ATHLETICS

Southland Times, Issue 19099, 17 November 1923, Page 12 (Supplement)

ATHLETICS

(By

"O.M.")

The question of tightening up Sheffield Handicaps to prevent little known limit men from romping home to substantial first money under farcical conditions is one that might well have consideration in Official circles. The Sheffield distance has come to be regarded as the classic sprint event, in cash athletic programmes, and if big money is given, then the Society and public alike are entitled to expect a good race for it. Starts of 13, 14 and 15 yards should not, in the writer’s opinion, be allowed in a race of this sort —if a runner requires such a handicap to compete on even terms with the rest of the field then he should not be in the Sheffield class at all. This is written with a recollection of what occurred under such circumstances at Orepuki on Labour Day when a well-known footballer of proved sprinting ability made his debut in cash athletics and won the Sheffield in a ridiculous fashion from the limit mark. The Sheffield is the nearest thing to a championship in cash athletic meetings as conducted at present in Southland, and the race will speedily lose the importance it has in the eyes of most people if the class is allowed to deteriorate by giving unduly big handicaps. New Zealander Phil O’Shea, whose retirement from the cycle track is announced, put up a great performance in the Warr-nambool-Melbourne road race in getting fastest time, seeing that he did the last 2U miles on a flat tyre. Advice to this effect was received by letter in Christchurch after the b.’g race, the New Zea a..ucr slating that alter 50 miles was coxered his tyre went half flat and later collapsed altogether. In the annual London to Brighton walk of 50 miles in September, 74 competitors arrived inside 12 hours despite a heavy rain storm towards the end of the journey. There were 30 home inside 10 hours and four inside 9 hours. J. Poynton (Leicester Harriers) won easily in Bhr 35min 37sec. The winner of the New South Wales 100 Yards Championship, E. T. Goldsworthy (Queensland), is reported to be trained by Arthur Postle, the great Australian sprinter of pre-war days, who is taking an active part in the re-organisation of the cash game in Brisbane. There are some high grade jumpers in the United States just now—the States will sure have a rod in pickle for most other countries at the Olympic Games next year. At the American national amateur championships at Chicago on September 1, the young negro University scholar, Dr Hart Hubbard won the long jump with 24ft 7|in. The present world’s recordholder, E. O. Gourdin, was third. In the high jump Leroy Brown took first place with 6ft sfin, R. Landon who won at the last Olympic games being third with 6ft 3Ain. The weather was unfavourable for fasts times in the running events, in which the names of Paddock and Kirksey do not appear. Veteran Loren Murchison won the hundred and furlong in 10 1-5 and 22 3-5 respectively. That old and tried performer Joie Ray put up a line performance by winning the mile in 4min 18sec. Big money is being offered in Australia for cash meetings during Christmas week. At Ararat on Boxing Day £5OO will be got rid of; £3OO will be given away in prizes at, Castlemaine on the same date and £6OO at Maryborough on New Year’s Day. A fine performance at the primary schools’ sports on Wednesday was Rillstone’s half mile win in 2min 28secs. The Marist schoolboy ran a nicely judged race. Bro. Anastasius also has some other exceedingly smart boy athletes at the school in Clyde Street—for a boy of 12, Wybrow put up a splendid performance in clearing over 15 feet in the long jump, while he is very fast over sprint distances. He won the gold medal for most points.

Somebody has been digging up reminis- j cences of the wild and woolly days of pro. running in Australia and a Sydney Bulletin correspondent recalls a painful incident in which a Brisbane friend of his was implicated. He had been nursing a sprinter in the usual fashion of those days, boarding, lodging and washing the youth, with a little pocket-money on the side. He had his eye on a big handicap at the Exhibition, and was starting his man in a fairly decent sprint in which he was to run the customary’ bye. Judge of his annoyance when he learned that the ped. he had warmed in his bosom was about to spike him with his own shoes, so to speak, having been suborned by certain unscrupulous ruffians to win the minor event. In those days, sprinters at the Exhibition were locked up in little cubicles to change; from there they were escorted on to the track by officials. But the faithless ped., having lieen locked up, discovered that someone had abstracted his running shoes and left a pair several sizes too large. Appeals to the official escort, who had been ■‘worded” were vain, and access to his secret backers was impossible. The consequence was that he ran a lumbering hundred in twelve and a half. The hurt to the man's honour was healed to some extent by his arrangement with a couple of Tommies to lay' to their limit the eent with the shoe*. Having collected his cut, he dismissed the perfidious ped. with the advice to mend his ways and rid himself of the ingratitude that is sharper than a serpent’s tooth. ..uc two vuuks have joined the “regulars” at Rugby Park where quite a bunch of high grade runners are working into top racing gear. C. George won the two sprints at Rugby Park last evening in a surprisingly easy fashion. The Makarewa runner did not strike one as a particularly fast sprinter last season, but he has got pace all right, and it will be interesting to see him full out from a shorter limit later on. The young High School runner, A Harrington, is taking a spell from the track this season, so I am told/ He is very wise to do so—during the past few years he has been going all the year round, what with Rugby football and open amateur events, and a spell would do him the world of good. The winner of the mile, J. Holloway, at the amateur evening meeting last night beat C. Hormann (quite a good distance runner) in such an easy fashion that one would like to see him back on the same mark with Hormann, also with Bews, Forbes and Aitken about, to make him go. Holloway looked as fit as a fiddle last night and appears to possess a lot of staying power with the ability to sprint at the finish, so that it will be worth seeing him against the quartette referred to.