The Mile At Perth May Be A Classic Contest

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29913, 29 August 1962, Page 11

The Mile At Perth May Be A Classic Contest

THE sub - four minute miles run by the British athletes, S. Taylor and M. Berisford, in London last week-end, must have been very welcome news to the Empire Games organisers in Perth. Ever since the retirement of H. J. Elliott, the mile event —so often the Blue Riband of the Empire Games athletics —has seemed completely devoid of interest, particularly as there was no-one on the horizon likely to give P. G. Snell a race for more than three laps. Berisford, a sugar salesman from the Durham town of Sale, has hovered around the four-minute mark for several years. He began the 1961 season determined to break through, and changed his tactics, to become a front runner. The first time out that season he accomplished a 4min 3sec mile on a cold, wet and blustery April day. Those who saw him run that day are surprised that it has taken him another 16 months to reach the grade. Taylor, from Manchester, is a strong, determined runner. His time last week-end of 3min 58sec was a considerable improvement on his previous best, and has only been beaten by one other British runner, D. Ibbotson.

Snell, with a time nearly , three seconds faster than ; Taylor's and ability in ( excess of the two Britons, , is not likely to lose any r sleep worrying about the challenge of either. But if j that is true, he cannot be , quite so sanguine about his hopes of winning the Olympic 1500 metres at Tokyo in • 1964. In the same race as Taylor and Berisford 1 achieved their sub-four ■ minute mile, both finished 1 behind two Americans and s Taylor just managed to j squeeze a third United States’ runner out of third place.

The race was won by the diminutive 9st 21b J. Beatty, in 3min 56.55ec, the fastest time by an American. J. Grelle was second in 3min 56.75ec, and fourth was R. Seaman. Beatty is the type of craggy runner, gritty and full of fight, to push Snell to the utmost. Both live in countries where the miling strength is not deep, but Beatty has certain advantages that Snell does not enjoy. He has a fierce, talented opponent in Grelle, who offers an equal threat to the New Zealander and may yet prove to be the better of the two Americans; he lives considerably nearer to Europe, where there is the greatest concentration of class milers, and he has available winter competitive facilities far in advance of anything Snell can use. He has a fourth advantage, in that being the challenger and not the champion he has less to lose. There is still two years to the Olympic Games and a lot can happen. It is virtually impossible to assess at this stage the final ability of certain youngsters on the fringe of world class, such as J. Davies, of New Zealand. Snell can take only one hurdle at a time, and an Empire gold medal must be his first thought.