ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 662, 12 November 1909, Page 3

ATHLETICS.

* '■'■■-. (By MEucoax.).

■;. FIXTURES. . , . ' January.—Wellington l'rovincial Champion-. ; ships, Uasin: Keserve. . ■ January 29:- I Wvil Service A.A.C. Meeting. February.—Now '-. Zealand . Championships ... (AucKlahd); '•_■ Last Saturday was an aniioiis day for the Wellington Centre and'W.A.A.C. officials, heavy expense entailed in.the combined Mara. thoti race and sports meeting, necessitated biggate receipts, and tho morning was not' such as to' warrant a big "house." However, the threatened rain .held off, and though the high .wind had its eftect on the attendance,? tlie takings wore fair, though' barely enough, por-: haps, to meet expenses. Tho total muster of the public was somewhat over 2000, which on ordinary occasions-would have been considered more than satisfactory ' ■■.■,■•'■ ..- . The feature of: the day's work that loomed largest in the public eye was, of course, the Marathon., At 1.30 p.m. quite a crowd had gathered in the" Reserve to see the start, and an .equally'large assemblage was in attendance outside. This latter. assemblage, by the way, stuck to its post oiftside the fence witK a persistence- wortny of a better cause, braved the dust and wind all the afternoou' with grim determination .to see a free show at any costso long as it was free. . \ ..' '.- . .-. : Punctually at. 1.30 the starters lined up, and after the inevitable photograph, were sent once round the Keserve—the initial. 6tage of , their arduous run. Of the .twelve entrants, ten\ started. L. Neill; of Canterbury, did not come up, and one of the local men was unable to satisfy the examining doctor of his iitiiess for the task. ■'-... '

. On leaving the ground, Mulcaby set off a a clip that foretold disaster' if persisted, in with Reid, of Auckland, in close attendance Keid had previously told the writer • that h understood that Hulcahy was bent on "cuttini it out," and had announced his intention o "letting him go." Apparently, however, h> oither forgot this, intention, .or changod hi mind, as, .before Kaiwarra was ■ reached, ■ h took charge. Passing the station he,was abou 100 yards to the good/ and had taken 2 ninntes. .'■ The rest of the .Held were thei iunched, about 300 yards away. This orde vas kept, with slight variations, in the pack mtil Petone (about 8 miles) was reached, tin inio for the distance being just under. .47 ninutes. The most noteworthy alteration a his was-that Wilkins (Canterbury) anc lelaney (Wellington) had; dropped back, ani iad lost about five minutes oil the bunch, rhich was , abbnt four minutes behind Keid n the first hour tho Aucklander had reaehei he Hntt Bridge, and was holding such i ommanding position.that he should have takei . "pull" and'eased up awhile. Instead, hi :ept,to his forcing tactics, but the strain wa leginning to tell. Shortly he began to comi iack,,as also did-Mulcahy, wjio was then abbu (juidistant between Keid and the mam body fho were being .led;iy : Fitzgerald and Bon 1 Reid finished:the half distance, 12 miles 141 -ards from the Keserve,gate, m 1 hour-2 ninutes, but his course was run. H ecured his'ticket and set sail for homo wit! , hard breeze to help, .I'itzgeraid ,was th ie it to turn, followed. closely, by Thompson >ress, ind Simpson, JMcahy having tade< tway to-fifth place. Bennett and .Umber rere "'next, ana/ then, .after some minutes ame "Wilkins; who was putting up a gam iut-ineffectual struggle., '': ■ ■. '■* •" • Now began the / real business of ■ the race The , first half was practically an eliminatin; est, the second a struggle-grim and great fte home journey had not'hegua long vrhei he first ' decisive' incident occurred. A mil ir so on the way c Ej6id faltered, and; payin, he penalty for an efcess of zeal over diecre ion, stopped. His heart-breaking pacernakinj .gainst the wind had told its tale. He wa ohe. About 5 minutes later Mulcahy fol owed suitj and, though it was probably ;du o"' the exertions of these, two-that the ultimat ime was so good, they lhad, no share. in th iltimate triumph. •. • '. v - -' : ." Thompson then took the running, going as;: pectator said, as. "steady as, , a. train.". Fitz ;erald was filling the' second place, but wa tot moving happily—the cramp that ulti nately stopped him. was beginning to 'assbr bself. At' Lower, Hntt,. Bennett .was .third limpson, who: looked Tike running all, night ourth, Press," ■. looking, worn, fifth, and Lam >erg,' 'plugging alopg bravely,' sixth.' ]' ',' Thompson 6toadily increased his lead, reach ng Ngahauranga in 2 hours,l7 minutes. Per lisasterovertqpk.'Fitzgerald, and, after a five nile battle against cramp and an injure( mee,'. he roluctantly. • joined ,the .. spcctator.6 iimpspn,was then five minutes behind ,Thomp on, and was quickening up. When he Veachoi he Kaiwarra Station, Thompson was jus6';on ering the Esplanade, going as strbiisly a iver. The. dogged Wilkins-had by this tim riven;up'"his , hopeless taski ! and the, field' wa n iia ultimate order of. finishing. .*••'■■. Thompson stack- to' his, task 'resolutely; and n the ran to! the Beserve,from.the Esplanade ;ained a minute on Simpson, despito ! th •eteran's = determined efforts. Just • before ; 4.3 ).m. he entered the lleserve, prondl; )y his attendant, W. Spencer, and fiiisbei i splendid performance in 2; hours 58 minute !3soconds. Simpson fnished Gmin. 6sec ater, then,Bennett, who got an ovation ffon iis fellow harriers, 3min. 36sec. later;' then ii .3inin. 3Gsec-came Press, followed 3min. 36seo ifterby Lamperg; Tired though he.was, eacl >f the five made a good finish up the straight uamberg especially, although'looking more dis Tessed than any, finding a good'sprint home. Thompson's performance -is one that would 'ank' in-the" first class of' any, company, pro , ■ided always that the'distance is correct, , and here is no reason to.doubt;this. .4. comparSon'of his time, 21ir..58min. 23seo.with'othei imes recorded, affords sufficient evidence as.tc ts merit. The world's best professional' perbrmance is that of Henry St. Ives, created at Seattle last October, of 2hr.- 32min. 39sec, but t is the amateur records that must" be looked o for afair cpmpaiison,: which, in- this' case, s far .from being odious. The previous best tindeV.to . M. Saloney, at New York.'vin December,.-. 1903, on a_ b-ack—2hr.' 36min. 26 ■ssec. On a road, as in the present instance, '. Roberts, of Manchester, holds the"irecord ot !hr. 40min. 28 4-ssec.. The/amateur Australisian record !is-;2fir. 59min. 15 2-ssec., by ■A. .Vood, at Brisbane, last -August. -It "will be ecn, therefore, that Thompson's time beats the Australasian figures' by 52 3-ssec. : "The time pi he memorable Marathon won by Hajes at the ist piympic ■ Games, was 2hr.;ssmin. 18sec. Thompson's first success .as,a distance runner ms in the W.A.A.C. cross-country race' }ast ear at Miramar, and later last season .he'won he '13-mile "Marathon" (so-called) round the

Queen's Drive.' In addition he has performed 'or the track with success in, the distances from 880 yds., to three milesi ' '■'■■'

, A special due'to Vf. IV Simpson-for ■his splendid showing;, in it. is hard to express the admijation one ■ feels' for the old warhorse's keenness and determination. Owing to the stressof his, occupation, due. to the hqli-, day week in Canterbury—he is.a.railwaj-iguard j at'Ashburton—he was unable to. get to Wellington before the morning of the race. .To' adu.to this, he hnd a.badioiirney up, and-was luuablo to get handicap for a man in the ordinary day's'routine, 'la the' facti of "this, he ran'his'race in 3hr; imin; 2Ssec., a feat which speaks for ikelf, arid which well deserved the ovation it ■ drew froni the spectators.'. •....' ■■■.■.'; •'; '' Nor should the efforts of the' other three who finished pass; unnoticed.■ "Whatever may be one's opinion as to the value of a. contest of this kind, one cannot help admiring the grit and doggedness with ■ whi6h the runners performed their feat, ■ for feat it distinctly was, and their plucky finishes will live' for long In the memory of those fortunate enough toThave been-them. : ■ •■.- • .- ' ..-.:,' Before leaving the Marathon,-it may be-as well; to correct any false impression that may arise from a statement in the' press, that the winner received a trophy to the value of ,£ls. The limit set down as a trophy , for any race , by the amateur 'regulations is JEIO, but really two races -were contained in this event— for trophies valued at >£10 for the Marathon and £5 for tlie. sealed handicap, both of which Thompson won. ■-. • .-..•■ /ZC' .-.". . _-. ■ .