HARRIERS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 234, 1 July 1939, Page 7

HARRIERS

E. Richardson Should Go Far

DORNE CUP REVIEWED

Danger Of Young Runners “Burning Out”

(By

Whipper-In.)

Many old-timers were reminded at the Dome Cup harrier contest on Saturday of a Saturday many years ago, on August 29, 1925. On that day the idol of the New Zealand harrier world made no race of it to win the Australian crosscountry championship. Just as with E. Richardson on Saturday, the further they went the.bigger the lead, and A. S. Paterson, in an admirable cartoon ot tnat event in 1925, had no trouble in showing the winner and his the other competitors. All he did was to put a pin point in the cartoon with an arrow pointing to it and the label “Rose.” It is not meant that Richardson is another Rose, but Richardson certainly knows how to run away from the field, and if he takes hie running seriously he should do well for himself and the province in competition. The first 10 places in the race on Saturday were filled in the following order :— E. Richardson (Olympic), J. Riddington (Scottish), W. Owens (Wellington), A. Bourgeois (Scottish), G. Prosser (Brook' lyn), R. Ballantyne (Scottish), C. Bruce (Scottish), P. Argue (Brooklyn), A. Newall (University), and R. Scrymgeour (University). The club pointe for the cup were:— Scottish. 134; Presbyterian, 420; Wellington, 446; Hutt Valley, 500; Brooklyn, 503; University, 541; Olympic, 543; Methodist, 775; Baptist, 1021.

Danger of "Burning Out.” New faces among the first 10 in interclub racing were R. Ballantyne, P. Argue and A. Newell. Ballantyne, no doubt, ran the race of his life. He is still very young and lie would be well advised to leave competition for a position in the first 10 well alone for a couple of years. It has been proved many times that it is much better for young runners to build up slowly over a number of years than for them to come up to the forefront by sheer determination a couple of times and then fade away, burnt out. This does not apply only to Ballantyne, for it is becoming noticeable among many clubs that the young members are getting far too much racing over long distances, and the action of the harrier sub-committee in instituting a junior cross-country championship is a more in the right direction.

Provincial Course. " On Sunday, July 9, are invited to inspect the course at Silverstream at 10.15 a.m.

Presbyterian Club. It was gratifying to officials and supporters of the Presbyterian club to see it move into second place in the Dome Cup race. The club has a group bunch of young runners who train keenly and who teamed well on Saturday. It was pleasing to sec A. Cougalton finishing first for the club and returning to his best form. S. Campbell ran a good second lap and finished well up. The team filled the following places: A. Cougalton (16), S. Campbell (23), N. Jardine (35), C. Seelye (40), J. Aston (41), R. Seelye (44). R. Tait (45), J. Hay (57), R. Gibbons (58), J. Armstrong (59). Notable among non-starters were b. Dick, B. Couchman, and 11. Miller. Today’s run will be from the Keiburn Presbyterian Church, and next week's from Kent Terrace. The club championship will follow. The mid-season social will be held at St. John’s on July.B. Scottish Club.

The result or tne Dome Cup contest was again most gratifying to the club and its supporters. To have the team of 10 runners in the first 25 places showed that, though a number of well-seasoned runners still lead the club, there are good men coming on ■to .back them up. .Richardson’s win was not expected, but was well deserved. J. Riddington, who took second place, and was first Scottish .man home, ran well again, and looks like doing better under conditions more to his liking. He is certain!}- not a spent force, and A. Bourgeois, tlie second Scottish man home, is also a sons runner. R. J. Ballantyne, who is still a junior, ran splendidly, as did Bruce, who found the conditions too heavy tfi keep up to Riddington. The whole team ran solidly, and stuck together well, but, apart from the team, Maturin, Hill and Henderson finished well up. Today’s run will be from the Brooklyn terminus.

Baptist Club. Baptist did not do much in this years Dome Cup event, but hope to do better in future. . ’Their best runner was Toiibou, who is well into form now, and looks more of a possibility for the club championship than he has done for some time. G. McGregor, who has recently returned from Nelson, showed that he has not been wasting his-time over there by coming in second man for the club. J. Grigg was running fairly well- up. in the first lap, but eeemed to drop right back at the (finish.

The first ten Baptist men home were: — Tonson, McGregor, McFadyen, Wadham, Volier, Kitchingman, Parker, Ritchie, Dawson, Velim. The run this afternoon will be held from the Miramar Baptist Church, and members are urged to be on time. Wellington Club. A special invitation is extended to all members, bld and new, to be present at the Old Boys' Memorial race from the residence of Mr. and Mrs. R. Spence, McKinley Crescent, Brooklyn, today. Palmerston North’s Visit. On Saturday, July 15, the Y.M.C.A. Harrier Club, Palmerston North, will visit Wellington for a six-mile iuterclub race against the Wellington Harrier Club. At the time of writing at least 20 are to make the trip, and with the talent available in Palmerston, the Wellington club will be hard put to win the shield. University Club. Though the University team on the whole did not meet with (success in the Dome Clip, the performance was better than last year's, in that two runners, Newall and Scrymgeour, finished in the first ten. Of the others in the team, probably the most meritorious performances were thowe of Bowyer and De la .Mare. Bowyer is more used to track running than to cross-country work, and is u newcomer to the club. Last Saturday he finished fifth'in the team, and seems to have definitely found his feet ,in this phase of athletics. De la Mare is in his second year with tlie club, and in tlie Dome was sixth man home for the team, lie lias been running consistently .well tins season, and has been improving steadily during the lafd few weeks.