Jack Caffery

The son of Irish immigrants Jack Caffery represented St. Patrick’s Amateur Athletic Club in Hamilton, Ontario in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Caffery was a specialist in long-distance running races and won the prestigious Around the Bay Road Race in 1898 and 1900. Also in 1900 he became the first Canadian to win the Boston Marathon, which also saw compatriots Billy Sherring and Fred Hughson take a podium sweep. Caffery returned to Boston the following year to retain his title with a record time of 2-29:23.6 for the 25-mile course. In 1908 he ran in the marathon at the London Olympics where he finished 11th. Caffery was just 39-years-old when he died in February 1919 during the Spanish Flu pandemic. He was inducted into the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Personal Best: Mar – 2-29:23 (1901).