RECORD-BREAKING BID BOOSTED Ryun to compete in 2-mile race

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32564, 25 March 1971, Page 22

RECORD-BREAKING BID BOOSTED Ryun to compete in 2-mile race

(New Zealand Press Association) ; AUCKLAND. The prospects of a world two-mile record being set at the Mount Smart Stadium tonight received a great boost yesterday with the announcement of the American, J. Ryun, that he would be able to compete after all.

After a thorough work-out he decided that his injured right calf was strong enough for him to join the Australian, K. J. O’Brien, and the New Zealander, T. J. Quax, in the two-mile field.

However, Ryun, the world record-holder at one mile and 1500 metres stressed that not too much should be expected from him as the leg injury sustained just before leaving the United States had kept him from regular training for almost two weeks.

He had to withdraw from a mile race in Melbourne last week.

“I would hate to come all this way and then not race,” the 23-year-old runner said. “My leg is improviing all the time and I have come through my training here in Auckland without too many problems. Impressive runs In fact, he was hightly impressive in his speed workout at Mount Smart. Ryun, in company with his United States team-mate, T. von Ruden, who wil run in the mile tonight against the New Zealanders. R. Taylor, com-

pleted a hard hour-long session of 220 s and 4405.

The record Ryun, Quox and O’Brien will be attacking is the time of Bmin 19.6 sec held by the Australian, R. Clarke. There is little doubt that O’Brien, in particular, has the ability to run a faster outdoor time over two miles than Clarke. His recent indoor record of Bmin 19.2 sec for the distance and his 3000 metres

steeplechase performances, in which he holds the world record, indicate this.

Quax, the New Zealand re-cord-holder over the distance, at Bmin 25.65ec, most certainly is capable of a faster time and is always a hard man to master when at his peak, as he is at present. Big improvement To slice Bsec off his national record will require running each lap pne second faster than he did when he lowered M. G. Halberg’s time in Dunedin a few weeks ago. A personal best 800 metres time of imin ,51sec in Hamilton last Saturday is a good pointer towards the fact that

Quax has a fine chance of sustaining such a pace for much of the journey, although his big test will come over the final half-mile.

Ryun is probably capable of running two miles in Bmin 15sec providing his leg is sufficiently recovered. Eventually he should lower it to about Bmin lOsec if he becomes sufficiently interested in the event to move up to it seriously.

But he will be under considerable presonal strain tonight. The race will be a test of whether he is yet in the physical condition to race strongly on his leg. Fastest miler Von Ruden is one of the fastest overseas milers to visit New Zealand in recent years, apart from the Olympic 1500 metres champion, K. Keino (Kenya). His best time for the distance is 3min 56.95ec. This season, indoors, he beat the 1970 leading world 800 metres rimner, Y. Arzhanov (Russia), and R. Doubell (Australia), the Olympic 800 metres champion. Also he beat the American 800 metres title-holder, D, Byce, over 1000 yards just a week before esetablishing fresh indoor figures for the 1000 metres.

He appears to be about three to five yards faster than Taylor over the mile.

The Americans have described the mauve-coloured Mount Smart Stadium track as being “very fast,” and everything now depends upon the weather remaining fine for the meeting to be a success.

The Canterbury and New Zealand five-eighths, W. D. Cottrell, playing squash in the Suburbs Rugby Club’s rooms last evening as part of his preparation for the English Rugby Union’s centennary matches in Britain next month. Cottrell is one of seven New Zealanders chosen for the President’s team, which will play four games. Including one against England at Twickenham on April 17. He will leave for Britain next Wednesday mindful of the fact that he will be pitted against players

who are match hardened at the end of the northern winter season. But he will not go unprepared. As well as playing squash and running, he has taken part in three pre-season games, at Harlhari, Hastings and Blenheim, and, apart from the usual bumps, has come through in fine fettle. This will be Cottrell’s second visit to Britain he was there with the AU Bleaks in 1967. He has also represented New Zealand on tours of South Africa and Australia.