ATHLETICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2848, 14 October 1908, Page 57

ATHLETICS.

56T2S BY AMATEUR. ! Last week I had something to say concerning the establishing of , a- Marathonroad race in Dunedin. Since then one or two athletes have approached me on the subject, which serves to show that there are several enthusiasts willing to take - the matter up. The arrangments are, however, for the Otago Centre to carry • out, and I feel certain from what I know \ \of that body that no difficulties - would * ! prove insurmountable if they undertook the ( ' engineering of a "Marathon" race in Don- j • ©din. Such an event, eliciting the in- ! terests of .the municpal authorities and the public at large, would prove an immense attraction in Dunedin, and would) furnish an excellent wind up to the harrier season. Apropos of this I notice that a number of gentlemen in Australia Are interesting themselves to establish a. "Marathon," and have so far proceeded as to proposing the date February 13. If . the -A-ustr^dLiaai climate is to be «xsl-iej on tire heat at this time of the year would be too severe. There were several fine performances regi»iered at the civil service sports meeting held on Carisbrook Ground on Saturday , last. Ross ran particularly well in the final of the 220 Yards Handicap, which he won in 24 2-ssec. Th 4 Half saw Prideaux first! home off the 50yds mark in the slow time of 2m in llsec. It was left to the Broad! Jump to furnish the best performance of ! the day. Prideaux, with a handicap of 3Fc ; 3in, won, clearing 22ft lin. G. P. Keddell j (scratch) was second with an actual jump j of 21ft 9in, while Mitchell, with lift handi- , cap, succeeded in clearing 18ft llin. i Prideaux, the winner, was contesting. th« broad jump for the first time, and showed ! good form in jumping an actual distance of j 18ft lOin. He received one or two hint 4 I from Keddell- before tbe contest which'/ he j took advantage- of. He showed goc^ form, ; arid with practice will do considerably ! better. G. P. Keddell, the New Zea- | land broad jump recond holder, made a | first appearance since his accident two years , ago, <gnd negotiated tbe respectable distance 'of 21ft 9in: Keddell's leg is now' quite^. sound again, and he is sanguine that he . will jump as well as ever this season. j Mitchell, who tied with M'Kay, of Wellingj ton, last year for. the Broad* Jump Charnj pionship bf New Zealand, could not find the board, otherwise he must bays done j nearly 20ft. Otago should hold a strong i hand in the Broad, Jump Championship i this year. ' i The ibsurdity of the suggestion of A. B. . Postle, the Australian professional, in issu- i ing a challenge to R. E. Walker, the Olympian Games hero and sprinter, is apparent on the surface. Poslle i 3 a • great sprinter, no one will deny, but h© must know that it is impossible ior ama- { teur and professional to come together in < j a raoe. I take it that Walker is not • anxious erea for the sake of the alleged I £1000 to forego at the present time hie j | amateur status. • The St. Andrew Haxriers held their la<t j outing of the esason last Wednesday in ' j tho form of a drive to Brighton. Tho ; drag- left Manse sliv?et early mi the afterj rioo'* witfi a full load of paes^rsg-eiv. Ai'rivMr.g at Brig > htcsi about 414 1 p.m., a most enj joyabk- ume vi&s s^.ent. th« club being I most "hospitably cat-erod for by Mr 3 j Christie. Ec-for© sunset photographs were \ taken by one of the members. The drive : i back, though the weather had chilled somej what, wa^ thorougWy enjoyed, town being j reached at 9.15 p.m. * i Mr H. St. A. Murray, who represented j New Zsaiand :n fho Olympic Games, has { just returned to Lstyion after a -visit to < relations in Scotland, -wihither he went coon after the great v athleitic carnival at the Stadium. On. His way back to London Mr Murray pat in an appearance at tome eports held in Manchester, but though he ran exceedingly -well the starts- Jie.Jubd to concede were too great. He ran his quarter from the 11yds mark in 49sec, hut could only get third in his heat, while in the half-mile he was beaten by a bare yaTd off the 20yds mark in lmin 52 1-ikec. Mr Murray has notf-gone oxit of training entirely. He feels that h© must have a good spell of rest. He has been in more j or leas active training eince October last, and now desires to take matters easily, so j that 1^ ™ a Y bo in a conditici to stand \ sai-ious training for the New Zealand cliam- j pionship. His experiences ove-r here have | done Mr Murray a lot of good. He hat. j he eay.-s, improved greatly in pace, and is j fully four or five }-ards better in tbe 120 ( ! yards hiwdle^ than when he left New Zealand. During hit, training for the Olympic J Games h-a ha<l a good <!<>al of troubl-e with the nruscles of his upper thighs, and thi-* prevented him turning out for the 400 and j 800 metres. In the 400 metres hurdle race he was, of course, unfortunate in being drawn with the American crack, Bacon, who teat .him in their heat by four yards in 57sec ; but h" fo^'is that had tho hurdles h-^cn 3ft 6in high, instead of 3ft, he would ha'.-e had v much better chenoe in this particular e\ent. He doss not, however, -upV i.c could have beaten either Bacon or Hiilman, who are specialists im this rlase of race but he t limits he could hays beaten any of the other competitors, had it been hie good fortune to enter the final. J. M. Lynch, who was ono of tJie Australian competitors at the Olympic Game%, competed in a half-mile handicap at a, meeting at the Stadium on August 15. Starting from 67yds, he won his, beat in 2m in 0 l-ssec. In the final he was 'n front 50yds from home, but faltered, and was beaten into third place, bsing a yard and a-half behind th« winner, in imdn 58 l-ssec.

. C. E. Suffren, who won the Victorian Cross-country Championship, has been in thi£ Bailarat team since 1897, so he is quite a. veteran. He is 32 years of age, and] it is 11 yeart since he made his first attempt ;o win. J. A. Stillwell, wiraner of the raoa in 1901, 1902, and 1903, was fourth this year— a really good performance foj: one by no means fit. T. F. Kiely (Ireland) and Martin Sheridar, (Irish-American A.A.) met -,t Dublin on August 16 In an all-weight contest. Kiely won. with .£he 16ib hammer in the Irish style at 154 ft 3in, and the 561b unlimited run, at 34ft sin. Sheridan wo» the 161b shot at 48ft s£in and the 281b weight putt at 33ft. In the 71b both fouled in their three tries. A runner named M'Hughey, of the. Toronto Young- Men's Christian Association, has arrived Th New York tro"M that city with a message from its Mayor to the Mayor of JN ew Tort. Running and walking' teays th« Times' oonsesDondfnt) h*» "overed the distance . of 700 miles/ in addition to 72 miles extra, mainly through mistaking; the road, in 11 days and 22 hours, an average .if 65 miles a day of 13 hours. H« started on. tho morning or July 23, ana rested 6a Sundays. M'Hughey. who, im Scotch by birth, has considerable repute as a Canadian long-distance runner, and l was prevented by accident from' attending the Olympic Games. . , Immediately the Olympic Games wer* ! over ■ the visiting athletes fronr America, I South - Africa, ■ A-ascralia, »nd New ' Zealand spread ..tfcenaselve cut for f iihe various meetings "n England, Scotland, , Ireland.' *nd :n Fntnee, And. secured maD y trophies between them, altbougir but -few will come our way N. J Cartniell (Pennsylvania) was at Stoke-cn-Trent on August 4, and won the 100 Yards and 200 Yards scratch races in 10 l-ssec and 22 4-ssec respectively On tho same day R. E. Walker was credited with 100 yds in 9 4!-ssee *fc- Abergavenny. The London Sporting Life evidently is satisfied, for it says: "R. E. Walker has succeeded in- performing a feat which we nessed his victory in the 100 Metres race a£ the "Olympic Games."