HOW SHERRING WON THE MARATHON RACE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2728, 27 June 1906, Page 65

HOW SHERRING WON THE MARATHON RACE.

The London Daily Mail's special corr» spondent at Athens, cabling on May 2, had the following to cay: — Sherring was fresh • as a daisy when h« reached the post, after winning the Marathon Race. Prince George ran tho length of the stradium with him. and the Crown Prince's eon presen'sd h»m with a bouquet of roses. The S>*. edish president kissed the second man in front of the Kicg. Th« crowd, and even tho judges, mistook th« maple leaf for the 6 lamrock, and thought Daley had won, and his number was at first hoisted. Daley and Blake led for 12 miles, when Blake fell out exhausted. Daley's shoes became filled with dust, raising nasty blisters, and he desisted 10 miles from home. I went for a stroll with Sherring this morning, and we had some extraordinary experiences. At almost every step the Greeks, who have recovered from their temporary disappointment at not winning the race themselves, surrounded us and insisted upon kissing Sherring. I was myself twice kissed by^ mistake. Sherring has been inundated with congratulations f in tho King, princes, and peasants. ' 'n street tellers thrust their wares prai .- ously upon him, and it is impossible to elude the thousands of autograph hunters. Photographs of Sherring are having an enormous sale in the streets. At- noon we momentarily escaped and hid in- an obscure cafe, but naif-way through our beer we were discovered again, and had to beat a retreat to Cook's office. Sberring is an exceedingly modest man. He is only just beginning to realise the magnitude of his victory. Cables of congratulations are pouring in from Canada telling bini thai flstqs are flying in his honour everywhere. He is an Irishman by birth, and intensely Imperial. His proudest thought is that lie has carried the Union Jack to victory. He ie 28 years old, and weighs 1121b— 121b leas than when he arrived at Athena three months «<?o, ' , eince when he has assiduously trained on, the Marathon road daily. He has also had sun-baths on Fhalerum Sands for the pur« pose of acclimatisation. Shexring's room is one ma6s of floral tributes from the highest to the lowest. Besides. tbA official nrizes, Shecrioa i* th*.

recipient of innumerable valuable gifts from all over Greece, numbering altogether nearly 500, including the traditional be-ribboned young kid presented by Prince George. The Marathon contest is his twentieth race over 20 mil©*.

la describing the race he said that he stayed at Marathon overnight at the 6ame cottage as the other Britishers — Blake, the Australian; Cormae, the Scotsman, and Daley, the Irishman. "Blake made the pace terrifically fast for the first 10 miles, and actually covered the first six in 30 minutes. He was then seized with the cramp, and Cormac had stomach troubles. 'Then,' said Sherring, *I thought I would start running in> earnest, and went to the front, never afterwards being headed or troubled. Soon all the runners were out of sight. Five miles from Athens, seeing no ono behind me down the straight stretch of road, a mile long, I -decided to rest for a. few minutes. There was no use pun-ithing myself unnecessarily. On resuming, es fresh as paint, I trotted for the remainder of the journey. "The reception I received en route will never fade from my memory. There was a living wall on both sides of the road for every yard of the 26 miles. The Greek spectators, seeing their champions' hopeless plight, cheered me every step of the way. They seemed glad,' a Greek victory being impossible, to see an Anglo-Saxon win. " I didn't forget to wave the old flag in response to every cheer. Nothing passed my ]ios throughout the run except occasional sips of water and a couple of oranges."