The Great Race

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 5 (Supplement)

The Great Race

Chapter XII. —Blake Starting the second lap he was leading by fifty yards and was still forcing himself along. Faulkner had dropped the two second strings and in second placp was covering the ground at that long easy lope which is associated more often with the native runner. He moted like a well-oiled machine and ran with the utmost confidence. In fact he was rather tickled. He liked people to try tricks with him. It gave him the opportunity to run the perfect exhibition race. . He knew exactly what time he could cover the distance m, and he would i never do it much faster until he found | it impossible to get in front of his man j at the second challenge round the last j bend of the last lap. All round that j second lsp he kept the same easy j action* hands close to his sides, body : a httie forward, lees reaching well out for those extra inches, toes light upon j the track,' and now Kingsbury was « coming back to him yard by yard. They j started the third lap with Kingsbury j still ahead, but as he passed, Blair- ; Smith could see that he was straining. His mouth, was open a little and his head was back; his eyes were wrinkled in the effort 'to keep going and his chest, as Blair-Smith knew well, must j be strained to enclose his pounding j heart. But he kept going. It was a fine j effort and the'crowd began to feel less i critical. Indeed, when early in the j third lap he could hear the light run- i nine of Faulkner coming closer at his j heels, be made another brilliant effort j and began to draw away again, and at j this the crowd rose and cheered as he 1 passed the stands. _ It might be even now that this lellow | Kingsbury bad in him a great deal j more than anyone had realised before, j Both second "'strings were dropping behind now, with Blakeney ahead of j Wandsborough but unabie to bother j Faulkner as he had hoped, &nd along j the back straight Kingsbury could be seen straining every nerve to keep ahead. Faulkner was catching up again, and it meant that if Kingsbury spurted now he would make his last effort too. soon by one complete lap and probably would leave Faulkner to run the whole of that last lap alone before a ' wildlv admiring northern crowd who loved good running no matter on whose part. It was at this moment that the* draniaticallv unexpected happened. ■ Blakenev, the almost unknown, bad | watched* the course of events and he | saw, as the crowd saw, what would happen now. It suddenly struck him that the North of England would be disgraced, and that be was still in the race. Faulkner had probably forgotten about him, but be was not done yet. His object had been to finish the raw at anv cost rather than to kill himself early on Also, he realised the object of these tactics. They were a rehearsal for that bigger, more important race when Blair-Smith came into the side and tried to beat this New Zealand wonder, Th* - tactics of to-day might be repeated then and Kingsbury would foroe the pace again in the hopes of rattling Faulkner, because be would then know that he had behind him another man whom he would .not be able to shake off. It was up to him, the unknown, to show ' Blair-Smith what was likely to happen, and he would do his utmost now to help. He began to go after Faulkner. Kingsbury was nearly at the end of the third lap now, driving his tired legs on by sheer will-power, but with Faulkner at his shoulder with a quiet smile on his face. Faulkner did not hear Blakeney coming. But the crowd saw his effort and understood at last the tactics of the race. The dark horse was Blakeney, whom everyone, including Faulkner, had disregarded, and he was running the race of his life. He was sligbt-built and frail, but he had the wiry constitution of the natural runner. In years to come be would be remembered for his work to-day . . . if only he * could do it. He would be 1 known as the mystery man who had run Faulkner to the tape, and he would never be forgotten. He was an idealist. The gap between them closed, the crowd began to yell his name as he i passed. They were crying: " Well run i . . . well run. "Blakeney!" and Kingsbury was forgotten. Kingsbury, in fact, was overtaken before the first corner

By Hylton Cleaver

:nej\ the Dark Horse

fTo be Continued)

v as reached and he was staggering as be tried to rally, but Blakeney came up at a steady pace and drew level at his s loulder. He heard Kingsbury's breathless whisper as he drew ahead: " Oh, good man . . . well run, Blakeney . . . " and he became emotional. Ele began to run the kind of race a man dreams of when he lies awake in bed, and in reality can never run when he is on the track. He did not suppose in any case, that, if be got to the tape, h> would ever repeat the time be would hive to do to-day, as long as he lived. In fact he might strain his heart and j drop out of the game for good. No ! matter, opportunity comes but once, | and his was here. His chin was lifted land his hands were tightly clenched. ' He took the second bend, still gaining 'heroically on Faulkner and still Faulkj ncr did not seem to know it. Along the ! bi ck straight he was barely ten yards Ibi hind and the crowd were reaching I oi er the barriers, beating the air with j hi.ts and papers and trying to help him |tc unprecedented triumph. Faulkner hi d been having all the press publicity. Ha had been boomed. Blakeney was an unknown . . . and they loved sensation. A!; the end of the back straight FaulkI n« r sensed mystery and looked across |hi is shoulder. Blakeney chose that as j the psychological moment for the effort lof his life. He compelled his legs to carry him up, and they responded as ht would never have believed was possible. Faulkner had turned for that | in itant, and within two seconds BlakeI n« y was level with his shoulder. They j were on the last curve, and—as taken iby surprise—Faulkner suddenly stumj bl?d in the attempt to hold off a Ich allenge of a sort he had never |ex perienced before. That gave Blake- ! ney the chance to show in front by a (yard, and the frenzy of the crowd in- | en sased now until every man in that crowd seemed to be on his feet leaning out towards that slight figure and supporting him. Among them Blair- j Sr:iith stood with excitement in his evtjs, mouth open, both hands raised above his head. They were in the home straight, deud level, striding practically in step, and it was Faulkner's chance to show an English crowd what he could do. H< set his teeth, as if wounded pride we re more important to him than anything else, and he spurted. Blakeney co! ild do no more. He fought to keep going, but Faulkner had accelerated in a way that Blakeney thought inhuman and he went for the tape like a greyhound. He got there seven yards ahead and Blakeney, with his last desperate stride, pitched headlong on to the cinders, rolled over twice and lay there, out; to the world. Faulkner, breathing heavily, went back and was first to sto jp down and try to lift him up, but otb er helpers were on the spot at once anci, Faulkner walked off and sat down on the grass with his head between his hands. Somebody came and told bim the time —1.26 dead. He nodded and j continued squatting there alone. Every- j one had dashed to Blakeney. It was the i las':; race of the day and people even clanbered over partitions and surged tovard the boy, blackening the air with wa ring hats and shouting out his name. Bis ir-Smith was among them, but he stepped on the way to speak to Kingsbury, who had just reached the tape, exhausted too He said: "You were amazing. I don't know anybody else who could have set a pace like that . . . we've learnt something now. If you can do that again next week, we ought to have him tied up between us. . . . The only thing is I don t think I could ever run like Blakeney ran. . . . I bet ; no one has ever run like that before ; and I don't suppose he ever will again. ; It was absolutely marvellous . . . and it shows what can be done. Faulkner will worrv about this all the week and we' ll get'him out of his stride between us." * * *

New Zealand had won another match, bul the sensation of the day was still the mile, and as the crowd separated some time after Blakeney had been carried in, still unconscious, the question thev were all asking one another was: " What will the papers say about that, I should like to know.'