Julian Wins Marathon

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31933, 10 March 1969, Page 9

Julian Wins Marathon

Blustery north-west conditions took a heavy toll of competitors in the New Zealand senior marathon cham- , pionship, held over an out-and-home course of 26 miles 3tsyds In Christchurch on Saturday—but they did not stop J. L. Julian (Auckland) winning the title for the third time in the world class time of 2hr 19min 7.6 sec. Now aged 33. Julian set a hectic pace right from the. start and his time of Ihr 41min 52sec for 20 miles was the fastest recorded during a marathon in New Zealand. However, the battle into the strong head wind over the last six miles slowed him slightly and his chances of breaking his record of 2hr 15min for a race in New Zealand disapeared. It was, nevertheless, a grand performance from a man who was rejected as a marathon runner for the Mexico Olympics. Many of his rivals, most capable of running the marathon distance in 2hr 25min, were lOmin slower than this on Saturday and yet Julian still managed a time which would have graced any international event. The second man home was the 1964 Olympic runner. I. Keats (Auckland). He ran a well judged race, coming through from fifth place over the last 10 miles to finish in the good time of 2hr 26min 42.25ec. At the end he still seemed to have plenty in reserve but the third man home. G. Douglas (Auckland), collapsed just past the finishing tape. He was carried from the Rugbj’ Park arena by stretcher. He recovered later. Julian completely dominated; the race. He was out to prove! his omission from the Mexico! Olympic team had been unjustified and was greatly disappointed when he learned that neither M. R. Ryan (Waikato) nor D. C. McKenzie (Canterbury) would be starting. However, this did not stop him putting everything he had into the

race, although he had earlier t wondered wether there was suf- . ficient incentive for a fast time. His first five miles was cov- > ered in 25m in 39sec and even at this stage he was half a s minute clear of his nearest 4 challenger. W. Allison (Auck- * land). He passed the second . five miles in 50min 37sec, the . third in Ihr 15min 57sec and the fourth in Ihr 41min 52sec. . His pace was much too fast in . the conditions for any of the! others. , Allison hung on grimly for 161 ; miles before allowing Julian to | clear out but the pace had : already taken its toll of his!

reserves. In the next four miles he dropped from second and at 22 miles he could go no further. T. Manners (Hawke's BayPoverty Bay) also made a valiant effort to maintain a fast pace. He held third place for much of the distance. He passed the 10-mile mark in 52min 45sec with Allison, less than 2min behind Julian and by 15 mites was still comfortably in third place. Not long afterwards his form started to become ragged. He dropped dramatically back to fifth place at 20 miles and although he gained one place when Allison withdrew he finally struggled back to Rugby Park in sixth position. Douglas and Keats realised they could not match Julian and they spread their effort evenly over the whole race. They went through the 15 miles together in Ihr 22min 25sec. Then Douglas made his bid for the silver medal. He surged ahead and at 20 miles had a 14sec lead over Keats. But the head w’ind required greater effort than he realised and he was on the verge of exhaustion when he came within sight of the park. Keats had passed him several miles back but he managed to hang on for third place. •‘At 10 miles I was not over optimistic about recording a fast time,” Julian said afterwards. “I knew I would have difficulty keeping the pace up and there was nobody to run with. Even taking the conditions into account, I think, in a way, I could have run faster,” he said. “Most of us were not prepared for the head wind during the last part of the race,” Julian said. The first Canterbury runner to finish was the provincial champion, N. Reid. He finished, suffering from cramp in his legs, in ninth place. His time of 2hr 37min 44sec was considerably slower than his best. B. Turner was the next Canterbury athlete. He was thirteenth. Both Canterbury men were well up in the field for most of the race. Turner was sixth and Reid eighth after 15 miles. At 20 miles Reid was running well in seventh place while Turner had dropped to ninth. But over the last six miles both men suffered considerably in the head wind. One runner who seemed unaffected by the wind was G. Hogan (Otago). He came through from eighth to fifth in the last six miles. The national half-mile champion, K. Ross (West Coast North

Island), showed that he had plenty of stamina for longer distances when he won the invitation mile race at Rugby Park on Saturday. Hi* well known 300 yd sprint once again carried him to victory. In the difficult conditions, he recorded 4min s.lsec. This was well ’outside the 4min mile hoped for but it was half a second faster than the Canterbury re[cord. Among those conquered bv the (diminutive W’anganui bookseiler was the new national mile ichampion, R. Quax (Waikato). IHe was third in 4min 6sec. He ! took over the lead going down (the back straight for the final !time but was unable to match !Ross’s magnificent sprint finish. A disappointing seventh in I the national final a week before, ;R. Tayler (Otago), regained ; much of his stature with a (Strong finish. He passed Quax in the final straight but could ! not quite find enough speed to i catch Ross. His time of 4min !s.4sec was a good one. Ross has not been beaten iover 880yds or a mile in New Zealand for three years. I The burly Oamaru policeman, IW. Nichol, was in brilliant form !in an invitation hammer throw event. His best throw of 186 ft lin exceeded the existing New Zealand record of 185 ft sin. However, the New Zealand champion. D. W. F. Gilliland (Hawke's Bay-Poverty Bay), has a distance of 189 ft 3sin awaiting ratification as a record. The former Canterbury champion, G. Grant, produced his best form for a lengthy period, taking second place with a throw of 167 ft sin. The reigning Canterbury champion, B. Harland, was below his best with a throw of 147 ft. A. W. Tweedie (Canterbury) had little difficulty in winning the senior. invitation 220yds in 22.35ec an<T the New Zealand women’s half and quarter-mile champion. Mrs S. Potts (Otago), hammered home her superiority over the longer distance with a fine win over her Auckland rival, Miss S. Haden. Mrs Potts’s time of 2min 11.3 sec was an excellent one considering the blustery wind. The result of the New Zealand marathon:— J. L. Julian (Auckland), 2:19:7.6. 1; I. Keats (Auckland), 2:26:42.2, 2; G. Douglas (Auckland), 2:28:58.4, 3; M. Whelan (Auckland), 2:31:14, 4; G. Hogan (Otago), 2:31:36, 5; T. Manners (Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay), 2:34:36, 6; L. Field (Northland), 2:35:4. 7; R. Jones (Waikato), 2:37:12, 8; N. Reid (Canterbury), 2:37:44, 9; M. McKinnon (Auckland), 2:39:48, 10.