MARATHON RACE OLYMPIC BLUE RIBBON WON BY A GREEK. OLDEST IN EXISTENCE. HAS COME TO STAY HIGH STANDARD. FULL-TIME JOB.

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 138, 7 December 1935, Page 24

MARATHON RACE

OLYMPIC BLUE RIBBON

WON BY A GREEK.

OLDEST IN EXISTENCE.

HAS COME TO STAY

HIGH STANDARD.

FULL-TIME JOB.

America,

TEST OF COURAGE

The preparation for a marathon run of 26 miles 385 yards may be arduous and long, and to the prosaic mind the event would appear hardly worth the trouble that it involves, but that the event possesses some fascination is very well evidenced by the large fields which annually contest the important marathons held in Britain and

Yet, perhaps on reflection, there is every reason why the event should be such a popular one. The race has a very old historical association commemorating as it does the feat of Pheidippides in 490 B.C. Pheidippides, a Greek, and an Olympic champion runner, after travelling two days and two nights enlisted the aid of the Spartans when Athens was threatened by the Persians, and it w.as he who carried news of the Greek victory at Marathon to Athens, a distance of 22 miles, falling dead on the outskirts of the city as he delivered the message.

When the modern Olympic Games were revived at Athens in 1896, one of the chief events on the programme was a marathon race, which was appropriately enough won by a Greek, Loves. Since then the contest has come to be regarded as the blue ribbon of the Games, and many remarkable scenes have been associated with the race, none perhaps being more memorable than those which surrounded the 1908 event, run from Windsor Castle to the Olympic Stadium at Shepherd's Bush, London.

In that year Dorando Pletrl, a 23----year-old Italian restaurant waiter, wben leading, collapsed in sight of the stadium entrance, where first aid was rendered. The Italian arose only to fall twice more, the last time in such a condition that he was virtually carried across the finishing line.

Naturally he was disqualified on protest, and the race awarded to J. Hayes, of the United States. But the sympathies of the crowd were with the gallant little Italian, who failed wben he was within an ace of grasping victory. So far, therefore, as inspiration is concerned, those who attempt the marathon have much to inspire them.

The oldest marathon contest in existence is that conducted annually by the Boston Athletic Association. It has been held for 38 years, and some of the world's most noted foot-sloggers have made their appearance in it. Probably the greatest figure associated with the Boston race is Clarence De Mar, who won the event seven times, and as late as last year, when 45 years of age, ran sixteenth.

Many remarkable performances have been made over the marathon distance, and while it is impossible generally, to compare their relative value, since the atmospheric conditions and the type of surface vary materially, easily the most notable feat made was that accomplished by Paavo Nurmi, who, ran the 26 miles 385 yards in 2h 22min 4sec at Helsingfors in 1932.

PROFESSIONAL TENNIS

AMATEURISM A SNARE?

Professional tennis has its supporters and its detractors. The latter are strong in the belief that it is fighting a losing battle, that it will die a natural death through sheer inanition in the matter of securing new blood, but there is no very sound reason for this conviction. It is still a flourishing institution in the United States of America, and attracts crowds which exceed those that attend even the most important amateur tournaments. The future of professional tennis is still untarnished so far as its popularity and financial returns are concerned.

The standard of play with men of the calibre of Ellsworth Vines, Tilden, Lott, Stoefen, Cochet, and Kozeluth participating, must be very high, probably better, in fact, than that which the world's best amateurs can produce, and so long as it remains so, the crowds will flock where they consider they get the best return.

It is claimed that professional tennis requires the regular infusion of new blood to keep it in popular favour; that sooner or later the suppiy from the amateur ranks will be cut, off, and this "phase of the sport will die.

If this were true it would, but tbe financial plums are ao attractive that there should be relatively little difficulty in maintaining a steady flow of first-grade players. Professional tennis may1 perhaps never have a wide field, but it provides a very comfortable and pleasant living for those in it.

The days of plenty may not be many, but the professional player, if he is wise, will at least have some financial security against the time when he ceases to be an attraction. Can this be said of the amateur? Amateur tennis, as it is played today, permits those in the first.flight little time to consolidate any fixed means of livelihood.

The game is practically a full-time vocation, and while the experience offlitting from one country to another in search of eternal summer may create the illusion of a perfectly Utopian existence, most amateur players at the end of their careers have little to show in the way of worldly goods. It is a great game while it lasts and the spectre of earning a living does not obtrude. But when it is all over, what then? ■■-.■■.■