NEARING 3,000 MARK

Evening Star, Issue 24003, 30 September 1941, Page 8

NEARING 3,000 MARK

MARATHON RUNNER'S MILEAGE FOR YEAR ATHLETIC NEWS AND NOTES [By Pistol.] George Austin, Now Zealand marathon champion, showed by his running in the mile handicap at. the patriotic gala at Carishrook on Saturday that his longdistance work has net affected him for the shorter races. As a mailer of fact, running from the 100-yard mark, Austin went one of his best races, and over the last couple of laps went through the field in good style to eventually finish a good third. Of course, mile running serves only as a pipe-opener for Austin, for at the present time he is concentrating on being at concert pitch by October 18, when he will take part in a special 15-mile race ,at the Caledonian Ground in an endeavour to establish a New Zealand record for the distance. This race will be a special feature of the programme that is being arranged in connection with the Y.W.C.A. girls’ interhouse sports meeting. Austin made a special attempt to set a New Zealand record for 15'miles early this year, and though his time of 85inin 43sec was well under the standard of 87min set by the Dominion Council it was rejected as a record because the eonncil held that a race against time did not constitute competition as laid down bv the rules.

The Caversham runner was averaging in training a matter of a mere 60 to 80 miles until the advent of the cross-country and road races, and then reduced his schedule to 50 or 60 miles a week. Yet. already this year he has covered 2,300 miles, which is more than he did during the whole of fast year. With three months still to gc, Austin should have little difficulty in reaching his objective of 3,000 miles for the year. Following the 15-mile race Austin’s next major competitive effort will he the Otago marathon championship on December 6. Promising Miter, Winner of the mile handicap at Carisbrook last Saturday was Ron Keller, a vorv promising young St. Kiida runner. Keller is a tall, rangy type of runner, and from the 160yds mark he went a very nice race, finishing strongly to be timed in 4min 37sec, a good run at this stage of the season, Keller showed a lot of promise when he was attending King’s High School, both on the track and in the cross-coun-try race. He leaves this week for Levin to undergo training as a nilot in the Air Force, and he will take with him .the good wishes' of Otago athletic followers. Gala Day for Lady Athletes. Something out of the ordinary is planned by the Otago Ladies’ Amateur Athletic Club on November 22, when an all-ladies’ gala day is to be held. It aims at introducing to athletics many girls who have not previously taken part in organised competition, and promises to be a great success. As distinct from tlie purely athletic section, a maypole dancing competition will be organised by Mr Joe Brown, and he has presented a cup for competition. A cup, given by Mr A. B. Johnston, will be awarded for competition in marchpast and team events, as well as for a special 100yds interhouse championship in which no registered lady athletes will take part. Girls who already belong to clubs will be catered for in the interclub, for which a cup has been presented by Mr J. E. W. M’Lachlan. There will be a programme of piping and dancing events for girls, and an attractive programme is being prepared by the secretary of the Piping and Dancing Association, Mr J. L. W. Gerken. A ladies’ archery championship is being arranged by the Dunedin Archery Club, Mr F. Wheeler being responsible for the organisation of this event. * The ladies’ athletic clubs are now showing definite signs of activity, and the Otago, Dunedin, Ex-girls, and D.I.C. Clubs will all be functioning in the next few weeks. The proposal made at the last meeting of the Otago Centre that a Ladies’ Advisory Committee should be appointed, should do a lot to further stimulate interest in the sport. Champion Shows Form. Otago’s experience of track men indulging in cross-country racing during the winter has in most cases been that there has been no harmful effect. Rather the reverse, in fact. Men like W. A. C. Pullar, L. C. M'Lachlan, A. R. Geddes, and L. Dickison come to mind, to mention just a few notable instances. And one would say after seeing Bill Burrows, Otago mile champion, in action at Carishrook last Saturday that his efforts during the winter have not harmed him for track running. Burrows had an exceedingly busy winter season, and filled second place in the Edmond Cup steeplechase, Otago cross-country championship, and made a particularly good effort in his first essay in the Port Road Race to fill fourth place and take second fastest time. Running from the scratch mark, Burrows went through a big field of 30 runners in the mile last Saturday, and came very fast in the last lap to finish a good fourth. Burrows was running round about 4.40 for the mile, not bad going at this juncture.

Schoolboy Relay Teams. King’s High School fielded a very solid combination in its No. 1 which won the 880yds secondary schools relay race last Saturday. R. M’Kenzie, who ran the first “ leg,” is a very likely-looking quar-ter-miler indeed, and if he can improve at all on his performance on Saturday fast time may be expected in this event at the King’s High School sports. M'Kenzie, who came here from Foxton, has run with the Civil Service Harriers, and may develop into a .first-rate man over this distance. F. Davies, who shaped well in the junior championship at the King’s sports last year, and D. Miller fa promising Southland B.H.S. athlete who gave a good account of himself on the wing in the King’s Rugby fifteen last winter), ran the two 110yds “ legs,” and the team was nicely rounded off by A. L. Carson, who, besides being a highly-promising sprinter, is captain of the school Rugby fifteen. Otago Boys’ High School F.C. accounted for the 440yds field sports relay, the winning combination comprising J. V. Ingram, A. R. Rankin, A. G. M. Passmore, and 0. A. Johnstone, good sprinters all. Novel Athletic Challenge.

A suggestion made by the Otago Ladies’ Amateur Athletic Club to the Kiwi Ladies’ A.A.C. in Auckland concerning an interchange of visits between the two clubs was referred to at. the annual 'meeting of the Auckland club. In a letter to Mr L. E. M’Millan, who has done hard work to stimulate interest in ladies’ athletics here, Mr V. Hugo, who has been president of the Kiwi Ladies’ A.A.C. since its inception, said that while the Auckland girls were fully appreciative of the possibilities, _it pi-esented some difficulties, chief of which were finance and poor prospects of getting away from their employment at this time of the year.

Mr Hugo says it is intended, however, to issue a challenge for a telegraphic competition in the form of a teams contest between the two clubs. Teams of three will take part in each event, the personnel of teams to be previously announced, the programme to consist of all the events of the women’s championship programme, events to be run in the same order and at the same time in each city. It is suggested that the contests be conducted by centre or other approved officials, results to be telegraphed at the finish of each event for progress results to be known, points, etc., to be mutually agreed upon and winners to be the club that gained the highest aggregate of points over the whole contest. While prevailing conditions would undoubtedly have something to do with results, there is no doubt that if a workable plan for such a meeting can be arranged it would arouse a lot of interest. On the Mark. Several men’s open handicap events are included on the programme of the Y.W.C.A. interhouse meeting on October

18. They will comprise 100yds, shot putt, long jump, and 880yds interclub relay. The Caversham Club will engage in a dual meet with ihe Civil Service Club at the University Oval next Saturday, the Sidey Cup being at issue between the two clubs. It is at present held by Caversham. There are 12 events to be decided, each being contested by two men from each club, no competitor being allowed to take part in more than one event. A quarter-mile relay race for colts has also been included on the programme. Sid Bartlett, who represented Caversham on the Otago Centre before he enlisted, is now serving with the N.Z.E.F. in the Middle East, and in a recent letter to George Austin, secretary of the Caversham Club, staled that he had entered in the shot, putt at the divisional meeting some time ago. Unfortunately, tie was indisposed at the time, and was unable to compete.

Winner of (he 75yds ladies’ handicap last Saturday at Carishrook was W. Middleton, a Training College hockey player, who shaped very well from the Tjyds mark. She showed a iot of dash, and would probably have won off a shorter mark. It is anticipated that Miss Middleton will be running for the Ex-Girls’ Club in the corning track season. V. Ingram, who filled second place from the 6[ycls mark, is a prominent member of the Albany Basketball Club, and she is another girl who would be well advised to engage in competition, similar remarks applying to A. Ashton, who took third place. The latter is a sister of D. Ashton, who shaped very promisingly in middle distance events at Otago Boys’ High School. The 440yds relay was won by a Swimmers’ Football quartet, which comprised a trio of Otago’s best lady athletes m E. Nauman (D.1.C.), K. Burns (Otago), N. Hanlin (Dunedin), and the promising newcomer, A. Ashton. Miss Nauman showed particularly pleasing form for so early in the season, and should he able to reproduce her brilliant form of a couple of seasons ago. A. E. Churchill has frequently displayed his speed on ihe Rilgby field for Southern and Otago, and he indicated on Saturday, when running for the Southern Football Club in Ihe 440yds field sports relay, that he has lost none of the paec he showed when competing on the track a few seasons ago. Churchill ran very well in the 100yds at the Otago championships some years ago, hut has not done a great deal in athletics since. A pity, for he was the makings of a first-rate sprinter. Mr Tom Dove, who was secretary of the Kaitangata Amateur Athletic Club when it staged such a successful fixture at the end of last season, Ims been appointed to a position in Dunedin, and should be an acquisition to the.sport here. He was at one time <i prominent cross-country, runner with the Caversham Club, and represented Otago.