GRAY GETS CROSS-COUNTRY BRONZE N.Z. runners spiked and team hopes ruined

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32561, 22 March 1971, Page 26

GRAY GETS CROSS-COUNTRY BRONZE N.Z. runners spiked and team hopes ruined

(Prom ALAN GRAHAM, N.Z.P.A. staff correspondent) SAN SEBASTIAN.

New Zealand was second in the women’s race, fourth in the men’s and there was an individual bronze medal for E. M. Gray, of Greymouth, in the cold, wet, windy and muddy world cross-country championships at San Sebastian on Saturday.

But is was, over-all, a disappointing day for the Kiwis for the women had hoped to win their race and the men were unlucky to have two runners spiked on the first lap.

One of them, G. Thorley, was carried off the course in an ambulance for treatment, and the other, R. M. Maddaford, would certainly have done better than thirtyseventh if he had not been injured.

England won both teams’ titles, and also provided the men’s individual champion, D. Bedford. He led from start to finish and won by 200 yards from his teammate, T. Wright, with Gray battling on 30 yards behind Wright. Places dropped Without its unfortunate injuries, New Zealand might have finished second, but it was beaten by both France and Belgium, as well as by the magnificent English team. New Zealand’s placings were Gray 3, R. Dixon 10, B. Rose 26, Madadford 37, J. Sheddon 57, M. Simmons 59, and G. Pyne 71. The individual women’s

winner for the fifth year in succession was D. Brown, of the United States. A Dutch girl was second, then came two English runners, and New Zealand had three wellplaced—V. Robinson 7, B. Shingles 8, and the 18-year-old I. Miller 9. Had New Zealand had another girl close up, it would have won, but two more English runners came home before H. Thomson, who was eighteenth. Appalling conditions New Zealand’s other two women runners were well left from the start, M. Sampson finishing twenty-ninth and A. Smith forty-fifth, in a field of 60. Conditions for the race were appalling, with a freezing cold wind, rain and a great deal of mud. The third placing by Gray was the 26-year-old West Coaster’s best individual performance in the championship. His previous best effort in two starts was eightenth, four years ago. He actually passed the second placegetter with a lap to go on Saturday but Wright again overtook the New Zealander.

New Zealand generally had a bad start in the crowded bunch of 150 runners from 16 countries and only Thorley and Dixon were well placed as Bedford led at the end of the first long slog into the howling gale. Thereafter, it was all Bedford, who increased his lead lap after lap and never looked like losing. Madadford led New Zealand’s challenge on the second lap before his spiked heel began to hurt him

badly, but as he dropped back Gray moved up to sixth at halfway and then to third.

Dixon was one of the few competitors who ran extra distance to use the better going on the outside of the track and this told in the second half of the 12,000metre race when he moved up from thirtieth, passing four runners in the last 50 yards. Mrs Shingles ran a most steady race in the women’s event, never being further back than tenth, but Mrs Robinson and Miss Miller had to fight back after making bad starts. Mrs Shingles said afterwards: “It was almost impossible to move in parts. I nearly bogged down in the mud and stayed there.”

MEN Team.—England, 58 points, 1; Belgium, 174, 2; France, 185, 3; New Zealand, 192, 4; Spain, 196, 5; Morocco, 213, 6; Scotland, 214, 7; Finland, 223, 8: Wales, 290, 9; Ireland,. 387, 10; Poland, 406, 11; Switzerland, 456, 12. Individual.—D. Bedford (England), 38:42.8, 1; T. Wright (England), 39:5.2, 2; E. Gray (New Zealand), 39:11.6, 3; J. Salgado (Spain), 39:15.3, 4; P. Standing (England). 39:19.4, 5; T. Malcolm (Wales), 39:22.8, 6; N. Tljou (France), 39:29.3, 7; M. Haro (Spain), 39:38.5, 8; L Stewart (Scotland), 39:41.2, 9; R. Dixon (New Zealand), 39:43.5, 10; P. Paelvaerlnta (Finland), 39:44.7, 11; G. Roelanta (Belgium), 39:45.3, 12. WOMEN Team.—England, 29, 1; New Zealand, 42, 2; United States, 50, 3; Netherlands, 71, 4; Wales, 89, 5; Italy, 97, 6. Individual.—D. Brown (United States), 11:8.4, 1; B. Lenferink (Netherlands), 11:21.2, 2; 1. Smith (England), 11:23,2, 3.