George Blake – Australia’s First Great Olympic Distance Runner By Andy Milroy
George Blake was arguably the first great Australian distance runner. At the marathon, his sixth place in the 1906 Athens Olympics was not to be improved upon until Rob de Castella finished 5th at the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984. His 6th place also in the final of the 5 mile event in the 1906 Games, an event later superseded by the 10 000 metres, was not to be surpassed by an Australian until Alan Lawrence in 1956.
In his running career, Blake was to face many of the top distance runners of his day and although he never achieved international victory, his results show he was a great competitor. After racing in Australia, the then greatest distance runner in the world, Englishman Alfred Shrubb, stated that he considered Blake the best long distance runner in the country.
Perhaps like John Landy, Blake would have benefited from the greater competition in Europe, thus having a better prospect of reaching his true potential. But his running was rooted and grew in the harrier traditions of Victoria. In his two Olympic outings in his strongest event, the marathon, in the words of his team mate, Greg Wheatley, he suffered “real bad luck”.
George Bernard Blake was born on the 4th September 1878 in St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, which during his childhood became a popular seaside entertainment centre for the working class of the city. His parents John Blake and Ellen Coen were Irish immigrants from County Galway in Ireland. They had emigrated soon after their marriage in 1863, and the first of their eleven children was born in Morang, Victoria. George was the eighth child and seventh boy! Later described as “the plucky little Victorian runner”, at under 10 stone/around 62kg, and probably about 5 foot six inches/1.67 metres, he was a strongly built, compact individual, well suited to distance running.
George was born into a sporting family. It is unlikely that John Blake, his father, had been able to compete in Ireland. Athletics in Ireland at that time was only open to the gentleman amateur. For example the students of Queen’s College Galway took part in athletic sports, but the local working classes were excluded.
When the Irish emigrated to Australia and America, they found not just economic but also sporting opportunities. George was later to compete against both Irish-Americans and Irish-Australians in his running career.
George’s older brother Thomas, born in 1872, was an outstanding distance runner. At the age of 14 George would have seen his brother finish second in the Victoria 3 miles track championships, and then second in the 10 miles cross country, just ahead of Edwin Flack, who was to win gold at the 800 and 1500 metres in the Olympic Games at Athens just four years later as well as then tackle the marathon.
The following year, Tom Blake finished second in the Australian 3 mile championships and won the state 10 miles cross country in 1:03:34, a feat he was to repeat in 1895 in a time of 59:45. But by 1897 Tom Blake’s running career, at the age of 25, seems to come to an end. There may have been a family crisis of some kind, because he also left the Carlton Football Club around the same time. He was eventually after a year’s gap to come back in to football, joining the St Kilda Club for a couple of years.
Perhaps from 1897 onwards he then focused on coaching his younger brother, who had probably already joined Tom’s club, Melbourne Harriers. George too played the Australian Rules game, playing seven games for St Kilda College in the 1897-98 season. (He made his debut in St Kilda v Geelong match in June 1897.)
By 1899 at the age of 21, George Blake was already competing for his athletic club at state level. Although he did not finish in the Victoria state 3 mile championships that year, he contested the mile title as well. It was in the much longer 10 mile cross country championships on the 16th September that his true strength was revealed, perhaps for the first time. He was an endurance athlete like his older brother. He was third in 1:00:22 on the Caulfield course.
With the dawn of the new century in 1900, he began to establish himself as a major Australian distance runner. In September he took the state ten mile cross country championships in 1:01:27, once again on the Caulfield course, going away from the previous winner, Herbert Whiting. The Melbourne Argus noted “G Blake, the winner, is a younger brother of T. Blake, the champion of 1893 and 1895 and the old Carlton footballer.” It was the last time it was necessary to remind readers of his brother’s illustrious sporting career when referring to George Blake.
In October that year it was decided to hold a ten mile race on the track to see what sort of time the leading performers in the annual cross country could do on a track. Charles Herbert had run 59:05 on the country, and it was hope that the race would be won in 55 minutes. However on the day there was a “heavy north wind” and the track was very hard.
The track was 370 yards in circumference, so that the competitors had to start 210 yards before the winning post, and had to pass it 48 times to complete the 10 miles. At the start the favourites, George Blake and William Cumming, set off almost last. At three miles the order was Blake, Rufus Fergusson, Hugh Cannon, Cumming and Donald M'Donald, and “the pace was fairly warm for a while”, and at four miles Blake, Cumming. Fergusson, and M'Donald were a long way ahead, close together.
This was the first such race to be held in Australia and there was the chance of a record at five miles. Four and a half miles into the race, Blake and Cumming surged away into a lead, and were soon 20 yards ahead of Fergusson, with M'Donald 20 yards further back. Blake reached the five-mile post in 27min. 43 3-5scc, a few yards ahead of Cumming, to claim the record. Cumming, who reputedly was short of training, had been wiped out by the race to the five-mile record and retired. Blake was now out on his own against the clock. He knew that a New Zealander T O’Connor had set an Australasian record of 57:02; the conditions were far from ideal and he had only lapped runners to chase.
He ran the next mile in 5:45, to reach the 6 miles in 33:28.6, another Australasian record, a distance which had little significance then, but was later to be the imperial equivalent of the international standard 10 000 metres. He slowed a little over the next mile, reaching seven miles in 39:20.2 (5:51.6) , another record, but managed to slow his decline a little over the next mile lasting 5:54.4 to set another Australasian record of 45:14.6 for eight miles. He had overtaken M'Donald at seven miles, and Rufus Fergusson a mile later. “Blake kept his beautiful long stride going to the finish”
Nine miles, another record, was reached in 51:10 (5:55.4). However if he could only sustain this pace, the Australasian 10 mile record would elude him. Aware of this, he rallied to run strongly to the finish, covering the final mile in 5:47.5 to take the 10 mile title and a new Australian record in 56:57.6, breaking the former record by a mere 3 seconds.
The report in the Melbourne Argus made the telling points that “The wind and the hardness of the track were against record times, and from five miles, when Cumming retired, Blake had practically no opposition. Had he had someone to make a pace for him Blake, might easily have knocked a couple of minutes off the time.” The promoting club the Melburnian Hare and Hounds presented Blake with a gold medal and a silver medal to the runner-up.
With two Victorian titles in the bag, there was just the annual track championships in November to tackle. The newspaper report was brief. “The three mile race, in which the cross-country men appeared, proved an easy thing for the cross-country and track 10-mile champion George Blake.”
Thus right from the beginning of his career, his strength as an endurance-based runner, was very apparent. In the longer events at ten miles and further his strength would tell, but in shorter events, the mile, three and five miles, he could be vulnerable to the faster runners, the half milers and milers moving up in distance, hanging on and then sprinting to win on the final lap. At the national level he was perhaps unlucky that the longest track event was just three miles. The longer five miles event, contested at the 1906 and 1908 Olympics, would have suited his talents better.
By 1901 Blake was established as a strong performer at 3 miles, again taking the state title (15:47.8), he was also 4th at 10 miles cross country in 1:03:24. Later in the year he travelled to Auckland, New Zealand to contest the Australasian Track Championships. He did not finish in the mile but the following day was the first Australian in the 3 miles behind William Simpson of New Zealand (14:49.0), improving to 15:45.8. (Simpson’s time was an Australasian record.)
The following year he yet again won the state 3 mile title (16:21.4) and although only 5th in the 10 miles cross country, his time of 1:02:51 was an improvement on the previous year. That year his younger brother Harry also began his career in racing in state championships, however he was never to reach the same level as his older brothers. He did win the Victorian open mile championships in 1902 – so he was certainly no slouch!
It is not clear what happened in 1903. Sometimes after an impressive start to a career, over-enthusiastic training and racing can lead to a young runner becoming unwell - perhaps the sudden unaccustomed increase in prolonged physical stress depresses the immune system. George Blake’s near contemporary, Len Hurst, had such problems early in his career. Or it could have simply been an injury.
But by early in 1904 he was back. He had finished second to Rufus Ferguson, another Victorian runner, in the national 3 mile championships, 200 yards behind Ferguson’s 15:30.0. But due to carelessness perhaps he was then to fall foul of the Victorian Athletics Association and received a three months suspension.
On the 25th of April he had entered a professional race which was strictly off-limits to an amateur runner. When the possibility of his reinstatement as an amateur was discussed by the Victorian Association, he was “adjudged to be a nominal offender”. The offence seems to be that he just entered for the race, there is no indication that he actually ran the race which would have been a much more serious issue. This is perhaps why he was adjudged a nominal offender. He was reinstated in the amateur ranks on the 25th July that year.
Late in 1904 he once again took the 10 mile cross country title (1:00:49.8) but early in 1905 he was to face his toughest test yet – Alfred Shrubb, generally acknowledged as the greatest distance runner in the world, was to undertake a tour of Australasia.
Blake was to face Alfred Shrubb in a whole series of races, many packed into the Victorian State Championships which took place on two successive weekends at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. On the 18th February “Shrubb gave the spectators a delightful exhibition of running in the mile and a half scratch race” Setting off at a tremendous pace, he covered half a mile in 2 min. 5.3 sec Shrubb leading by two yards from Blake and Greg Wheatley. At three-quarters of a mile the positions were the same, the time being 3min. 16 3-5sec. The pace was very solid and Blake was “sticking splendidly” to the champion, who spurted on the fourth lap, and reached the mile in 4min. 29.8, about 15 yards ahead of Blake. The latter was still hanging on well, and “Shrubb had to keep going, and eventually won, finishing with a fine sprint, in the excellent time of 7min.03.6. Blake was second (7min. 15 4-5sec.)”….. “The cheers for Blake were quite as hearty as those which had greeted Shrubb”
The following Wednesday there was a re-match between Shrubb and Blake at Bendigo. It was a three man race over three miles, Blake and S. J. Jackson opposing Shrubb, but Jackson retired before the end of the second mile. Blake led for the first half mile, Shrubb running close behind him and getting shelter from the wind at the other side of the ground. Shrubb led by five yards at a mile (4 min. 44sec). Reeling off his laps with remarkable evenness, he finish his two miles in 9min. 55sec, beating the existing record of 10 min. 5.6 by over 10sec. Shrubb finished the three miles in l5min. l5.0 sec, beating the Victorian record of l5min. 33.6. “Blake, who had run a plucky race, finished easing up” in 15min 52.4. Blake subsequently won a mile handicap off 25 yards in 4:37.
The reason why runners were running so many races in a day was probably economic. As amateurs, the biggest prize they could win was worth 10 guineas. However if they won two or three events then the value of the prizes could mount up. Shrubb himself in England had won four prizes in a meeting each worth 10 guineas. He negotiated with the organising committee to exchange the four prizes for a motorbike worth 40 guineas, which was much more useful to him.
The next weekend saw the second part of the Victorian championships in the MCG. In a one mile race, Shrubb won once again, but this time by 20 yards, with the Englishman clocking 4:29.5, inside the Victorian state record with Blake in second in 4:32.8 Shrubb also won the four-mile handicap event. He secured a lead from his opponents towards the end of the third mile, (a new Victorian record of 14:58.8) and finishing well, did the whole distance in 20m 15 3-5s, Blake being second 150yds behind in 20m 43.4.
“Blake was commended on all sides, for, though he knew he had no chance in any of the races, still he struggled gamely on and showed that his running was equalled by his sporting spirit.”
Before leaving Sydney on his return trip to England, Shrubb expressed the opinion that George Blake was the best long distance runner he had met in Australia. (Star 26 May 1905)
Blake was to confirm this with a string of victories – he took the Victoria state 5 miles cross country title in 30:31 in July at Ballarat, the Tasmanian state 10 miles cross country title at Risden Park in August in 63:18 and then the Victorian 10 mile cross country title in September by 300 yards in 57:59.
He was obviously very fit and it was in 1905 that he played his only Australian Rules Football League match - for Carlton FC against St Kilda. (His brother, Tom, had been captain of the Carlton club in 1895.)
It was not surprising therefore that the following year the Dunedin correspondent of the New Zealand newspaper “Star” passed on the report “Victoria is sending George Blake to Athens, and he is thought to have an excellent chance of winning the Marathon race. Victoria fosters long distance running, has many races in the cross country season at five to ten miles, has both cross-country and flat championships at ten miles, and Blake stands out as the best ten-miler the State has produced.”
A later interview with George Blake which appeared in the Sporting Globe in 1948 gave a fuller picture. Blake and Cecil Healey, the swimmer, had sailed with only a week’s notice, thanks to a grant of £100 from the Greek government. It was actually more complicated than that.
The Melbourne Argus reported on the 3rd Feb 1906 that a meeting of the representatives of the various harrier clubs was held to discuss raising funds for Victorian representation at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Athens. An entertainment to raise funds and a public meeting to enlist the help of the citizens of Melbourne was proposed. At the public meeting it was explained that Sydney people were already raising funds to send their sprinter Nigel Barker and it was felt that Melbourne people should make the effort to send Greg Wheatley and George Blake - Wheatley to retain Edwin Flack's 800 and 1500 metres titles, and Blake to win the marathon.
£50 profit was made at the entertainment and by the 20th February sufficient funds were in place to book Wheatley's ticket and more funding was being sought to send Blake. “The Greek Government, in order to make certain of British athletes being present, voted £200 towards the expenses of a team from England. On learning of this, the Victorian association thought the Greek Government might help Australians as well.” A visit to the Greek consul was very positive, who cabled to ask for a donation of £50 towards the expenses of the Australians.
(Although the 1906 Olympics nowadays is seen as unofficial, in the words of Karl Lennartz, the Olympic historian, "it has been proved that at the time this event [The 2nd International Olympic Games in Athens 1906] was regarded as a regular Olympic Games by the IOC and its president, Baron Pierre de COUBERTIN on the one hand and on the other by the organisers, participants and the entire public". It was not until 1948 that the revision of the historic record began, and the event given the status of Intercalated Games.)
Reportedly in “deference to the wishes of the British Executive Committee of the Olympian Games”, the Central Committee in Athens added a five-mile running track race to the programme. This may also have been due to the influence of James E Sullivan, the American team manager. The 5 mile event was a standard championship event in America, whereas in British the distance was 4 miles.
Blake and the Australian team left Melbourne for the Athens on the ocean liner the SS Ophir, on the 27 February, (the ship was in service on the Orient Steamship route from Australia/Colombo/Aden/London from the 1890s until 1915.) They had had little or no time to prepare properly – the whole process looks to have been rushed through in less than a month.
The long sea voyage was demanding, both in terms of the heat of the Tropics, but also to keep fit. “We wanted to train on board”, Blake later said, “but the captain refused, despite a petition from the passengers who were all for us” By the time they got to Suez, the swimmer Cecil Healy could reputedly do 3500 turns at skipping! Blake lost his running shoes and had to borrow another pair which were not a good fit.
They landed in Athens and went to the Hotel Minerva, but rapidly found it too expensive. Their allowance was just seven shillings a day. They ended up in a guesthouse run by a Mrs McTaggart, who despite the name had been raised in Greece. In order to eat properly the team members were forced to supplement their allowance, paying ten shillings for the accommodation and extra for the special food they needed. They had to train and look after themselves, with no one to turn to and very few English speaking people in Athens.
The small Australian team found Greek food very different with “too much oil and garlic”. It was also hard to get fruit. The team had just three weeks in Greece to acclimatise. They worked together and supported each other.
Cecil Healey found it hard to train. He and Blake would walk five miles to the sea at Phalerum south west of Athens each day and hire a boat. “We would row half a mile or so out into the Mediterranean and Cecil would dive overboard. He would swim to the shore and back. With snow on the surrounding mountains, Cecil would often leave the water almost frozen.”
After seeing Healey back to shore, Blake would then undertake his own training, running back to Athens but he was lucky if he got a bath when he got there as water was rationed. Greg “Dad” Wheatley had had heat stroke on the ship and found training on the track very hard. His team mates would give him false times to encourage him. With Blake being the oldest, it is quite possible that he assumed the role as de facto team manager.
Blake’s more high profile experiences in Athens were to be well reported in the Australian press, due in no small measure to his own efforts, through a letter from Athens and a later interview.
The Director of the British school told Australians and New Zealanders that the British King Edward VII was to visit the school that afternoon, and would like to have “the colonials and Britishers” there. About ten of them went to the school and after a little waiting the King, with the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, King of Greece, and other members of the Royal House, arrived.
Blake later reported “The King of Greece and the Prince of Wales made themselves agreeable to us, while King Edward shook hands all round, and as he chatted about the weather, the stadion (training room), and our prospects of success, we were immediately put at our ease.” King Edward shook hands with Blake, and asked him what races he was competing in. Blake afterwards reported “I told him that the Marathon race was the principal one. He asked me what form I was in. I said I would be all right as soon as I got a bit more fat off. I have not much to spare. He looked at me and burst out laughing.”
The impact of the outside world was not always so positive. The team had arrived in Greece in time for their “annual revolution”, as Blake put it later. “We were sightseeing in Athens when we encountered what we thought was a procession or celebration. Actually it was mix up of the rival political parties”
“Suddenly there was a stampede and soldiers appeared firing shots, Men and women went down and right by us a woman and her child fell with blood streaming from wounds. The crowd surged forward to escape the shots. We led the crowd and although I was a distance runner I was a sprinter that night. We ran miles through the streets and got quite lost.”
Blake had been entered for the 400 and 800 metres, but such distances were far too short and he did not bother to contest them. He did enter the 1500 metres and finished 9th in his heat. (His time in unknown.) The 5 mile event was a different proposition – it was distance much better suited to his talents. The great Alfred Shrubb had recently become a professional and was thus barred from competing. However the British had found an excellent substitute.
Prior to the 1906 Olympics, Henry Hawtrey's greatest achievement on the track had come when he had finished second to Joe Binks, but defeating Shrubb, in the 1902 AAA one mile championship when Binks had set a new national record. (Shrubb had been forced to retire because of the fast pace in that race.)
With his miling credentials, Hawtrey had few difficulties, leading from two miles and eventually winning by over 50 yards. Well clear in second was Johan Svanberg of Sweden. Third place was much tighter with Irishman John Daly and the Swede Edward Dahl locked in a sprint finish down the home straight. Daly was nearing exhaustion and weaved from side to side, blocking Dahl from passing him. This led to him being disqualified. Only the first three had their times recorded, which was not uncommon in those days. Henry Hawtrey GBR Gold 26:11.8, Johan Svanberg SWE Silver 26:19.4 and Edward Dahl SWE Bronze 26:26.2. Fourth was George Bonhag USA, fifth was Pericle Pagliani ITA with George Blake taking sixth place.
A good report of the build up to the marathon and the actual event as it affected George Blake appeared in the New Zealand newspaper, the Otago Witness, on the 20th June 1906 – the information was relayed by a correspondent who revelled in the anonymity of the nom de plume “Harrier” and may have been originally published in the Australian newspaper.
“The race took place on Tuesday, May 1st. The visitors drove out to the Marathon on the Monday, and had a keen eye for the course, which included a number of long, steep hills. It took five hours to drive out and less than three to run. Mr Bosanquet, the director of the British School of Archaeology, very kindly prepared a hamper for Blake and the Canadians, and sent his cook to get their meals.”
“They slept (?) at a peasant’s cottage, the beds, five in number, being laid upon the floor. (Blake shared the cottage with William Sherring (CAN), Joseph Cormack (SCO/GBR), and John Daly, the Irishman.)
“They turned in at 10 p.m., but found the inhabitant insects numerous, persistent and obtrusive. Finding it impossible to sleep, Blake got up at 3 a.m. and wrote some letters. At 4 he made another attempt, and thinks he dropped off about 4.30, but was glad to get out at 7 a.m.”
“The race started at 3 p.m. and, as usual, Blake early showed the way, being in the lead at half a mile, with [William] Frank (America) and Daley (Ireland) close handy. At a mile, the order was the same. The pace was very hot, the first six miles taking but a little over 30min. and here the order was – Blake 1, Frank 2, Daley 3, an Italian 4, [the Italian was Dorando Pietri] [Michael] Spring (America) 5.”
“Frank and the Italian then shot out, but the latter soon came back. Then Daley began to drop away, and at seven and a-half miles Blake resumed the lead, the strong wind and upgrade telling more against the Yankee than the Australian. At eight miles Blake was 50 yards to the good, and running beautifully. At 10 miles the gap had increased to 500 yards and at 15 miles Blake had a lead of no less than three-quarters of a mile and was reckoned a sure winner.”
“He was feeling as fit as a fiddle, but a little further on was suddenly attacked with cramp in both legs. Lumps like golf balls and cramps from thighs and ankles rendered even walking impossible, though he continued to struggle on for a while. Then the ambulance came along and wanted to take him up, but Blake pluckily refused, and said he intended to finish, if he walked all the rest of the way. By dint of rubbing the legs gradually improved, and he started off once more. Meanwhile Sherring, Svanberg, Frank, and Tornos had all passed ahead, Blake being mislaid for over 20 minutes. It says much for his pluck that he should finish sixth after such a mishap.” He finished 6th in the race in 3:09:35.0.
Fellow Australian Greg “Dad” Wheatley, who finished 4th in the 1500 metres final was later quoted in the Otago Witness, “Our lot couldn’t get a trainer, or a decent training track. And we had real bad luck.” “In the Marathon Race we heard the word passed along - `Australie leads’, represented by George Blake, seemed to leading more. At the 16 mile post George was fully a mile ahead of the field. Then disaster. Owing to his training on soft ground, and want of proper treatment generally, the hard ground broke his legs up, and he caught cramp. He kept on though, and finished sixth. But I am satisfied George Blake is the greatest long distance runner in the world and I think the others admit it also. When he broke down he was as fresh as paint, and could have gone on all day. It was bad luck.” Dad Wheatley may not have been entirely unbiased in his assessment of Blake’s abilities – I suspect the two were good friends.
In Blake’s opinion “I failed largely in the Marathon after leading for 19 miles because of so little time in Greece” “The winner W.J.Sherring (Canada) was in Greece two months before the Games. I had to gradually get used to the hard roads for if I had trained on them from the outset I would never have started.”
His words “All future Australian teams should have at least two month’s preparation in the country where the Games are being held” were not to be heeded for the 1908 Games unfortunately.
He left Athens for Melbourne on the 13th May. He did not arrive on the R.M.S. Orient at Fremantle until the 7th June, so the voyage home to Australia took the best part of three weeks.
After being away for nearly two months, Blake undoubtedly would have had to concentrate on making up for his loss in income. Moreover after the lengthy sea voyage without the driving need to keep fit, he was probably not as lean as he might have been. In August he finished second behind J Alex Stillwell in the state 5 mile cross country, (29:30 to Stillwell’s 29:11.4) In the 10 mile cross country held the following month, he finished 5th, the winner being James Riddell who had taken both the one and three mile state track titles.
After that brief flourish, it would have seemed sensible for Blake to have focussed on building up his finances in 1907. As his experiences in England in the following year reveal, he was not a wealthy man, and competing both nationally and internationally was costly, even with some support from the state association. Moreover, if, following his positive experience in Athens, he wanted to go to the 1908 London Olympics he needed to build up both goodwill and funds in order to achieve this.
His absence from state athletic championships would seem to support this, but apparently he was branching out into a whole new sport! The Tasmanian newspaper The Mercury reported in July 1907 that the best bout of the night in the Victorian Amateur Boxing and Wrestling Championships was between “George Blake (9st. l0.5lb.), the well-known harrier, and G. Michell (9st. 81b) the Ballarat champion. Blake scored repeatedly with his long left, but Michell got in some good upper-cuts. The decision was in Blake's favour. In the second round Blake dislocated his right thumb and will not be able to follow-up his victory." His career in that year’s championships was curtailed; it is not certain how extensive his boxing career was.
What the bout does show once again, just as in the Athens marathon, Blake’s toughness and determination, to compete to the best of his ability despite pain and discomfort.
By the following year, he was focussed once more on the Olympics and on distance running. Despite being in heavy training for the marathon, out of loyalty to the Victorian Association, which had supported his Olympic dreams and to make up the field, he entered a test race over a mile on the Melbourne Cricket-ground at the end of a test match, as a trial for the Australasian championships. The race was won by Norman Burrowes, with Blake, despite his heavy training in third. He was selected for the Australasian event at the mile, as well as for the three mile probably as result!
In March 1908 he travelled to Tasmania to the Australasian track championships. In the three mile race, he and Alfred Clemes of Tasmania shared the lead at the end of the first mile. Using his endurance, Blake pushed on, taking the lead over the next three laps, probably attempting to take the sting out the kick of the other main contenders. He had earlier finished fifth in the mile behind both Clemes (who took that title) and the New Zealander G S Sharp. When the bell sounded for the last lap, he was overtaken first by Clemes and then by Sharp. Sharp challenged for the lead at 150 yards to go and there was stiff battle down the home straight, with Sharp prevailing to take the title in 15:36 less than two feet ahead of Clemes. Blake finished third, the first athlete from mainland Australia.
Having shown his fitness then followed the preparation and the campaign to get him to the London Olympic marathon. It seems he had already been selected by the Victoria Athletics Association to go but the necessary funds were not yet in place. Blake’s selection met wide approval – a Tasmanian newspaper said that he was one of only two Australian representatives who were her absolute best, the other being Frank Beaurepaire, the swimmer.
Less than a fortnight after the national championships, he undertook a trial run from Frankston to St. Kilda, a distance of 22.5 miles. He covered the first five miles in 30 and 1/2 minutes, ten and a half miles in 64 minutes, and the whole distance took him 2 hours 45 minutes. This was not a time trial as such - no attempt was made to set any specific pace. The run was “considered very satisfactory, especially as during the last seven miles he was a good deal troubled with cramp in the left leg, owing to his trying to rest the right foot, which had blistered through a stone getting into his shoe.”
Such a long run was only part of Blake’s training in preparation for the Olympics. Even before the trip to the Australasian championships in Hobart he had been in heavy training. This included “long striding work around the Albert Park Lake over nine miles”. However it is likely that the “beautiful long stride” of his youth had by then been shortened to a more economical pitter-patter by his marathon experience.
We have few details of his actual training but his contemporary, the professional runner, Len Hurst, recorded his in a book 'Running Recollections and How to Train' by fellow professional Alf Downer, which was published in 1908.
The emphasis on walking was apparently common practice at this time. Hurst was, of course, a professional, and could structure his day around his training. Another contemporary and opponent Alfred Shrubb in his book “Running and Cross Country Running”, published the same year, has similar advice. Get up early (six o'clock in summer, seven in winter), then take a very brisk walk for an hour and a half before breakfast. After breakfast a further hour's walk followed by run at moderate pace for about half the distance of the race for which you are training. 'Never overdo yourself or pump yourself quite out'. (Shrubb advocated a four or five mile spin, building up to eight miles once or twice a week.)
After dinner an hour's rest in bed then the pattern of a walk followed by a run is repeated, this time with a sprint at the finish. Tea should be followed by two hour walk and then to bed at ten o'clock. (Shrubb was less demanding and only suggested a two mile walk before bed.)
Blake, as an ordinary working man could only have undertaken a more limited schedule, but a pattern of two runs a day was possible. Both Hurst and Shrubb were agreed on a diet that was high in protein and low in carbohydrates, “for dinner beef, mutton or chicken but limited amounts of vegetables and bread, and that the latter should be stale and crusty.”
For this trip to the Olympics he was not to travel alone. Victor Aitken, who had won the Victoria 10 mile cross country in 1907 in 59:05, was also nominated. He too undertook a trial run to raise interest in sending the team to London. New South Wales decided also to send a runner for the marathon, Joseph Lynch, the state’s leading 10 miler from Sydney.
The fund raising including an entertainment promoted by the Victorian Amateur Athletic Association at the Masonic hall which included both an Athletic competition as well as musical and vocal entertainment interspersed with boxing and wrestling bouts. Presumably Blake had used his contacts with the Victorian boxing establishment to broaden the appeal of the evening.
By April 1908 the New Zealand newspaper the Otago Witness reported “The departure of George Blake and W.V.Aitken for London next month now seems certain. Early last week the association had in hand £75 including its own vote of £25, and various subscription lists and promises were estimated to bring it up to £100. A sum of £170 is required to send both men, and the association only felt justified in booking Blake's passage. A member of the Coburg Harriers then came forward and took the risk of also booking for Victor Aitken, and a big effort is being made to secure the balance." Aitken was a member of Coburg Harriers.
Soon after a report appeared in the same paper of the two runners leaving on their sea voyage. “The two long distance runners, George Blake and Victor Aitken, who intend to take part in the Windsor to London race connected with the Olympic Games left Melbourne by the Persic on Thursday. A number of friends and well-wishers assembled to bid them good-bye. They are accompanied by Mr William Hill, who will act for the pedestrians in the capacity of honorary manager of their athletic affairs. Besides taking part in the long long-distance events mentioned, the journey being 26 miles 600 yards (sic), Blake and Aitken will compete in some of the Olympic games, whilst the former will, if circumstances permit, appear in the boxing ring as a light-weight contestant. The long race and other foot-racing events are to be regarded, however, as of primary importance, and the ring will be entered only if the sparring contests do not clash with other fixtures"
The mention of Blake competing in the boxing as well as the athletics might have been a little journalistic hype; however the Brisbane Courier on the 21 September 1908 announced that there were 59 entries for the Olympic boxing events which would commence on October 27 and that "Snowy" Baker of New South Wales, has entered for the middleweight. George Blake of Victoria, has entered for the lightweight division.”
The SS Persic was owned by the White Star Line. It was one of three “Jubilee Class” ocean liners built specifically for service on the Liverpool/Cape Town/Sydney route. It was built to carry 320 steerage or third class passengers, so it was no luxury cruise for Blake and his Australian team mates.
On their arrival in London there were problems. The feeling was later expressed that they had not arrived early enough in order to acclimatise. “Much of their failure was due to their not having been sent away earlier, owing to lack of funds at the command, of the association. The consequence was, they were short of training in a strange country, and under new climatic conditions, when called upon to race against the pick of the world's athletes.” Many other teams were fully funded by their governments or national associations. The Australians felt they were handicapped by want of support. “Representatives of other countries could go everywhere, and had every facility” Blake later stated that “Mr Hill, their manager had done everything for them and but for him they would have fared badly”
Frank Beaurepaire. the Australian champion swimmer had had to travel to London as a steerage passenger due to lack of support. “In London his resources were so small that, although the cost of a training swim in a public bath was only fourpence, he could not afford it, but had to walk two miles from his lodgings every day to an open pond, and do his work there in the icy water of an early English spring day.”
The first event for Blake was the heats of the 5 miles. He was in heat one and faced Johan Svanberg of Sweden and Charles Heffreron of South Africa. Svanberg had been the fastest man in the world at 5000 metres the previous year, holding the world record, and Hefferon was the versatile South African mile champion, who had run second to a top English runner, Joe Deakin over 3 miles on his arrival in England.
Hefferon led initially, then at two miles Svanberg began to push on taking the lead. By three miles he had a substantial lead on Hefferon, and the Swede won by 120 yards in a time of 25:46.2 from Hefferon (26:05.0) with Blake in third. Only the winner and the four fastest runners up went through to the final. Svanberg and Hefferon were to finish third and fourth in the final.
Blake’s time for the 5 miles on the 15 July is reported as being unknown. This is unusual because he is the only finisher in the heats not credited with a time.
Nine days later the marathon race was started on the East Lawn of Windsor Castle. Blake and Aitken lined up in the third rank of starters; the other Australian, Joseph Lynch was in the second row. They were wearing what has become the traditional Australian colours of “green and wattle" (wattle-gold) – these had been adopted for Athletics for the first time for that Olympics.
A report of the race in The Age in July 1908 perhaps give a clear picture of what happened in the early stages of the race. “The rules of the race provided that competitors might receive refreshment after running the first five miles, and up to the entrance of the Stadium, but that no pacing or assistance whatsoever was permissible at any stage of the race…Each competitor might have two attendants, and these would mostly proceed by cycle, motor, or driving. With 55 starters, each having two attendants, and all perhaps seeking to attend to their man just after the five-mile point, one can imagine the “scramble”, which probably prevented Blake from continuing.” Another Australian paper is more specific “G. Blake...fell at five and a half miles, owing to a scramble while taking refreshments, and he then retired” Another paper added that Blake had been accidentally knocked down by his attendant on a bicycle in the act of handing him some refreshments, and that the runner was very disappointed as he was going well within himself. A story within the Blake family says that cyclist broke a bone in the runner’s foot.
Joseph Lynch was also forced to retire at that point. The younger Aitken, who had just turned 21, did well. At 15 miles he was sixth, running strongly. At twenty miles he was fifth, and at 21 miles he was fourth. “He was then overcome by a sleeping fit, and he retired.” This unusual occurrence was explained in more detail by Aitken on his return to Australia.
“All I can say is that I am sure if I had not gone to sleep I would have been in the first three. The people gave me an ovation when they saw the Australian guernsey so well up. I felt well, my legs were strong, and my wind good, but that sleepiness came over me, and I fell to the ground. A doctor gave me some brandy, and I revived and ran another 100 yards. Just then Hayes, the ultimate winner, passed me, then I fell asleep.again, and could not go another yard. I did my best.”
It seems that Aitken was suffering from a sleeping disorder – possibly narcolepsy, which can first show itself at this age.
But what of Blake? On his return to Australia, there was a meeting of the Victoria AAA to discuss the lack of proper funding of the team and George Blake made a telling comment which revealed how he made his way back to the stadium .
Their allowance had been so small that when, after his accident, he had been brought back to the Stadium in an ambulance, and was carried from it to his dressing-room by two policemen, he had had to borrow a shilling from Frank Beaurepaire to give the policemen.
Reputedly Blake was also entered in the boxing in the lightweight division. If that was correct, perhaps because of his injury in the marathon, he subsequently withdrew from that competition. However despite the announcement in the press there is no record of him actually entering the boxing competition. Another factor which may have precluded competing in the boxing was the day to day expense of living in London. The marathon was on the 24th July; staying on a further two months until October for the boxing was not financially feasible. He was in Melbourne by the 15 September 1908 so the information in the Brisbane Courier was out of date.
On their return to Melbourne, the feeling was that both Blake and Aitken had done their best and been seriously handicapped by the lack of funding of the team. The feeling from a meeting to discuss the whole issue which took place in September 1908 was that the Victorian Amateur Association would push forward the subject of full representation at the next games, funded by the nation rather than by the individual states.
Joseph Lynch was also interviewed on his return from London. He told a Sydney newspaper “It really requires three months there to get acclimatised. The trouble is the difficulty of getting rid of weight, and that affects every body. Beaurepaire was similarly affected. He improved after the games, and was successful in English championships “. Lynch was just beginning to get a bit of condition after the Games were finished, and figured prominently in half-mile handicaps.
As with the trip to Athens in 1906, the sea voyage to London and back plus the time spent in England, took a large chunk of the year. It was not until the following year that George Blake began to compete seriously again.
As preparation and probably as a selection trial before the Australasian Marathon championships in Brisbane, Blake took on his leading Victorian opponents over an estimated 20.5 mile course. He won in 2:10, a quarter of an hour ahead of his opponents J Alex Stillwell and J W Stillwell and Arthur McMicken.
In August he travelled to the Australasian championships held in Brisbane. On the 18th he contested the 3 mile event, losing out to New Zealander Miles Dickson by 65 yards, with the winner recording 15:21.8. Blake beat Charles Suffren who had earlier taken the Victorian state title. Three days later Blake entered the marathon. At four miles he was in contention behind Weyman of New Zealand and Laing of Queensland, but he was then to struggle, finishing 13th in 3:41:17.4. Earlier that month he had run the 5 mile cross country and finished a distant 10th nearly two minutes down on the winner.
In September he contested the 10 mile cross country which was won by his marathon team mate, Victor Aitken in 58:46. Blake was 4th in a respectable 59:24.
So by the end of 1909 he was arguably still the best 3 miler in Australia, but was no longer the force he once was. Now 31 he may have wondered how many more years he could compete at the highest level.
In April 1910 he was re-assured when he took the Victoria state 3 mile title in 15:53.6 by 30 yards but he may have lacked the time to put in the necessary mileage to contest the longer events at 5 and 10 miles, let alone the marathon. Injury was also an issue, forcing him to retire from a seven mile race in April. In June that year he was still regarded as the top distance runner in the Melbourne Harriers club, running off of scratch in the club’s 5 mile handicap, and set a record of 27:49 for the 5 miles cross country.
However by February 1912 it is possible that work pressures, plus his increasing age was prompting him to rely evermore on his basic speed. He entered the Victorian one mile race, well below his best distance, but ended up a distant 9th.
1913 saw him compete in an handicap 5 mile race for “veterans” against several of his long time rivals, but he finished out of contention. That year also saw a tour of Australia by his fellow Olympian, Emil Voigt, who had won the 5 mile race in London in 1908, beating both Svanberg and Hefferon. Voigt won the Victorian state one mile event, and it would have been surprising if he had not met George Blake. However whether Blake had actually retired by then is unknown.
For probably fifteen years or more, George Blake had focussed his life on competitive athletics. 1915 saw a change in focus. On the 10th December 1915 he married a young New Zealander Rita Edith Thompson. At 24 she was thirteen years younger than George, but on his marriage certificate he only admitted to being 34! His occupation is given as master carrier. In modern terminology a haulage contractor, probably owning several horses and carts.
Whether George’s marriage actually marked his retirement is not clear. During the years of World War One, competitive Athletics in Australia effectively ceased for the duration. It was not until 1919 that the long held 10 mile cross country was staged again. In that race in 36th place was a G Blake, not last but perhaps having one last competitive race at the age of 41.
With any seriously competitive runner, the word “last” in the context of racing, can be negotiable! In May 1920 he was invited to take part in a Marathon from Frankston to Melbourne. The field included Thomas Sinton Hewitt who had been selected to represent Australia in the 1920 Olympic marathon at Antwerp, plus other well known marathon runners. The newspaper noted the inclusion of “G.B.Blake (Melbourne Harriers), who represented this country in two Olympiads many years ago”
After completing eight laps of the ground, Hewitt, Roberts, Maher and Blake led on to the Point Nepean road. By six miles Blake, out for “the enjoyment of a spin” was taking things easily about three quarters of a mile behind the leaders. At Moorabbin, probably around 18 miles Blake and Hewitt dropped out, the former with a bad ankle, the latter with cramp in the stomach. The race was won by Ernest Roberts in 3:05:53. (Hewitt finished 30th in the Antwerp Games, in 3:03:27.)
Three years later the press reported “The 1923 harrier season opens to-day with a pack run from Leslie House School. This event always follows closely on the annual meeting, and forms a reunion with the past and present runners, many of the former making their first and only run of the season on this occasion. In Victoria the opening run is appreciated by men whose athletic activities date back over 20 years, and it is no uncommon thing to find half a dozen ex 10-mile winners don the shoe George Blake, Alex Stillwell, Bill Murray, Aitken, Turnbull, and many others appeared in Victoria's opening run….It is the presence of these men that fosters the love of sport amongst the younger lads.”
George Blake’s life in his later years is not well known. At some stage his two sons, Peter and Ken, were born. A third son, George, was born in 1919, only to die after just three weeks. By 1931 the electoral roll shows him working as a mechanic, living with at 2 Wilton Grove Elwood, not far from his birthplace in St Kilda.
In 1939 he gave an informal interview with his nephew, journalist Jim Blake. Later just before he died, he gave Jim some notes on his 1906 Olympic experiences which he had made, probably following that interview. With the prospect of an Olympics in 1948, based on his own experiences as a double Olympian, he had definite views on selection and allocation of scarce resources. “With our small population our percentage of athletes in world class is small and to field an outsize team means that money is wasted on average performers when it should go to the athlete that has a chance of winning.”
“To be a member of an Olympic team is the greatest honor in spot. That honor should not be handed around with a pound of tea because of interstate and sectional ambitions”
His wife Rita was some thirteen years younger than George, and the expectation would be that she would outlive him. That was not to be. In August 1944 she died at the young age of 48. Just under 18 months later, George himself died at Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia aged 67 on the 06 February 1946.
Some forty years after his Olympic exploits, and with little Australian Olympic competition at long distance in the meantime, his feats had been largely forgotten. There was no obituary in the Melbourne papers, just a brief note of his death, causes unknown.
George Blake was buried in the family plot in Brighton Cemetery alongside his wife and his infant son George. By the time of his death, his occupation was described as engineer.
Although there was no obituary, he was not entirely forgotten. His nephew Jim Blake was a sporting journalist and used the interview with his uncle in 1939 as the basis of an article in the Sporting Globe When Our Athletes were in Athens prior to another London Olympics in 1948. The article was also re-used with some tweaking immediate prior to the Melbourne Olympics. They Ran into a Revolt 21 November 1956
Alfred Shrubb described George Blake as “the best long distance runner he had met in Australia”. His performances at state, national and international level support that view. It was reported of the Athens marathon in 1906, “As usual Blake showed the way” – he was a front runner, willing to take on the opposition from the front. This shows clearly when he set Australasian records up to 10 miles in 1900 and was still true in 1908 in the Australasian 3 miles championships. He even did so against Alf Shrubb, the greatest distance runner in the world at that time!
With better preparation and more time to acclimatise in each of his Olympic marathons, it is possible he could have been much more successful. It was to be 78 years before an Australian surpassed his 6th place in the Athens Olympics of 1906, a sixth place achieved through sheer guts, determination and refusal to quit. It seems likely that Blake never had an opportunity to reach his full potential as a distance runner, but as the press put it he always “struggled gamely on and showed that his running was equalled by his sporting spirit.”
The opposition in the 1906 Olympics may have not been as strong in depth as that in subsequent Games. However George Blake and the rest of the very small Australian team were the pioneers, forced to forage and fend for themselves, without the luxury of team management support. They were competing in unaccustomed conditions, at short notice, with inadequate acclimatisation and nutrition with little or no support, apart from their fellow team mates.
They faced athletes who either had had long period of acclimatisation like the winner of the marathon, William Sherring, or had faced a much shorter journey by train across Europe. This compared favourably to a three week voyage across the world during which training had been severely restricted or even forbidden. By the time they arrived at the Olympic venue they were out of condition and over-weight.
Comparing one generation with another is always difficult. All a great runner can do is beat the runners who are around at the time. The Kenyans and Ethiopians weren't competing in 1906 - but then the Australians who went to the 1984 Games for example travelled swiftly by air, with adequate recovery and acclimatisation time, with proper support from trained staff - all huge advantages, that is before one adds in modern shoe technology, better road conditions, drinking and feeding stations etc.
There was also another significant way in which the 1906 and 1908 Australian marathon runners were at a major disadvantage as compared with those in 1984 for example. There were 31 Greek runners in the 1906 marathon. Not surprisingly one of those Greeks finished ahead of Blake. By the 1908 Games entries to events were limited to 12 runners per national team - there were just 11 British runners in the London race, 12 Canadians (following Sherring's success in 1906) and 7 Americans. With those sorts of numbers the chances of an individual success from a large team were so much greater. Just imagine the impact of 12 Kenyan and 12 Ethiopian runners competing in the Olympic Games in each of the distance events nowadays!
The runners at the 1906 and 1908 Olympics gained valuable experience that was to influence and aid future Australian teams. George Blake’s performances were to be an inspiration and a target for the Australian distance runners that came after him.
Jim Blake in his account of the 1906 Olympics published just before Melbourne Games, concluded with the sentence, "They lit the torch for Melbourne 50 years later." It is no coincidence I suspect that at Melbourne Blake’s 6th place in the longest Olympic track race was to be surpassed at last. I would like to thank Ian Hill and Trevor Vincent for their great help in researching this article and the great work by Paul Jenes in archiving both VIC and AUS historical results on those websites. I would also like to thank Tony Blake for providing very useful information on the Blake family and George’s personal life.
Other significant online resources include:
Australian Newspapers at the National Library of Australia.
PapersPast at the National Library of New Zealand
Appendix 1
The Argus (Melbourne) 15 September 1908 [Slightly edited]
At the Amateur Sports Club yesterday afternoon there was a large attendence of amateur athletes and supporters to welcome back to Victoria George Blake and W. V. Aitken, who represented Australia in the Marathon race, from Windsor to London, in July last. Mr. Philip Shappere presided, on behalf of the Victorian Amateur Athletic Association, and amongst others present were Messrs. C.H. (Corrie) Gardner and G.A. (Greg) Wheatley, who represented Australia in the Olympic games at St. Louis in 1905, and at Athens in 1906, respectively.
The Chairman, in proposing the healths of Messrs. Blake and Aitken, said that though they had been unsuccessful they had done their best. Much of their failure was due to their not having been sent away earlier, owing to lack of funds at the command of the association. The consequence was, they were short of training in a strange country, and under new climatic conditions, when called upon to race against the pick of the world's athletes. In other countries the Government had set aside money to assist their representatives, (Hear, hear.)
Mr. J.C.F. Ulbrich, in supporting the toast, said it was a. disgrace to Australia that their representatives should have had to go away so poorly supported. They were men worthy of state or Commonwealth support, but none had been forthcoming. The Government of Canada had paid the whole expenses of 75 men to compete in the games, but in Australia not one shilling had been voted. (Shame.) It was disgraceful that young Australians such as these, the bone and sinew of this country should have had such small support. If Blake or Aitken had won the Marathon race it would have been a far bigger advertisement for Australia than the trip of the commissioners to the Shepherd's Bush Exhibition. (Hear, hear.) The cricketers, boxers, rowers, tennis players, and swimmers of Australia had advertised it all over the world. It was a standing disgrace that little Beaurepaire, the Australian champion swimmer, had had to go to London as a steerage passenger for lack of support. They ought to start a movement at once to have athletics assisted, so that Australia might he properly represented in the future. (Hear, hear.) They had the men, and all that was wanted was the funds to prepare thom as other countries did. (Cheers.)
Mr. B.J. Parkinson said that the case of Beaurepaire, who had done so well in Britain, was remarkable. In London his resources were so small that, although the cost of a training swim in a public bath was only fourpence, he could not afford it, but had to walk two miles from his lodgings every day to an open pond, and do his work thcre in the icy water of an early English spring day. (Shame.) They had, tried to get the Friendly Societies' ground as an amateur sports ground, but the Government preferred to keep it going to rack and ruin, rather than let it be used as desired. They thought a large and influential deputation should be formed to lay the position before the proper authorities, and demand that they should be placed in a position to have Australia properly represented next time. (Hear, hear.) .
Mr. Montague Cohen thought that steps should have been taken before the men went away to ventilate this matter. It was not wise, however, to take to such an aggressive attitude, but they should set about having their difficulties ventilated like business men. They must tackle the thing properly, and Government support would follow. It was right that they should cxpress their views, and show tliat they were ready to help themselves. He felt that Messrs. Blake and Aitken had not had a fair opportunity of showing their worth, and it was no use taking up any sport without proper training. (Hear, hear.)….
Mr. George Blake, in responding, said they felt that they had done their best, under the circumstances, but they were handicapped by want of support. Representatives of other countries could go everywhere, and had every facility. Their allowance had been so small that when, after his accident, he had been brought back to the Stadium in an ambulance, and was carried from it to his dressing-room by two policemen, he had had to borrow a shilling from Beaurepaire to give the policemen (Shame.) They collected £13,000 in England to entertain the visiting athletes, and one Australian had given £105, but neither he nor Aitken saw a sixpence of it. Mr Hill, their manager had done everything for them and but for him they would have fared badly….
Mr. W. V. Aitken said:- All I can say is that I am sure if I had not gone to sleep I would have been in the first three. The people gave me an ovation when they saw the Australian guernsey so well up. I felt well, my legs were strong, and my wind good, but that sleepiness came over me, and I fell to the .ground. A doctor gave me some brandy, and I revived and ran another 100 yards. Just then Hayes, the ultimate winner, passed me, then I fell asleep again, and could not go another yard. I did my best. (Hear, hear.)
The Victorian Amateur Association will take the matters suggested into consideration at once, and will push forward the subject of full representation at the next games.”