George Butterfield

George Butterfield sensationally won the 1902 Northern Counties Junior Cross-country Championship at Haydock Park after entering the race as a complete unknown. After running in the International Cross-Country Championship in 1906, he won the Northern title at 440 y and 1 mile that summer. He was the winner of the AAA mile title for three successive years (1904-06) with his winning time of 4:18.4 in 1906 topping the World rankings for the year. In the early stages of his career, he excelled as a distance runner, finishing second in the 1904 AAA 10 miles but he later proved to be a talented half-miler. In 1908 he could not quite reproduce his form of earlier years at the Olympic Games. He was killed in action while serving as a gunner with the Royal Field Artillery. Butterfield’s brother Alfred was also killed in action four months earlier. At the time of his death, George was the manager of the Hole in the Wall Hotel in Darlington, and it was reported that in his racing days he used to train by running against a local greyhound. Butterfield’s father “Tamer” was a well known professional runner in the north-east of England.

Personal Bests: 800 – 1:57.2e (1906); 1500 – 4:11.8 (1908).