Jack Holden (athlete)

John ("Jack") Thomas Holden (March 13, 1907 – March 7, 2004) was a long-distance runner from England, who won four consecutive national titles in the men's marathon (1947 to 1950). He represented Great Britain at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he did not finish. He won the 1950 Empire Games marathon in Auckland, despite being bitten by a dog.

He was also a successful cross country runner, becoming the first man to win the International Cross Country Championships four times, which he did between 1933 and 1939.

During the 1950s, Coseley Urban District Council named a new road on the Woodcross housing estate Jack Holden Avenue in honour of this local sporting legend. On 23 July 1952, Jack Holden's Gardens were opened on Queens Road, Tipton.

Holden died in March 2004, six days before what would have been his 97th birthday.

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