ATHLETICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2860, 6 January 1909, Page 65

ATHLETICS.

N9TES HJ AMATEUR The evening athletic meetings of the Dunedin Amateur Athlete Association, postponed during the holidays, will be resumed on Friday, January 15. The Ashburton Marathon, in which -a deal of interest is being taken, is to be beld at the end of March. The course of 20 miles 13 from Ra-kaia to Ashburton. A trophy valued at 25 guineas goes to the ■w inner. It has been decided -to hold the New Zealand Amateur Marathon '3Raee at Auckland on Saturday, Jklareh K. .A sports meeting- under the auspices of the Auckland Amateur Athletic Association will 'be held in conjunction with the classic event. A Xew York cable dated January 4 advise that Longboat, tins Indian distance runner, wo:i a 25 j mile race at Buffalo, and tL.it Dorando, the Italian, and hero of the Olympic Marathon, collapsed, and reared in ths 19tb mile. The world-wids interest which was manifested in the Marathon race at the FrancoBritish Exhibition last July has ted to a number of races being held subsequently o\er the same diytanoe — 26 ntibs. The performance of JDorando, ihe Italian, who came in first, but was disqualified, and of Hayes, tha actual winner, were both eclipsed shoitly afterwards in a professional rac& <ncr tbo same course. A few days ago Hayes was challenged by Dorando, and a race was run at "New York for £100 a-sic'e, and was wem by th-e Italian. Dorando lias baen 'challenged in his turn by vlojn Longboat, an Onojidaga Indian, tested in the Marathon raoe at -Hie British Marathon; and who was the champion locg-tiistanoe runner of Canada On that occasion Longboat, whoac chancee were much fancied by Bis admirers, was in the first flight of runn-ars for the first 16 miles. Ihe oppresive heat then overcame him, and t.i relapsed into a walk, and then aropysd out of tho race. . Tiio race between Longboat and Dorando was hold in New York on December 16 the coui*3 bsmg the same as before. An exc-iting siruggb wae wirnessed. Longboat won tne race, his time being 2hr 45inhj end JJorendo collapsed at the finish Taat 9,2-5-30 for the "100," of Walker the young; .South African eprinter, has broug.it him very prominently before the athletic world. Now we learn by cable' from Pretoria of his latest feat, "that of running 100 metres in 10 2-ssec. Apropos of the 92-ssec, that performance is thus described by Walker himself:— "ln the heats of the 100 wi* handicap (7\ds limit) I won easily in 9 4-ssee. In the final | I got inr 0 my running right uwav. At | 50yds I knew I would win. However, I put au extra spurt on to within 10yds' of the tape, where I slightly slackened mv j speed. When the time (9 2-sse<;) nas giv«n out it fairly knocked the wind out of me. There was certainly a drop of 9iu in the track (lin in 400). But this surely would not make that tlifferonct' in the time. The man who ran second to me was P. E. Jone=, who received 6£.v us 6tarc. This runner was reported to have done the 100 yds at Newport in 10 l-s»ee. Now, givi-ng the o^yds, and beating him by 3|yds, made the time right. I had heard that A. F. Duffey. the American sprinter, had also done 9 2-ssee on the same track. When J mentioned this to Mr Z. Wheatley {official timekeeper, N.C.U.), he said: 'Well. Duffey certainly did do 9 2-s&ec, but then he beat the pistol by nearly 6yds.' The Abergavenny Amateur Athletic Association applied to the Amateur Athletic Association for the passing of this time. The A.A.A. would not pass same, owing to the 9in drop. However, i received a record medal and certificate signed by the official of the Abc-rgavenay Athletic Association, with a letter stating that they would recognise it as a world's record." A cablegram from Johannesburg, da'ed December 27. states that R E. Walker, the South African sprinter, who won the 100 metic-, race at the Olympic Games, at .T-r>hanr>f»sbur<r ran 100 yds in 9 2-5-« ec, and 120 yds in 11 2-ssee. After the Olympic meeting Walker compete! at a number of meet- '; ings in England and Wales, and put up | some fa c '. times o-^er 100 yds. For instance, j at Abergavenny. Wales, on August 4, he won a 100 yds handicap from scratch in 9 2-5-,ec. but there wa3 a slight fall in the hack. Walker's times, if accepted, will , become v.orld'*> records. The 100 yd* record ] stands to the credit of D. J. Kelly, who did 9 5-ssec, at Washington, U.S.A.. in 1906. A. F. Duffey was also credited with similar ( figures, but the American Athletic Union remsv-ed th?m from th-e books when Duffey was disqualified, coma two years ago. The record for 120 yds is 11 4--ssec, by B. J. > Wefeis. in America, and by L. A. Phillip?, j C. A. Bradley and A. P». Downer in Eng- '