Background
Hicks, a brass worker from Cambridge, Massachusetts, was born in England.
long-distance runner marathon runner sportsperson
Hicks, a brass worker from Cambridge, Massachusetts, was born in England.
Conditions were bad, the course being a dirt track, with large clouds of dust produced by the accompanying vehicles. Hicks was not the first to cross the finish line, trailing Fred Lorz. However, Lorz had abandoned the race after 9 miles.
After covering much of the course by car, he re-entered the race 5 miles before the finish.
This was discovered by the officials, who disqualified Lorz, who claimed it had been a joke. Had the race been run under current rules, Hicks would also have been disqualified: his assistants had given him a dose of 1/60 of a grain (roughly 1 mg) of strychnine and some brandy (Remy Martin) because he was flagging badly during the race.
The first dose of strychnine did not revive him for long, so he was given another. As a result, he collapsed after crossing the finishing line.
Another dose might have been fatal.
Strychnine is now forbidden for athletes.
He won the Olympic marathon in 1904. He was the winner of a remarkable marathon race at the 1904 Summer Olympics, held as part of the World Fair in Saint Louis, Missouri. Hicks finished second in the 1904 Boston Marathon, but dropped out during the following year"s race. On June 30, 1906, he finished three minutes ahead of Alexander Thibeau to win a marathon at an Amateur Athletic Union meet in Chicago (3:02).
