"MILE OF THE AGES"

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 34, 9 August 1933, Page 8

"MILE OF THE AGES"

LOVELOCK'S SENSATION

HIGH PRAISE IN AMERICA

FOOT-IUCE CLASSIC

New Zealand lias been written large across American news sheets. The cause is J. E. Lovelock. And in this instance the writers are not astray in their geographical knowledge. The Dominion definitely receives the advertisement which not infrequently in other cases, that of Phar Lap being a more recent example, has gone to Australia. "New Zealander Runs Fastest Mile in. History; 4 Minutes 7.0 Seconds," "Jack Lovelock Aims at 4.0G Record for OneMile Bun," and "New Zealand Eunncr Tells of Pace Plan" are but three of the headlines splashed across the.pages of American newspapers in hailing Lovelock's amazing world recordbreaking performance at Princeton last month. . As those feature lines indicate, prominence has been given not only to I the New Zealand athlete's achievement, but also to his prospects of working up even faster pace oyer the mile. ♦ ' SIMPLY ASTOUNDING. '' ) Two college youths, Jack Lovelock) of Oxford, and Bill Bonthron, of Princeton, raced the greatest mile in history, stated the Associated Press sports writer in his account of tho memorable event at Princeton. Lovelock, a curly-haired, 23-year-old medical, student from Dunedin, New Zealand, swept past a border of elm trees as he caught and passed Bonthron, then flashed down tho stretch towards the end of the big concrete horse-house of Palmer Stadium, to break the tape in the dazzling time of 4:07.6. Beaten off by seven yards, but still fighting every step of the way as he found his famous "kick" more than matched for the first time this year, Bonthron came home in 4:08.7, thereby completing the stop-watch story of tho "mile of the ages,'' as these two collegians surpassed anything ever achieved before at the classic distance by the world's greatest foot racers. The writer goes on to stress the fact in recognising the wonderful merit of Lovelock's performance that the fastest mile over run by an American was not good enought to win. Lovelock, with the last quarter in the remarkable time of 58.9, and a finish that was simply astounding, wiped out the world record, of 4:09.2, made by Jules Ladoumeguc, of France, with plenty to spare. Bonthron was also inside the record, and he later figured in a meet record for the half-mile, doing this distance in 1:53. LOVELOCK'S COMMENT. It is recorded that about 5000 spectators went away thanking their good fortune and talking about the thrill or. witnessing a mile that was matchless for speed and thrills, unprecedented in running annals and noteworthy for the courage of winner and' loser alike. ''When I saw Bonthron make his big effort on the back stretch and fail to pull away, I knew I had the stuff to win," Lovelock is credited with calmly remarking after the contest. As for Bonthron's capabilities, it was stated that this Princeton miler had not found previously this year the runner who could match strides with him at the finish. His fondest admirers believed him unbeatable. A description of tho race shows that after three laps and a half, with Lovelock never more than a stride behind the bronzed, blackmailed Bonthron, the whole issue was staked on their sprinting ability. Lovelock was at the American's shoulder rounding the last turn. He was in front in a few strides, and he steadily lengthened his margin to a full seven yard's, as Bonthron, chin, down and arm churning, tried desperately to cheek the widening gap. The lap times were as follows:—

These figures show that at half-way Lovelock was only one-tenth of a second behind the American, and was similarly placed upon entering the last lap. HOPE OF NEW MARK. Subsequent feature stories regarding Lovelock refer to the New Zealand athlete's ton belief that he can set up even better figures. Says one writer:— Jack Lovelock, the curly-haired New Zealand youth, who came half-way arouna the world to smash the -world one-mile running record to bits in the I cloistered seclusion of Princeton University, left the impression -with those who were thrilled by his remarkable victory over Bill Bonthron that he can do considerably better than 4:07.6 for the classic distance, strange and almost unbelievable as it may seem. Lovelock, with, two more years of medical study at Oxford before liini, thinks so himself. A comparatively "slow third quarter in 65.1 see compelled Lovelock to turn on full blast of foot-racing power and speed the final 440 yards in 58.9 see that left 5000 spectators gasping. All he needs, as he romarked himself, is to be paced to the three-quarter-mark in around 3:06 for he has the sprinting ability any time he is in condition to do the last 440 yards of a mile in 60sec or faster. "A FRESH EPOCH." Among other references is the following: The startling fashion in which these two college youths made a show of'the foot-racing records of men like John Paul Jones, Norman Taber, Paavo Nurmi, and Ladoumegue marks a fresh epoch in track history. One of them, Lovelock, has come along like a hurricane since being unplaced in the final of-the Olympic 1500-meter race a year a"o; the other, Bonthron, who did not mako the Olympic team and never before had been really tested in tho mile, emerged in defeat with the fastest record of any American. Glenn Cunningham and Geno Vcnzkc, of Pennsylvania, who ran to an indoor record of 4min lOsec in 1932, for the time being, it is stated also, must yield all honours to Lovelock and Bonthron. The new world record holder may match strides in Europe this summer with Cunningham and settle the question of mile supremacy, at least for 1D33. Cunningham, too, has remarkable finishing powers. He is much among the barrclchestetl, sturdy type of Bonthron, but it is doubted whether the Kansas flier or any other runner could have kept pace with Lovelock any better than did Bonthron. According to advices, from England, Lovelock is to compete at a students' international sports gathering in Turin next month.

Bonthron. seconds. "First 61.2 (Second/.... G2.3 - Third .....< 05.1 Fourth 60.1 JjOveJocK, seconds. 61.4 02.3 G5.1 58.9