ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 996, 10 December 1910, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

9 (Bt Mercuey.) To-day. "— W.A.A.C. Spring Carnival (Basin Reserve). December 14.—Karori A.A.C. Evening Meeting. December 26.—Mauriceville Athletic Club (four ' amateur events); Wanganui A.A.C. Meeting. December 27.*-Wairarapa A.A.C. Meeting. January 2.—Port Nicholson C.C. Meetiug (Basin Eeserve); Wairarapa Caledonian Meeting. January 11. — Wellington Provincial Championships. ■Attention is drawn to the fact that the abovo list now includes a meeting at Wanganui ou Boxing Day. Entries close to-night for the • Karori Club's evening meeting next Wednesday. The W.A.A.C. Effort To-day. ■ Given a fine day, the W.A.A.C Spring .Carnival at the Basin Eeserve should be a very fine athletic display. The club has a reputation to uphold in the matter of arrangements, and can bo depended upon not to depart from tho high standard, it has. hitherto "set in this direction. The athletic quality of the contests is guaranteed by the calibre of the men engaged, and tho largo entries ensure keen competition in tho running events and field games. Tho handicaps of the principal events have been published in our daily columns, and inspection of the adjustments shows that the handicappers Messrs. . Pollock, Gow, and Jones havo done their part conscientiously and well. Public interest will be centred chiefly upon two events, the 100 yards and one mile handicaps. In the former the Australasian sprint champion, W. A. Woodger, occupies the place of honour on the mark, tho nearest to him being F. C. Hubbnrd and H. A. Robertson, on 4Jyds., while tho limit men are out on 11yds. This is a liberal allotment, but the Pctono man is moving well, and should be there when the "pistol goes for the final. So that tho public will'have every 'opportunity of seeing , the 'fical sprint, it has been put further down the programme than usual, and is timed for 3.20 o'clock. . The "Bracelet" Event. ' Tlie mile run derives special interest from tho fact that it is the "bracelet" event of the day, a distinction'which has attracted a fine nomination' of,, over 20 runners.',,An .interesting figjip,;.;in.,"3ijs raca will bo "Jack" Bradburyi of Mastorton, once well known.here as a Wellington , provincial champion and representative.. He lias not appeared here for about four years, but lately has interested himself in tho revival of amateurism .that happily now obtains in the Wairarapa, and is now the honorary secretary of the club recently formed in Masterton. At tho time.of writing the handicap has not been framed for this event, as the gentlemen in charge of this department elected to" wait until after the Civil Service meeting on Wednesday evening before completing their task. It is likelyi however, that Bradbury will :bo. on the scratch mark with the local miler, L. E. Baxter, whoso sterling run on Wed- : nesday, referred to furtli er on, shows him to bo an exceedingly. - stiff proposition over this distance. If. Bradbury . has "come back," and he reports that he has, tho duel between these two will be worth seoing. ' < ' The New Zealand champions, *L. M. M'Kay,F. C. Hubbard, and. A. Evensen, will be engaged in the field games and hurdles. A new entrant in the shot events is Alec. Bisset, who brings a reputation as a putter from far-away Scotland, which, if he lives up to, will make Kim a useful and long-desired acquisition to' this department. Guy Harding's Achievement. Guy Harding, of Nanier, who won the quarter and half-mile Ivew Zealand ohanipionships in Wellington's interests at Auckland last year, has sat the crown on his already solid reputation as a fine middledistance runner by his shattering of the jN'ew Zealand record for 1000 yds. at Auckland last Saturday. The occasion was an invitation match race, in which he was pitted against the Aucklander, G. N. Hill, the Dominion mile champion. Harding's performance is really even better than it looks, as the local papers say that the track was.heavy from rain on the previous day and the morning of the race, but it in no wise! surprised .those who have, watched' the Napier man's running during the past two seasons. Last Boxing Day, at Wanganui, he essayed the breaking : of tho same record. He covered the distance with a substantial margin in his favour, but the reineasurement of the track for record purposes disclosed the disappointing fact that, through some blunder, the course had been laid out some three or four' yards short, so that although his time, 2min. 19 2-ssec, proved that, oven allo'wing for the shortago, he was well within the coveted figures, a good performance went for naught. On Saturday last tho Aucklandors made no such mistake. On being surveyed after Harding's run, tho distance covered was found to be 1002 yds.. 2ft. 9in. Hearty congratulations ore due to Harding for his brilliant achievement; How Harding Did It. . An account of the race clipped from the Auckland "Star" says: "Both men received nn ovation on coming out. Hill won tho toss, and chose tho inside position. Mr. Smith got them away to a beautiful start, Hill going to the' front, and at the. first quarter, which was covered in lniin. 2-4-sspc., ho led by five yards. Hill still led at the half-mile, which they covered in 2min. 4 2-Sscc. A hundred yards from the tape "Harding raced up to Hill, and beating him for pace, drew out in tho final spurt and won all out by five yards, amidst applause. Time, 2min. 20 2-ssec." It is interesting to note that up to last year the 1000 ynrds record had been on the books unscathed for 19 years. It ' was established by that fine old-timer "Derry" Wood, in Christchurch, ott December IG, 1890, and it was only last season that Guy Hasfcins, of Christchurch, lifted it by cutting down the figures then put up, 2min. 24 2-ssec, by one-fifth of a second. . Harding's new time, 2min. 20 2-ssec, is a substantial reduction, and puts the Australasian record standing to the credit of the Victorian, G. Wheatlcy, of 2min. 19 4-sscc. within grasning distance. Doubtless Harding will" reach out a grasp for. it later on. Civil Service Evening Meeting. A goodly crowd of enthusiasfcics assembled at the Basin Keserye on Wednesday evening to watch the Civil Service Club get nil three events—the distances being 100 yds., 440 yds., and one mile handicaps. The entries were good and the racing keen, especially in the mile. Details have appeared in our daily columns, but the mile event calls for more than'passing notice. Fifteen turned out, with L. E. Baxter on scratch, D. Binnio on 10yds., 'and the field ranaini: out.to a limit o£'

110 yds. Baxter, as is his habit, lot tho handicap men make all the running for the first half-mile, "Rollo being tho leader over most of this section: The half-mile was covered in Zmin. 9sec, and it. appeared as though the scratch man was taking matters too ' easily, but in the third lap ho moved up considerably, and at the bell was Tunning third. Rollo stili had the lead, ami looked a likely winner to those who did not know their Baxter and his desperate finishing pow.ers. Half-way round , the last lap Baxter was second, with twenty yards to catch, and here he started his sprint—and sprint ho did. In a hundred yards ho had caught his man, and at the entrance .to the straight had a comfortable lead, and iinislied pulling up in Jniin. 42scc., a time ha could have considerably reduced had he been raced out to the tape. Baxter is a "milor" vrith a future, and will be looked to for a good performance this afternoon. Keddoll as a "Way-Back." During the week "Mercury" received a letter from G. P. Keddell, the Australasian 120 and 410 yards hurdle champion. The genial "Jerry is practising his profession of barrister and solicitor ut Otaur tau, in the hinterlands of Otago, and reports that although he had intended giving up the sport for good, tho ruling passion has been too strong for him. A new club has been started in Otautau which has, he says, already held one very successful evening meeting, at which he started, but he omits to state how he fared, and he says further that he may be a competitor at the next New Zealand Championship meeting. Provincial Championships. From Mr. W. L. Dunn, honorary secretary of the Wellington Centre, comes the preliminary programme of the Provincial Championship meeting, set down for January 14. Entries close at the usual places on January 6. The events open for discussion are:—Championships: 100 yds., 220 yds., 440 yds. (Bannister Cup), 880 yds.,' one mile run, three miles run, 120 yds. hurdles, 440 yards hurdles, one mile walk, throwing hammer, long jump, high jump, putting shot. Handicaps: 75yds., 300 yds. (ladies' bracelet), 1000 yds., one and a half miles run, hop, step, and jump, pole vault (post entry), three miles walk, boys' half-mile walk. No person whose subscription to his club is unpaid is to be allowed to compete.