Jack Hambidge

Although he was born in the Manchester area, John Hambidge, the son of a Railway clerk, was brought up in Derbyshire and like his father, went on to work for the LMS railway company in 1924. He first attracted attention as a runner in 1925 after winning eight consecutive handicap sprints in the Midlands and north of England and was regarded as one of the best 17-year-old athletes seen in Britain for many years. He ran for LMS and Derby & County AC in those early days, and was mentored and coached by Jack Britton of Derby and also local sprinter Billy Grenlay. Hambidge won the 100 yards youths race at the 1925 Northern Athletic Champioship at Fallowfield, Manchester and in the summer of 1925 joined the crack Birmingham club, Birchfield Harriers and spent six years with them until 1931..

Overshadowed by his Birchfield teammate, Billy Green, John Hambidge never succeeded in winning a Midland Counties title and also failed to reach a AAA final. However he represented England against Cambridge University at Fenners in 1928, finishing second to Cyril Gill in the 220 yards and was then selected for the 200 metres and sprint relay at the Olympics. A month after the 1928 Games he represented British Railways against the French Railways in Paris and won the 100 and 200 metres. In July 1929 Hambidge had the distinction of winning the 100 yards at the opening of Birchfield Harriers new stadium at Perry Barr. That same year, he also represented the AAAs against Cambridge University. In May 1930 he was involved in a bizarre accident while taking part in a 220 yards race in Derby when a young girl ran in front of him and he crashed to the ground heavily receiving multiple bruising. He was scheduled to compete in the annual meeting of the Geneva Sports Club at Stamford Bridge two days later and to everyone’s astonishment he was back on the track and ran the second 220-yard leg of the one mile relay which Birchield Harriers won. Hambidge won many sprint titles at the annual LMS Railway Championships over the years. At the end of his career he took up cross-country running. Hambidge worked on the railways for well over 30 years and In 1949 was appointed the Chief Controller and Chief Train Clerk in Glasgow, before being appointed in 1954 to the senior British Railways position of Operating Superintendant at Stoke-on-Trent, which saw him look after 1300 staff and 600 passenger and goods trains.

Personal Best: 200 – unknown.