He contested the 1924 and 1928 Trans America races finishing 38th and 8th respectively.
1st November 1913 at the Snipe Ground, Audenshaw, Manchester, England a one mile race was won by H. Hedemann in 4:34 beating Hans Holmer USA. The race was for a prize of £100. Holmer was basically a distance runner, and set records at the marathon. Hedemann was described as a newcomer from Australia. However, no further reference could be found of him in later years.
Whether he went back to Australia about the time of the First World War is unknown. However, 15 years later he turns up in New York for the Trans America races.
According to Harry Berry's book on the Trans Continentals, in a study of the Pyle runners made in July 1929, which includes physical data, he weighed 62kg, he stood 172 cm and was aged 43.
He was 8th in the 1929 race. In the entry for the 1929 race he is said to be from Melbourne.
A check was made with the Stawell Athletic Club who advised that they do indeed know of him and the mile race to this day is named after him. He was a regular visitor to the Stawell Easter gift at least up to the mid sixties, traveling from the USA. Presumably he was running professionally before the first World War, probably in the Melbourne area. Assuming Hedemann was around 28 in 1913, he could have been involved with the tail end of the Marathon Craze which lasted from 1909 to 1912.
In 1913 Herb Hedemann won the Federation Handicap mile event at Stawell.
Second was Charles E Bergmeier. After the Stawell race Hedemann and Bergmeier travelled to Britain to compete in the professional circuit
In September 1913 at the Powderhall Grounds, Canadian Hans Holmer beat the then World Mile Champion, Frank Kanaly (USA). [Kanaly first became prominent in track athletics in the years 1899 to 1901 when competing as an amateur he won the national five mile championship in the third fast- est time in history of the competition. In 1902 he turned professional and in the five years succeeding won and held the national titles in the half, the mile, the two mile and the five mile runs. After his remarkable success in America he went abroad and competed there for several seasons adding to the titles he has won the world's championship in the half, the mile and the mile and a half.]
Holmer came from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and from 1907 onwards when he won first the Mayor's Cup and then the Natal Day 6 Mile road race, he was known as the leading runner in the Canadian Atlantic Provinces. He had failed to finish in the Toronto Canadian Olympic trial in June 1908, but that year won the Round the Bay race in 1:51:16
When the Marathon Craze hit following the Dorando disqualification in the
1908 Olympics, Holmer had quickly turned professional and won six consecutive marathon victories. After losing several races through excessive initial pace, Holmer has set a world record on the Edinburgh Powderhall track of 2:32:21.8 for the marathon on the 3rd January 1911. In 1912 he had claimed the world marathon title in Berlin, but lost his world record to Willie Kolehmainen.]
Hedemann had reached England by the time the World Mile Championships had been won by Hans Holmer and immediately challenged the Canadian for the title. They were matched at the Snipe Inn ground at Audenshaw, Manchester, for a purse of £100. The venue was selected by the Lancashire Pedestrian Syndicate, who became the promoters of the match. Over two thousand spectators turned up , despite an important football match between Salford and Wigan on a neighbouring ground.
The track at the Snipe Inn ground was used for trotting races by horses, and was half a mile in circuit. Because it was used for trotting, the track was rather soft on top, although a heavy roller and brush had been well used.
Both Holmer and Hedemann were satisfied with the track, knowing a fast time was out of the question. Holmer was trained by the famous miler, George B.
Tincler, while Hedemann was prepared by his fellow Australian Charles Bergmeier.
Holmer won the toss and chose the inside. He stood up in the old style while Hedemann went down into a crouch start. Immediately the gun was fired, Hedemann went to the inside, and was to keep that position throughout the race. With Holmer running at his shoulder Hedemann ran relaxed. At half way, Holmer tried to spurt past him, but Hedemann held his position, and it became clear that Helmer lacked the pace to take the lead. Some 300 yards from the finish line, Hedemann began to sprint, opening a gap of nearly five yards. Despite Holmer's desperate efforts in the last 100 yards, Hedemann hung on, despite being exhausted. He won by three yards in 4 minutes 34 seconds. Holmer at once congratulated the new world champion.
After Hedeman beat Holmer, he heard that Harold Wilson, the 1908 Olympic silver medallist at 1500 metres and current English mile champion, was claiming that despite the fact he had been beaten for the world title by Frank Kanaly in Blackpool, [who subsequently had been beaten by Holmer] that he was entitled to the world championship title. Wilson was running in South Africa and sweeping all before him.
On hearing this Hedeman decided to go to South Africa and meet Wilson in a mile race. Once there he engaged the famous South African trainer, Tom Christian, to prepare him. The match was set to take place on the 28th February 1914 at the Lord's ground, Durban. Wilson jumped into the lead at the start and set a fast pace. This suited Hedeman who lengthened his stride and took over the lead. At the halfway point, Hedeman slackened the pace and Wilson re-took the lead. At the bell, Hedeman took the lead once more, but it was not until halfway around the bend that the little Englishman began to move up. Hedeman responded - three times Wilson tried to take the lead, each time the bigger and stronger Australian just lengthened his stride, to win by four yards in a time of 4 minutes 39.2 seconds. Hedeman was the undisputed champion of the world. He was never beaten in a match race on even terms.
After the First World War, Hedeman settled in South Africa and retired from professional competition.
What happened in the next ten years is unknown but by 1928 Herbert Hedemann was living in one room in New York with his wife and five children and was broke. The 1928 Trans-Continental offered him a lifeline, a chance to re-join the professional running scene once more.
This information comes in the main from a book which appears to be on Australian professional runners, I only have a couple of pages and don't know its title.
After the two Trans-Continetal races, in which Hedemann acquitted himself well, 8th in the 1929 race, he became part of the professional group of runners who took part in showshoe races, 6 day two man team races etc until the Depression finally killed off professional running in the States.