 4.53.2. When Simpson relieved Kanaly, he found himself three laps down, with Shrubb recording 21.30 for four miles. Simpson, who came sixth in the 1908 Olympic marathon in London, was a big powerful man resembling Longboat. The crowd roared him on his way as he sprinted after Shrubb, but this only inspired Shrubb to increase his own speed. Shrubb hit eight miles in 43.15. One paper reported that the third runner, Williams, 'dashed away like a frightened fawn amid a tremendous roar.' Williams' early enthusiasm didn't frighten the Englishman and he injected several more impressive bursts before coming home to win nearly four laps in front. Shrubb had blasted out a superb 65.57, which was more than five minutes faster than Pietri had recently managed against fellow Olympian Hayes in a 12-miler. The West Sussex County Times said this victory proved Shrubb was a 'marvel' and added: 'It is a pity that he has decided to expatriate himself in order to take up a lucrative position at Harvard University as running instructor.'

Promoter Pat Powers was delighted at the hullabaloo surrounding the big clash between Shrubb and 21-year-old Longboat. The level of anticipation was maintained even when Shrubb reported inflammation around his left big toe and the event was put back to Friday February 5. Longboat also had problems in the build-up, but they seemed psychological rather than physical. Powers had recently taken over from Tom Flanagan as Longboat's manager, a move which was said to have left the runner unhappy and depressed. He wrote to Flanagan's business partner Tim O'Rourke to say he was not in good shape for the big race and was thinking of pulling out. He advised against placing bets on him to win and ended, rather desperately: 'I'm good for nothing now.' Although it had been a private letter, O'Rourke apparently handed it to the Toronto Star and it led to huge headlines, adding to the frenzy of interest and betting on the race.

Three days prior to the race Shrubb proved his toe was better by completing a 14-mile training run at an average pace of quicker than 5.30 a mile. After this he set off from his Toronto base for his Broadway hotel in New York and met up with Flanagan, who was playing a central role in the staging of the race. In his column in the Toronto Evening Telegram, Flanagan reported that Shrubb seemed slightly nervous but looked in good shape. Flanagan also visited the Flatiron Building to see Longboat and his veteran trainer Jimmy DeForest and reckoned the Canadian was not in such good condition as Shrubb, although he still believed the indian would win. The ten-laps-to-a-mile track at Madison Square Garden was laid by Sparrow Robertson, regarded as the best man in the world at this sort of work, who would be using a layout and compound similar to the one favoured by Longboat when he'd beaten Pietri a few weeks earlier at the same venue.

Two days before the race, Longboat ran a rather languid eight miles and the day before completed his build-up with a long walk. His preparations also included an unscheduled sprint down Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, when he'd helped a store-keeper pursue a shop-lifter. Shrubb was favoured in the early betting, with odds of 10-7 against him proving popular. But by the Friday morning, the punters were starting to pile money on a Longboat victory, with Flanagan encouraging them, writing in the Telegram that Shrubb wouldn't last the distance despite his instinctive need to always uphold the honour of his country. Everyone expected Shrubb's plan would be to go out fast, build a lead and try to hang on. That was his usual way. The unknown factor would be how he coped with a distance six miles longer than he'd ever raced before. Longboat's tactics and performance were harder to predict. He'd won a handful of marathons in fine style, but occasionally performed erratically and below his potential.

Born on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario in July 1887, Longboat was an Onondagan, one of the six tribes of the Iroquois confederacy. His first important race had taken place in 1906 when he won the Around the Bay marathon aged 19 in nearby Hamilton. He topped the world rankings after his 1907 Boston Marathon win, but regularly blotted his copybook with a casual attitude to training and well-documented heavy drinking. He is said to have been racially discriminated against and ruthlessly exploited during his time on the pro running circuit, which might partly explain his reputation as a difficult character to manage. Shrubb, modest and canny, a man who drank little and paid great heed to diet and training, couldn’t have been a more different character than his big opponent.

Around 12,000 people squeezed into Madison Square Garden for the big race on the Friday evening, both runners attended by a well-dressed group of helpers. Longboat had additional support from Lauretta Maracle, the young woman he'd married six weeks earlier. Both runners expected to take home at least 3,000 dollars from the event, which was considerably more than a year's salary for most members of the audience. The betting saw thousands of dollars change hands in various cities, some single wagers involving as much as 1,400 dollars. W.J.Little of the Montreal Star was appointed judge, Rev. J.D. Morrow from Toronto the scorer, and Frank Nelson of the Boston Globe official timer. 'Big' Tim Sullivan was the starter. Thomas Sinnott, Shrubb's former mentor from England was among the other trackside officials assisting the runners.

In the fraught moments before the start the atmosphere was electric. Shrubb nervously bounced around the arena on a warm-up lap and, typically, Longboat simply stood around casually, waiting for the signal to start. Shrubb noticed an unusually high number of women in the audience. He mentioned this to the starter, the British expat Sullivan, who laughingly remarked that the whole amazing scene reminded him of a night at the Covent Garden opera. The arena was filled with tobacco smoke, which didn't please Shrubb, and the noise was deafening, with both runners enjoying plenty of support. Shrubb wore a dark top bearing a bold Union jack emblem on the chest, and the British flag was much in evidence among the crowd. Longboat's fans included excited native Americans who constantly screamed 'Oyesha!', the indian battle cry of victory.

The gun went and Shrubb showed his hand from the outset, leaping ahead and completing the first lap of 176 yards in 30 seconds, half-a-mile in 2.25 and a mile in 4.52. It seemed ridiculously fast for a marathon of 262 laps, but Shrubb had his plan and was going to stick to it. In the fourth mile he had a problem with a shoe and stopped to fix it. Longboat set off steadily at an unwavering pace and seemed unfazed by the huge lead that Shrubb quickly built. At eight miles the watching Flanagan reckoned Shrubb shot him a sarcastic smile, but he felt sure the Englishman wouldn’t get the last laugh. Over the first 16 miles the pattern remained the same, Longboat plodding and Shrubb occasionally surging, finding himself eight laps ahead at one point (1,408 yards). After Shrubb had lapped Longboat yet again, the crowd began to turn on the Canadian and booed him. Consternation spread among Longboat's backers and there was gloom at the end of telegraph wires back in Toronto where hordes had gathered outside the newspaper offices for 'live' news of the race.

Then, slowly, the tide began to turn. After 18 miles, a mind-numbing 180 laps, Shrubb no longer had an easy stride and seemed to be labouring. He rallied at 19, however, and the lead remained eight clear laps. Although he was no longer Longboat's manager, Flanagan had a financial stake in his winning and he kept urging Longboat's helpers to stop trying to get their man to speed up. Flanagan could see the way the race was going and he was sure that if Longboat simply maintained his present pace Shrubb would crumble. 'I had figured on Shrubb hitting trouble at 20 miles and I was right,' he wrote later. 'At this point he had to change his shoes, having shown lameness for some time. Longboat gained more than a lap during this operation, closing the gap to six-and-a-half laps.'

At 21 miles Shrubb was clearly limping and showing signs of distress. He was doused on the back of the head with a sponge but continued to wobble. Just before 22 miles Flanagan could contain himself no longer and threw off his coat and rushed to trackside. He joined Longboat's helpers, who were taking turns to run alongside their man and talk to him. Some of their advice must have been lost in the cacophany of sound from the excited crowd. Shrubb had slowed badly and the lead was being whittled down, slowly but surely. Longboat looked too heavy-legged to raise any sort of surge, but was showing no signs of distress.

At 22 miles Shrubb was forced to walk a few yards, a development that saw the cheering become deafening. Longboat’s job was now to recover about 1,100 yards over the remaining four miles. Shrubb again stopped and walked and the lead was cut further. It was slow, tantalising work, and the noise level rose yet higher when Shrubb staggered and almost fell at the 23 mile mark. He was clearly in big trouble and every step now looked like the dying effort of a game man. With around three miles left his lead was now reduced to five laps. Shrubb bravely tried to hang on as Longboat passed and gained another lap back, and stayed with his man for two laps before limping painfully again and walking. With less than two miles to go the lead was now down to a single lap. After appearing well beaten earlier, the race was now there for the taking for Longboat. He drew level and then passed Shrubb, a broken man, at 24 miles and 700 yards. The crowd let rip a mighty roar and hats were thrown into the air, one of which hit Longboat. 'The scene beggared description,' recalled Flanagan.

Moments later, Flanagan recalled seeing race judge Mr.Little and the walking Shrubb shake hands, and overheard the former say: 'You are the greatest 15-mile runner that ever ran a race. You’re beat in this marathon. Don’t kill yourself. Give up like a man and the crowd will give you all honour.' Shrubb replied: 'I believe you’re right' and in a rare show of emotion threw his arms around a helper's neck and choked a sob of bitter disappointment. Longboat finished alone with Madison Square Garden on its feet and in uproar. Flanagan recalled: 'Not a man there didn’t praise Shrubb for his game effort. I’d called Shrubb up in the morning and told him Longboat would surely beat him and this helped a whole lot. There was nothing crooked. It was a true run race. Shrubb was badly advised to set such a clip early.'

While the Longboat camp celebrated at trackside, a distressed Shrubb was carried behind the scenes and his helpers became highly concerned about his condition. An ambulance was called for, but physician Dr Henry Coggeshall appeared in the dressing room and took over from the panic-stricken aides. One reporter witnessed the whole scene: 'Shrubb was breathing strenuously and it was feared his heart had given way. He was put on a platform of boards and his legs lifted so that blood would be sent to his weakened stomach – at this he uttered a cry of mournful protest. His toes were shrivelled like shrimps and he shivered from hips to heels. After midnight he was taken to his hotel wracked of soul and body, beaten in a great and terrible contest, but still in the land of the living.'

The drama of Shrubb's slow and painful decline in the race, after having led by such a huge margin, had made it a thrilling spectacle and newspapers around the world gave the race major coverage. The American said: 'It was the old story of the hare and the tortoise, and the tortoise broke the hare’s heart. Before a whooping, howling crowd of New York indians, Longboat won a great race from the gamest little man that ever laced a racing shoe. Shrubb had speed, and he had heart but he was playing an Englishman’s game and the end was plain from 22 miles.' The World wrote; ‘A woman won this race - sagacious Flanagan led Longboat’s wife to the trackside and she said encouraging words to her husband. The result was both physically and sensationally amazing. Longboat knew the smile of his little white wife and he began a desperate plod that wore his brilliant adversary down.'

The Times of Times reported: ‘The most stirring and sensational long distance race in a long time and the [12,000] that filled every seat and all available standing room will look back in years to come at one of the great historic contests.' The Tribune: 'Shrubb beat himself by a series of spurts intended to run his opponent into the ground. The outcome would seem to prove that Shrubb, invincible for 10 or 15 miles, cannot run the longer route and adopt the same tactics.' The Herald: 'The power to jog along ceaselessly, that has been bred into the indian for centuries, prevailed.' Evening Journal: 'The greatest distance runner ever produced in England was beaten in a race that had sensational features and grim, gruelling grit, perhaps never equalled on the cinder track. Evening World: Shrubb’s ambition was his undoing. Had he loafed along in the indian’s wake he would have won.

In the Canadian capital, Ottowa, thousands of citizens including cabinet ministers and MPs had watched the progress of the race via bulletin boards, most of them cheering for Longboat. In Toronto, supporters of both men had gathered outside the Telegram’s offices and at the end crowds streamed along the streets chanting Longboat’s name. The Telegram took a light-hearted view: 'Shrubb will now be botanized, his class will probably be non-flowering, his order ‘crow’s feet’ and his genus ‘exit’ or ‘has been’.

His ex-manager Flanagan got huge credit for the victory, which seems a little unfair on Longboat in retrospect, and the Irishman was carried shoulder-high by Torontonians after he travelled back to New York. Presumably they were grateful for his advice in relation to the betting. Longboat was unimpressed by all this: 'Do you think Flanagan could make me run if I didn't want to?' was his riposte. In the wake of the race Longboat settled down with new wife Lauretta and used his new riches to buy a three-storey red brick house on Galley Avenue in West Toronto. He quit the cigar shop he had run while under Flanagan's control.

For his part, Shrubb took the defeat well, but said the vast amount of tobacco smoke that had built up in the arena had a serious effect on him. 'The newspapers had asked spectators to refrain from smoking while the race lasted,' he recalled, 'but the Americans are the heaviest smokers in the world and they smoke hardest of all at their pleasures, lighting each successive cigar with the burning end of its predecessor. I suppose Longboat and myself were the only two men in the building that didn’t smoke. The indian confessed to me after the race that tobacco fumes were agreeable to him at any strength. With me it was very different. As the race proceeded I became dazed and half suffocated and in the end sickness bowled me over completely. I collapsed in the arms of my trainer, done to danger point, more than half dead.'

It was later agreed that Shrubb had broken all existing records within a marathon, up to 23 miles, but as he hadn't finished the race these would not have any merit. Shrubb confirmed he'd taken home a cheque to the value of 3,400 dollars, similar to the amount won by Longboat. He added: 'Before the race I met Harry Lauder, the prince of Scottish comedians. He watched the race after his show at the Hammerstein Theatre and every now and then I could hear the cheers of bonny Scotland in that well known ringing voice: 'Go on Alfie, you’re the boy for me!' Mr Lauder called to see me at the Empire Hotel on Broadway the next day and said it was the smoke that beat me, not Longboat. That was very kind of him, but I’m afraid Longboat had most to do with it. Never in my running career was I so ill as after that race. I lay gasping on my back for four hours with two doctors in constant attendance. They told me afterwards I nearly pegged out. Next day however, I recovered and was able to write my name in hundreds of autograph books.'

This race launched a spell of racing in better company than Shrubb had ever enjoyed as a professional. Quality runners like Longboat, Hayes, Pietri and Simpson were now part of the scene, and from Europe, Fred Appleby and Frenchman Henri St.Yves were heading over to join the fun. Business was booming in 1909 for the leading long-distance men. Their managers and promoters were delighted to cash in, and would stop at nothing to generate publicity for the contests.

Shrubb would make a small fortune from his races in Canada and the USA. He also found employment coaching students at Harvard and then in 1919 returned to his native UK where he became the first paid coach at Oxford University. This role lasted around eight years and when his contract was terminated Shrubb and his family returned to Canada for good. They settled in Bowmanville, Ontario, and Shrubb went into business.

Shrubb died in Bowmanville Hospital in 1964, aged 84. Nearly 40 years later, Bowmanville runner Al Storie set up the annual Shrubb/Museum 8k race in the town and around the same time, English author Rob Hadgraft had a detailed biography of Shrubb published. This was soon followed by a website dedicated to Shrubb.

The book ‘The Little Wonder’ can be obtained by visiting http://www.desertislandbooks.com/ (click on ‘Other Sports’) or via Amazon. The Shrubb website URL is www.alfieshrubb.ca


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