| Fred Bacon | |
| Birth Date: | 21 November 1870 |
| Birth Place: | Boxted, Essex, England |
| Death Date: | 21 February 1954 (aged 83) |
| Death Place: | Cleethorpes, England |
| Sport: | Athletics |
| Event: | 1 mile |
| Club: | Ashton Harriers |
Frederick Ernest Bacon (21 November 1870 – 21 February 1954) was a British runner who won numerous running titles and briefly held the amateur world record for the mile.[1]
Bacon, born in Boxted, Essex, competed for Ashton-under-Lyne Harriers whilst stationed there as a soldier.https://web.archive.org/web/20060706094339/http://www.eastcheshireharriers.co.uk/id17.html
Bacon became the British 1 mile champion after winning the AAA Championships title at the 1893 AAA Championships.[2] [3] He then successfully defended his title at both the 1894 AAA Championships and the 1895 AAA Championships.[4] His 1895 winning time was a world amateur record of 4:17. The record was short-lived, being eclipsed by Irish/American runner Thomas Conneff the following month.
He additionally won the AAA British 4 mile title in 1894.http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/bc1.htm the 10miles and 10 miles title in 1895.https://web.archive.org/web/20060706094339/http://www.eastcheshireharriers.co.uk/id17.html and set a world record in the One-Hour run.
After his running career ended, Bacon went on to become the trainer for Manchester United F.C. until 1912, leaving under a cloud and left his family. There is little information about what Bacon did after leaving Manchester United.
In 1914 he joined up and was based on the Humber defences at Cleethorpes, where he remained until his death in 1954.