Jack Tait

Jack Tait was one of the best middle- and long-distance runners of his time and was sometimes called the “Boy Wonder”. At the age of just 19 he became famous when he finished just 10 yards behind his friend and occasional rival Tom Longboat in a 15-mile road race in Montreal in front of a crowd of 200,000. In 1907, he also won his only Canadian championship, winning the mile. At the trials for the 1908 London Olympics, Tait set a Canadian record in the 1,500 in 4:05.0 that remained unbroken until 1933. In the final of the London Olympics he placed fourth competing with two Americans and five Brits. He did not finish, however, in his two other events, the 5 miles and the marathon.

Tait also set world indoor records for the 880 yards in 1909, 1,000 yards and 1½ miles in 1910 and national records for the 3- and 5-miles. At the 1909 Canadian Track & Field Championships he placed second in the mile behind American [Abel Kiviat]. In 1910, he ran a series of indoor races against the 1908 3-miles team gold medallist George Bonhag, winning two of four races. In one of these races Tait won setting the new 1½ miles world record. In the following year, he won gold over one mile in London at the first ever Empire Games and Canada’s team won the overall championship ahead of Great Britain. Back in Toronto, in front of a large crowd he received a clock from the mayor for his victory in the mile. In fact, he ran the mile in 4:22 four times between 1909 and 1913.

During his time as a member of the Toronto West End YMCA, Tait was coached by his brother Will, who also coached the 1908 Canadian Olympic team. In 1905, Jack Tait co-founded the Balmy Beach Harriers Club, holding summer training camps for his teammates of the West End YMCA and Canada’s national team.

At the Stockholm Olympics, Tait failed to qualify for the finals in the 800 and 1,500 metres as well as in the 4x400 where he ran anchor. He did not start in the long distances including the marathon, probably because his doctors suspected an enlarged heart after many years of training.

After 1911, Tait also became well known as a sports reporter and columnist for various newspapers in Toronto and invented “Yap Yaps Corner”, a popular celebrity, sports and humour column. In World War I, he served as an artillery gunner in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and as a war correspondent. In 1921, he married Henrietta Annie May Bond. Together they had two daughters and two sons.

When older, he began a correspondence with his former childhood neighbour, Canadian Prime Minister (1963-68) Lester Pearson. Jack Tait’s grandson Paul Williams represented Canada as a long-distance runner at three Olympics (1884-92).

Personal Bests: 400 – unknown; 800 – 1:55.4e (1912); 1500 – 4:05.0 (1908); Mar – unknown.