ATHLETIC NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19202, 19 June 1924, Page 4

ATHLETIC NOTES

By Amateur.

June 28.---Port Chnlmcrs-Dunedin Road Race. Op Saturday last the Dunedin Harriers held (he twelfth Edmond Tup Steeplechase. A fair attendance of enthusiasts saw a thrilling contest. E. Brown, of the Civil Service team, won the race in convincing stylo. His nice, easy ■ action, together with his perfect physical condition, enabled him to outclass the other competitors. Considering the conditions the time must bo recorded as good. As was anticipated, the Teams’ Race resulted in a comfortable win for the Anglicans. Caversham just beat University for second place by one point. Pacific were 12 points further back. The other clubs were well back in points. Brown is the now star in local athletic circles. Following a successful series of handicap events, he capped his good performances, with a great second to Dufresne I Wellington) in the One-mile New Zealand Championship. He is young, and has all his best running ahead of him. Under proper supervision Brown should develop into a real topnotcher, who will make a great name for himself and Otago. Reviewing his performances to date I feel certain he is being well coached. Last year’s winner, Hobbs, of the Pacific Club, had hard luck in not repeating his performance. He had them all beaten except Brown, who was carrying too many guns for him. However, Hobbs’s performance is meritorious, and his chib is proud of him. Tapp (Caversham) would have had a large say in the matter if the race had been a few miles longer. Tapp was just beginning to settle down when the race was nearly over. Wait till the Otago Cross-Country Championship. The University crack, Cox, is, like Brown, full of promise. He ran a good race, making up a lot of ground the last lime round. With all his running before him the authorities should keep their eye on tin's boy. White ran into the same place as he did last year—quite a good runner this boy. Forbes did well, although he is more at home over a shorter distance. C. Frye gives all the youngsters a good go for it, but he is not the runner ho was. Bibby was disappointing, and was obviously not up to his best form. A runner who impressed me was Douglas, who finished twelfth.- He has a good style and runs with fine judgment. CARR’S SPRAINED ANKLE. Cabled nows has come to hand lhat Carr was to compete against A. Mourlon, the French sprint champion, and others in a race over 100 metres. • T’hn East Rvduev crack had only landed in the French capital some 10 days to a fortnight before, after a long sea voyage, and to attempt a serious race appeared a distinct error ot judgment. Anyway, we hear that in the heats Mourlon (llsec and Carr 11 l-ssecl were both successful, but a badly sprained ankle prevented Carr stripping for the final—won by the French champion in 10 4-ssec. Admittedly, at this distance, it is hard to fathom Carr’s plans and intentions, but anyway, a bad sprain at this juncture makes the outlook for him at the Olympiad far from promising. RITOLA’S GREAT RECORD. Cabled that. William Ritola, in Olympia trials meeting at Helsingfors, established a world’s record for 10,000 metres (6 miles 376.23 yards), covering the distance in 30min 35sec. The- previous best was 30rrn.ii 40 2-ssec, established by Paavo Nudhie, on June 23, 1921, at Stockholm. Ritola, who for some years was a member of the Finni--"-Americari Chib, will, like Nudic and Kolehmainen, compete for Finland, which looks to have a mortgage on the distance events. RECORD-BREAKING AMERICAN MARATHON RUNNER. CLARENCE DE MAR WINS AT BOSTON FOR FOURTH TIME. Clarence H. de Mar won the B.A.A. Amercan Marathon Race for the fourth time at Boston, U.S.A., on April 19. His time, 2hr 29min 40 l-ssec, breaks the American marathon record of 2hr 41min 39 2-ssec, made by Frank T. Zuna at Baltimore last month, and the Olympic record of 2hr 32min 35 4-ssec mad© by Hannes Kolehmainen at Antwerp in .192(1.: Charles L. Melior, Illinois A.C., Chicago, was second in 2hr 35min 4 2-sseo. Frank T. Zuna, winner in 1921, dropped out of the race a few miles fi;om the finish. Frank E... Wendling, -of/Buffalo, junior National A ,A,W, five-mile ichatnpion, finished third.-in 2hr 37min 40 2-ssec. Commenting on the performance, an American writer says: “Six months ago America’s marathon ; Hopes at the Olympiad looked dismal. Now they are brighter than they have been in years. The cry was, ‘Get somebody who can boat Kolehmainen, Lossmau, Valiro.’,, Hannes Kolehmainen at that time held the Olympic record, made at Antwerp in. 1920. Hi§ nine was 2hr 32min 35 4-ssec for the marathon distance of 26 miles 385 yards. The record seemed good to stand for years. “A month ago, at the Baltimore Marathon, Frank T. Zuna, of Newark, broke the American record of 2hr 41min 39 2-ssec. Things began looking up. Then came along a printer from near Boston, one Clarence H. de Mar, who smashed Kolehrnamen's and every other record for that distance anybody ever made in 24 centuries and hung up the extraordinary mark of 2hr 2Umin 40 l-ssec. “Not only that. The five men who finished next behind de Mar all broke the American record of Zuna’s, made the month before. Naturally, the A.A.U. found it wise to select at least four of these men for the Olympic team. “Zuna ran 14 miles fighting stomach cramps, and then dropped out. Yet he deserved and got a place in the team. “De Mar, the winner, is a kind of human freak. Thirty-six years old, and frail of build, he finished the race without apparent over-effort, smiling, and not even particularly tired. He runs all wrong, according to experts, a gangling gait ail his own; And he , breaks the marathon custom of never sprinting up hill. Ip fact, it is on steep upgrades that he seems to prefer passing his rivals. “When he won the Boston Marathon in "'ll he retired from racing for 11 years. When he tried again in 1922 and won ho was hailed as one of the great come-backs of the vear. Then in 1923 ho won again in the face of the expert criticism, which said ho must correct his style or drop behind. “De Mar owes much of his remarkable ability to the habit of running to and from his 'work ns a 45-dollar-a-woek printer in Melrose, Mass.” Says “flarefoot” in the Athletic News: “One wonders why we are constantly fed with details of what the American sprinter Paddock can do. The latest wires inform us that he has failed to boat the 100yds record, which surely is hardly.worth telling. Wo can give America the names of 500 English sprinters who cannot heat it. “And again we are informed that Paddock has run 125yds in I2sec—-which is also not north telling. Paddock was, and probably still is, a very capable sprinter, and be may do big things at Paris, but I hope our sprinters are not going to bo ‘rattled’ by information of this kind.” AUSTRALIAN INTER-’VARSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS. 100 Yards.—N. Burns (Sydney) 1, O. .Melville (Melbourne) 2, P. Maclie (Queensland) 3. Won by three yards. Time. 10 2-sscc. 220 Yards.—N. Burns (Sydney! 1, D. Donovan (Melbourne) 2, O. E. Nothling (Sydney) 3. Won by five yards. Time, 22 4-ssec. 440 Yards. —W. 11. Hutton (Sydney) 1, L. R. Ross (Melbourne) 2, W. Fcnton-Bowen (Melbourne) 3. Won by three yards. Time, 52 l-ssec. 880 Yards.—L, R. Ross (Melbourne) 1. W. 11. Coop (Sydney) 2, W. Harrison (Queensland) 3. Won by eight yai'ds. Time, Imin 59 3-sseo. 120 Yards Hurdles.—A. Fitzpatrick (Melbourne) 1. S. Burt (Sydney) 2. J. G. Manning (Melbourne) 3. Time, 16 3-ssec. Mile.—J. 11. Nankivell (Melbourne) 1, A. H. Callaghan (Sydney) 2, H. B. Seekam.p (Melbourne) 3. Won by five yards. Time, 4min 41 l-ssee. ' Running High Jump.—V. R. ITarbison (Sydney), sft Oin. 1; A. Fitzpatrick (Melbourne), sft Sin, 2. Running Broad Jump.—K. Lidgett (Melbourne), 21ft lOin, 1; H. O. Merewether (Sydney), 21ft sin, 2. Polo Vault.—V. R. ITarbison (Sydney) and J. C. Eecles (Melbourne) tied at 10ft 9in. Putting 161 b Shot.—J. S. Bloomfield (Melbourne), 38ft 6i(iii, TO. E. Nothling (Sydney), 33ft Sin, 2. Throwing 161 b Hammer.—T. B. Dodds (Melbourne), H4ft Tgin, 1; A. G. Mackay (Sydney), 102 ft 4in, 2.