He was the winner of a remarkable marathon race at the 1904 Summer Olympics, held as part of the World Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.

Conditions were bad, the course being a dirt track, with large clouds of dust produced by the accompanying vehicles.

However, on June 30, 1906, Hicks finished three minutes ahead of Alexander Thibeau to win a marathon at an Amateur Athletic Union meet in Chicago (3:02).

[10] On January 16, 1909, he was leading a marathon at Chicago under terrible weather conditions for more than 8 miles (13 km) before being forced to retire with a stitch; the race was won by Sidney Hatch.

[11] In later years, he worked on mining claims at Ingolf, Ontario,[12] and lived at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, where his two brothers had settled.