ATHLETICS.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 10450, 3 December 1927, Page 3

ATHLETICS.

NOVEMBER 24 EVENING MEET,

. (By '.‘Stride.”) That amateur athletics are inere: ing in popular favor was evinced the large crowd who viewed a ler thv programme of events at- t evening meeting held on No vend; '2-1. A strong wind greatly assist the sprinters whilst those compo iois wlm raced on the circular Ira had to contend with hampering eo ditions for half the course.-' Good fields faced the .starter in ; events, the sprinters if anything h ing numerically the strongest. Remnant’s Easy win. Sensational times were ‘-docket in the heats and final of the B yards handicap. This was partial dm* to a strong following wind, at the long starts allotted, which mat the hack-markers’ task hopeless. Tl Australasian record for this distant is 11 4-oscc and the world’s reeoi 11 2-osec, and with the winner shot mg 11 d-.oset: the crack Poverty Bn sprinter, if he had competed, wool have had to make a. run which wool have startled the world. Charlie .Remnant, the elongate sprinter, was voted Tt ‘‘sure thing before the race and lit*, duly ran of an easy winner. Starting from tli 10-yard mark, lie had complet charge of the field both in heat an final and if need lie could have gou faster. Remnant, by assidiiou training, is in Pood form and thi win coming directly after his sec-on in the 100 yards-'handicap a. wee previous will give him much eonli donee. One of the keenest members of Lli club. Bill McDonald, filled the rol of runner-up. and shiiwed eons.isten form, lie is evidently right- out t retain his grip on the Barry Chip and ! fur one would he pleased f< see- him do so. Third place went to Frank Martin a junior memher, who shows, muci speed; After winning his heat ii good style, this youth ran nicely ii the final, especially as lie was re qnircii to'stand Remnant and .Mr Donald a start. ' A Doubtful Decision, A 1 iii-li doubt was expressed will the placings in Ihe final of the 7yards l ladies’ handicap. The genera opinion was that- Miss McKenzie luu just -‘gut there, ’ hut the judges ruled otherwise and their decision mini he reaperied.. Nearing the finish Miss McKenzie threw her arms op and as ii is usua with the novice for a reduced rate oi speed to It lion mis morcincnl, it i> ipiite possible- that an advantage- ol a yard frenii the tape- was Kisl when .Miss Williamson lunged at the worsted. Being in a laid position If judge the- race'. I am not preparoel Lo express an opinion as tee who iron. The winner, Miss, Williamson, showed improved form on her previous displays, ft this runner would make up her mind to go for the tape- in- a r.ieire eh-terniined fashion and forget everything else she would do .much heller. in her initial attempt at racing. Miss McKcnnie made an auspicious track debut. "Possessing a good sprint actioiv. she will., when the vagaries of starting are mastered, he a speedy runner. Miss Haismau is consistent and t.> gain third place showed good form. A greater length of stride would he of much assistance to her. McMahon's Coed Dicr-lay. So far this season the cycle events have proved a family alfair. Not to he outdone by his brother, who won two races in succession,- Mcrvin -McMahon came to light with a nice sprint to collect the half-mile handicap.- From the short mark of 3e yards, lie covered the distance in good time, comfortably beating :a promising hoy in G. .Bardweil, with tin; winner’s co-marker Frank Pol lata! third. The two back-markers, ‘‘Digger’' Douglas and Frnie Algie, showed better form, than a week previous. 1320 Yards Relay Event. The relay event con id hardly bo called a suet-csss blit this was not due to the officials who selected the teams to run in a certain order. .Much chopping and changing took place, the result being that over the lirst distance (880 yards) the live competitors were strung out all over the track, much to the disadvantage of those, who were required to run the second distance of 020. yards. It was evident also that the runners had no idea of relay racing, especially when it came to exchanging the baton. This is where lectures or an efficient coach would do a great deal of good. ’ A feature of the race was the manner in which Hutchison “stuck’’ to Francis practically up to the finish of the half-mile section. If relay racing is to be made a success members will have to run in the’ positions allotted, otherwise tin* event will develop into a farce. I would suggest that a 440 yards mixed relay be- attempted with the teams announced at least a week in advance, so that the .very necessary baton-exchanging can be practised.-*' Warmth. Very little attention is given by the average athlete to the subject of warmth on the alMetic field. It is the usual thing for the competitor to leave the dressing shed some- time before the race commences and proceed to discuss tho chances of his opponents. He would greatly benefit if this wasted time was employed “warming up,” which- consists of jogging about on the toes, having a stride over about GO yards, and finishing up with a W yards dash out ofthe holes. Again, it is tlio usual proved nr** to wear, a sweater, but bow many runners, or cyclists realise that the, logs are the propelling ,power and should receive the greatest care? Here it may ho observed that the Americans attach great ■ importance to warmth. Even on a hot day it is not uncommon to see the runner«-V ajid particularly --the sprinters—wearing Jong pants over flic regulation shorts prior to a race. Most old athletes know that 1 liebest performances are accomplished on hot days, when the muscles are pliant and elastic. The Americans strive to create these conditions on cold days bv suitable .clothing'’and massage, and it is in the attentions Lo these details flint one recognises what y science they have made or racing and training. Sonic , used to laugh at these methods’, '.tho long bath robe in particular being a Invorito subject Tor a joke, but it would bo wiser to study tho ideas.

| Doth Anioricaif. tonms w)io have ' J visited Gisborne ably demonstrated' these methods, the Kirfcsey, J\rogness and Merchant trio by the use oi . bath lobes, and the SCjiol/, ami Hahn combination-bv wearing sweat .suits. Rhythm. i S _ -Rhythm, or timing, is the basis 01. I )y all athletics. Yet the word is rarely used in connection' with snort of any l7e killcler Every athlete should strive lor 1( ] rhythm,-and eliminate as far as posj' sible tenseness in Ins movements. Take a runner. No man who atn- tempts to do so by tensing his muscles, can propel himself over the ]] ground and last. True, the muscles 0 _ tense for a split second at a time. Mint the'smooth swing of-arms and I easy leg action, plus good balance, are responsible for the records that ~ are broken. Rhythm therefore counts. ; | What chance would a runner have u if he put more effort into one stride i r than the next, or even if lie used j more swing with one arm than, the other? lie would lose rhythm and 7 would he thrown out of balance. , c Yet we see on the track athletes whose aim and leg action does not jl co-ordinate, thereby materially? afI Tooting their balance. Rhythm, or timing, if practised c j ' more, would be the means of laying a foundation which would assist the k athlete to greater speed, and would ’ reduce the exhaustion so apparent G in many a runner at the conclusion.’ of a Taco. 0 s Track Jottings. s Oijee again iam .compelled to foil c.iis attention on the manner in .. which heats are drawn up. Why was ' .Miss Hansen placed in the same heat as .Miss Wilson when it .was ob- , \ ious that .she should have been the , hack-marker in the oilier heal? I- This is a matter for the committee , to decide. ’ Three evening meetings—three dill'ereiit starters —surely proves thatHie club is not short in this depart- | meirt. 'Poverty Day sprint champion ! Owen Pall ridge handled the gun , quite ably for one who more often has lo get away last with the report. The rule that no pusher-off should overstep the marie reouires tighten- ! ing up. <lt was badly broker, at the , Xovemhej- 2-1 evening meeting. The only good finish so far this ' season was the dead-beat by three mmpetitors who competed in the guessing competition to assist in , raising funds for the ladies’ relay team. The injury suffered by Owen Paltridge at the beginning of the. season is now (in the mend and his re-ap-pearance at an earlv date is expected. . It is easy to understand, the prevalence of “breaking” after witnessing week-end training operations. Even in practice' '‘heating the gun”'' seems to he largely in vogue. In my notes of last week, when discussing the various methods of breasting the tape, it was made *n read that Sehol/. used the ‘•string” finish. This should have read ‘shrug’ or “flick’’ finish. The Kaiteratalii and To Kara-kn programmes of amateur events cater thoroughly for club mcmhersi. The latter are very liberal in their distribution of trophies. Keith Hooker, whom all club members were looking forward to seeing in action over the middle-distances,, will he required to play the role of spectator owing to a motor accident which necessitates his absence, from the track. Nothing definite has been heard as to when tile ladies’ relay 'team will visit Wellington to-dofend the F.-tev-enenux Cup. »So as not to be caught unawares six girls should be immediately selected for training, especially as last year’s touring team is not available. I have noticed Dr. p. .Muir oflici- j -ating as a judge at the last two evening meetings. ,Tu his day the doctor was .a crack runner and his services to the (Tub in an official capacity should assist the sport. Poverty .Bay’s crack long distance runner, P. H. Francis, is now m solid training anti a hig’ difference will no doubt lie noticed in his; running when next lie steps out to contest a mile event. Ho Would be more at home over three miles hutno long-distance events have been included in the programmes drawn up. A very interesting lecture on relay racing was recently given liy Air. D. G. Paris from 2YA Wellington. During the course of his lecture lie mentioned that the greatest relay run ho had ever Witnessed was Miss Nancye .Eastwood’s great, effort in the (Poverty .Bay v. Wellington contest at Wellington last November. One of the most exciting races at the New Zealand championships should he the classic 100 yards. A. - J. ’Elliot (Auckland), O'. Jenkins (Wellington) and M. Leadbettcr (Canterbury) have- all been clocked to do “evens” this season. Stan. Lav (TTawern), the Australasian champion javelin thrower, hurled the “spear” 2001 tat a recent meeting in Wanganui, lfc looks a-l-ipnst a certainty for the Olympic Games. Competing at the Wanganui-Tara-naki championships, Miss T. Kcneh won the 10.) yards championship in ].2sees. IN TOWN. It does not take long for a crowd to collect. A local doctor was walking along . the busy street, and met an old acquaintance. Soon there was a crowd round, and no one seemed to know what was the. matter. It appears that the doctor•.oH'crod his friend Ills tobacco pouch. 'The friend made a cigarette and lit ’"> • “What tobacco’s this?” be asked. “'Bears’ !•” - “Bears’ lie exclaimed. “Then J’m off lo Imy some,” and there and Then emptied his own tobacco on to the street! That’s how the first passer-by stopped in • sllr.prise, and the crowd grew. \ Roars’ is a delicious smoke —Pd per 07,, also in handy packets.;. |o7 Ocl, 2or, Ts Gd.—Advt.