MARATHON RACE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 140, 15 June 1936, Page 14

MARATHON RACE.

1 TWENTY-SIX MILE COURSE. i I L. J SMYTH THE WINNER. 5 J. W. SAVIDAN RETIRES. 1 A marathon road race of 20 miles 385 yds J was held on Saturday on the waterfront foad under the auspices of the Auckland Amateur Athletic Club. Ten competitors started, from Mission Bay at 1.31 p.m. The course was from the starting line, round a flag at St. Ilelier's Bay. thence [ along the waterfront road to a Hag at the ' Power Board buildings near the King's : wharf: ha® round St. Ilelier's Bay. hack ■ round the l'ower Board tlag, and thence , again round the St. Helier's flag, finishing at the starting line at Mission Bay. | The handicaps were. J. W. Savidan, scr : ; X. McCarthy, 10.0; I/. Smyth, 10.0; 11. " French. 18.0; J. Mortimer, 18.0; 11. T. McXiel, 20.0; O. 11. Taylor. 25.0; E. S. . .Mills, 25.0; A. Butler. 35.0; A. Clark, 38.0. . The 10 runners started together, Savi- ; dan setting the pace, followed by Smyth. ■ j a Sydney runner, with McXiel. French and | Mortimer next in order. They ran on the waterfront road, keeping well on the right ! fide, the first rounding flag being at tlie : | corner of tlie waterfront road and St. : i Helier's Itoad. Savidan rounded the flag 11.0 out, followed liy McCarthy 11.20, McXiel. Mortimer, Smyth. French. Clark i and Mills following in fairly close order, with Taylor and Butler together over 2.0 behind the leaders, these two going at a 1 slow jog trot, which they maintained for most of the course. The next turning flag was at the corner of tiie waterfront road and Plumer Street, near the Power Board sub-station. Savidan, 00.35; Smyth, 73.57; McXiel, 74.35; tlag at 41.40, McCarthy 45.55. McXiel 40.15, Mortimer aud Smyth 40.14, French 48.20, Clark 52.39, Mills 57.38, Taylor and Butler 04.11. On the run hack to St. Helier's mark tlu ten competitors made fairly good time, only a light easterly wind being met which was not cold while the sun was up, but later turned very sharp and keen. As the runners passed Mission Bay they had completed one round of tlie race. Smyth moved up from fourth to second place. First Round Timed. The times at the completion of the first round at Mission Bay were: —Savidan. (10.33 ; Smyth, 73.57 ; McNeil, 74.35 ; French, 75.30 ; Mortimer, 75.32 ; McCarthy, 78.23; Clark, 84.40; Mills, 90.5; Taylor and Butler, 98.8. The times of passing the flag at St. Ilelier's Bay on the second round were :— Savidan, Hi 17m ; Smyth, Hi 21iu ; French, I 111 29m ; McXiel, lh 29m ; Mortimer, 111 ,'i2m 30s; McCarthy, lh 35m 30s; Clark, lh 39m 30s. Little change took place on the long run in to the Hag near the Power Board's buildings. Plumer Street, which was rounded as follows:—Savidan, lh 53m 28s: Smyth, 2h 5m 50s ; French, 2h 13m 5s ; Mortimer, 2Jj 32m 575; Clark, 21i 33m 13s. McXiel was now a long way behind. By this time Savidan, Smyth and French were still going well, but all were feeling the cold as the sun left the course. Clark, Mortimer and McXiel were going at a very slow pace and had spells at walking. On the last run down to St. Helier's flag mark only Savidan, Smyth, French, Mortimer, Clark aud McXiel were left 111 the race, the last two being a long way behind. Savidan turned the flag at St. Helier's for the last time, S.O ahead of Smyth, but was tiring appreciably and suffering from the cold. When about a mile from home, Ills brother, who was attending liini, got hot water and threw if on li is chest. For a few minutes this well-intentioned act had some effect, but the water soon cooled, and with Ills,clothes wet in the sharp wind (it was now well after sunset), the champion got very cold and lost the use of his legs, almost collapsing, and he was forced to retire. He was picked up by a car and taken home. L. Smyth soon passed Savidan, who was at the Kohimarama wharf, only a quarter of a mile from the fin teli, when he retired. Smyth (10.0), running steadily, went on to win amidst applause at the elapsed time of 3h 9m 555, followed by R. French (18.0), 3h 23m: J. Mortimer (18.0), 4h 3m; A. Clark (38.0), 4h 10m 40s; C. H. Taylor (25.0), 41i 25m 45«; J. McXiel (20.0), 4h 49m 255. A handicap race was run in conjunction with the Marathon, the, result being:— . Smyth 1, French 2," Clark 3. The winner, L. Smyth, is a member of the University Club, and came to Auckland two years ago from Sydney, where lie was a member of'the Western Suburbs Clubh and had competed once before in a Marathon. R. French, who ran second is a member of tlie Papatoetoe Club, and he finished quite tit. j, • Ther6 was a spell of 40 minutes before •the third man, Mortimer, showed up. tlie officials having a very cold job. Mortimer is a member of the Auckland Club, and he was not very distressed. The honours go to Alf. Clark, also a member of the Auckland Club, who finished fourth, 7.40 behind Mortimer. Mr. Clark is 57 years old next month, and was quite-game at the finish. This is the first time a full marathon race has been run in Auckland. A similar race was run In Wellington in Februarv, the winner, Brown, doing the distance In 31i sm. A mistake was made in starting the race as late as 1.31. It was dusk as tlie winner finished at 4.40 p.m.,' and quite dark when Mortimer, Clark and Taylor finished, -tlie latter crossing tlie line only 3.15 before 0 p.m., their times being taken by. match- light,- _ Tlie officials' were Marshal, -Mr. W< Morton, starter, Mr. A. J. Elliot; flag stewards, Messrs. S. J. Giulsell at St. Ilelier's, V. Hugo at Plumer Street; judges, Messrs. P. K. Ness, A. K. Sutton and W. Stewart ; timekeepers, Messrs. J. K. Douglas and W. Morton ; sports secretary, Mr. AT G. Hill. ' l The world's marathon record is held by I'aavo Nurmi at 21i 22m. Sports Competitions. The Auckland Amateur Athletic Clnli held its usual field events while the marathon race was being run. These events were decided on the green at Mission Bay. The results were :— 75 Yards.—First heat: F. Savidan 1, Prendergast 2, Taylor 3. Second heat: Allen 1, Power 2, Holland 3. Final : F. Savidan 1, J. B. Prendergast 2, S. Taylor 3. Time, 7 4-ss. Putting tlie Shot.—N. V. Douglas (13ft), 37ft lOiu, 1; F. Savidan (9ft), 30ft Sin, 2; J. B. Prendergast (9ft), 35ft 7in, 3. Throwing the Discus.—J. 11. Smith (40ft), 108 ft .1 Jin, 1; J.'- W. Turnbull (20ft), lOSft lin, 2; S. B. Allen (45ft), 107 ft sin, 3.