ATHLETICS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 108, 2 November 1929, Page 24

ATHLETICS

BY "SPRINTfi"

OFF THE MARK !

START WITH SEASON

Dfi. PELTZER ON TOUR

The opportunity of having a try-out provided by the Labour Day meeting at the Basin Reserve on Monday evening was made good uso of by athletes, and no doubt the competition in the events has assisted them in' their preparation for the season's activities. In several cases the fields, while not by any means truly representative of the strength of the clubs, were quite good, and performances in some instances indicated that a number.of the competitors have lost no time in getting down to training work. With good starts in each event, W. H. Clementson (Olympic) was prominent in both the 100 yards and 220 yards handicaps. • A fine race was run by C. P.Thompson (Wellington) in the SSO yards handicap, his finishing effort giving him first place honours from V. Klee (Wellington) on the tape. Thompson competed during tho past harrier season, and provided he. looks after himself, he should be prominent on tho track this season. He had a start of 30 yards on Monday, and liis time was just over the 2min mark. ' ' I. Brady's leap of sft Tin in the high jump was a splendid effort for so early ■in the season and considering it waa made -under electric light, which any jumper will'admit makes the task of skimming over the light bar more difficult. : Miss T. Keiich was tho back-marker iv both ladies' events, and it seems that again this season she will be a prominent performer. Miss L. Hooper ran a good race in the 75 yards, and may pos: sibly have been conspicuous in the final f>f the 100 yards but for the fact that iv her heat she was badly missed by the judges. Miss D. Martin, Miss J. Murray, and Miss A. O'Brien were others to do well. Tho 440 yards relay raco was an easy thing for the Wellington team, comprising Misses Hooper, Malcolm, Wilkins, and Millar. Coming Meetings. The Wellington Club is holding a korero at Athletic Park .on Saturday afternoon next, and for the following Saturday afternoon the centre has arranged a field events day on the same ground. The programme for this gathering will1 also include 100 yards, 440 yards, and one mile events, with events I'or the lady athletes iv addition. An afternoon meeting at the Basin Tieiserve is planned for 23rd November, but it is not definitely known yet whether the centre will" be able tv get the uso of Uu; ground. Provided the centre is successful in Hh_ application for the .Basin Reserve, it is hoped to stage a special afternoon meeting there on Boxing Day, with champions from other districts competing. In this connection the centre has already written to a number of proinineufc competitors. Miss Barron, of Poxton, the Wellington ladies' provincial 100 yards champion, has accepted the centre's invitation to compete, and F. Grose, the noted Canterbury track cyclist, has also notified that he will be present. Peltzer for Australia? According to Mr. H. R. Weir, secretary of the' Victorian Amateur Athletic Association, there is a possibility of Dr. Otto Peltzer, the famous German runner, visiting Australia this season. Mr. Weir recently received a letter from Dr. Peltzer stating that ho was on his way to Japan with a team of German athletes, and was willing to extend his tour to Australia provfded the V.A.A.A. sent him an official invitation and the German Amatuur Athletic. Union officially sanctioned the extension. The V.A.A.A. was to hold a special meeting to consider sending the. invitation.' Should Peltzer go to Australia'there should be a good opportunity; for the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Council of also gettin" him to compete in the Dominion. Tho council, of course, has the Canadian tour in view, but any chance offering or. having the services of Peltzer, too, should also be snapped' up, and very quickly. J World's 1000 yds Record. The British half-mile and one-mile champion, C. Ellis, set the seal on a triumphant season by beating the world's record for 1000 yds at Stamford Bridge recently. Of this performance an English writer, penned the following: Assisted by other runners in a specially-framed handicap, Ellis covered the, distance from scratch in 2min 11 1-osec, beating the world's record made by Larry Brown in America eight years ago, by one second, and easily eclipsing the British record of 2min 14 4-ssec, which, was set ud in 189S by W. E. Lutyens. Notes. There are stated to be signs o£ increased activity in amateur athletic circles in Invercargill this season. The club has now more than 60 athletes. The Otago Centre is making application.- to the New Zealand Council for the Dominion track and field championships, 1930-31 season. In supporting the application, a Dunodin writer pouits to tho increased popularity of the sport in the province, and the "ood prospects of the championships drawing' large attendances at Dunedin. In a three kilometres race at Warsaw recently, Petldwicz, the Polish long-distance champion, beat Nurmi the world's champion, by a foot in Stnin ulsee. Though failing to beat the women's world's record for a relay of ten 100----metres stages, claimed for a. German team, ten British women sprinters ran the distance in 2min 4 2-ssec recently and so beat the British record by 4 1-5 sec. . Some reference was ruado last week to performances of the Achilles team in South Africa. Further reports have since been received, and they show that the team finished up its tour with a record of three match wins against four defeats. The final match of the tour against Natal at Durban, which incidentally the team won by seven events to two, produced a now South African record, V. B. Morgan breaking the figures of 4min 22 3-ssec set up by 1). R. Jacobs on 4th September by 6 1-5 see. Morgan ran a great race, as the conditions were not very favourable to him, rain having rendered the cinderpath track rather soft. The Canterbury Centre has a new secretary. . After 'five years of valuable service, Mr. G. G. "Lotkwood lias retired from tho position, which has been taken by Mr. G. L. Austin, well known asa cross-country runner. Mr. Lockwood takes a place on the Centre ,'i.xeentree.