SMART TACTICS

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 57, 5 September 1934, Page 3

SMART TACTICS

J. E. LOVELOCK'S WIN

RACE AGAINST BONTHRON

When the cablegram was received in July announcing that at the meeting in London between Oxford and Cambridge and Princeton and Cornell the Now Zealander J. E. Lovelock defeated W. Bonthron (Princeton) in the one mile in 4min 15 2-osec, it was stated that the newspapers paid a tribute to Lovelock's victory as a magnificent feat of clever running. That his success against Bonthron, now an old rival of his and one of America's best milcrs,

was a triumph of team tactics is abundantly clear from an English writer's interesting account of tho contest.

"Lovelock," lie writes, "was not in the best condition, and, knowing this, Bonthron could have cracked his rival's stamina in the first half-mile. But he seemed fearful of venturing anything of a paco and preferred to hang near Lovelock all the way. Lovelock showed himself'to be a wary runner in that he dodged behind Bonthron to make him a shield from the breeze and, seeing his rival too nervous to push ahead, made the pace slow enough in the first halfmile to suit his own condition. • "It was not until the third lap that Lovelock passed Bonthron and began to close up on his colleague, A. B. Leach, who was busy taking the pep out of P. K. Vipond, the American second string. Bonthron followed close. When Leach found Lovelock on his heels he moved aside to let his captain through on the inside position, but, before Bonthron could do the same, the Englishman put on a little spurt and closed in again, so that the American had to run round outside him to get up to Lovelock again. PACE INCREASED. "Lovelock steadily increased the pace for the last quarter, so that he would not be called upon to make a desperate sprint, and on the last two bends gave another display of good track sense by keeping Bonthron on the outside when he tried to pass. The Princeton runner made a brave effort in tihe straight, but could only get within two yards of his man. I estimated that in the last quarter Bonthron ran at least four yards further than Lovelock. With better tactics he might have won the race, but nevertheless I thought he was much the inferior runner. His style was ugly and laboured, while Lovelock kept his stride and poise from start to finish. It was noticeable that nearly all the American track runners lacked style. An excessive rolling of the head and shoulders and a wild arm movement made them look second-rate. "Bonthron got another shock in the half. Just when he appeared to have the race in hand, J. C. Stothard threw his last ounce into a mighty sprint 150 yards from home. It reminder! me of «T. F. Comes. So surprised was Bonthron that he was eight yards behind before he realised what had happened. Stothard struggled up the straight as, though his life depended on it, and al-1 though Bonthron was gaining all tho way to the tape, the Englishman just managed to last out."