ATHLETICS

Southland Times, Issue 20496, 26 May 1928, Page 19 (Supplement)

ATHLETICS

(By “Bystander”) WINTER ATHLETICS THEIR POSITION IN INVERCARGILL. WHERE ARE THE HARRIERS? CYCLING CLUB DEFUNCT. With the close of the summer season for athletics, it would be reasonably anticipated that by now, winter athletics would be in a flourishing condition. Yet the winter season for athletics in Invercargill is conspicious by its inactivity. Some years ago a large number of enthusiasts swelled the ranks of the harriers and participated in numerous runs throughout the season. Now nothing is heard of the harriers in Invercargill. Where are they? To all appearances the club has entirely died out. . In another form of winter athletics, cycling, where is the local club? Southland with its long stretches of good roads and temperate climate, provides ample scope for that fine branch of sport, yet the local club is defunct. That there is plenty of talent available in Southland generally, was demonstrated in the summer season. Although the interest of the public was not manifest to a very large extent, the night meetings of the Amateur Athletic Association resulted in some very fine performances being put up. In the secondary schools are some promising rising athletes as was witnessed at the Otago and Southland secondary schools’ championship at Rugby Park on March 10. Yet in local athletics there is considerable inactivity at the present time. Of course, it is realized that the king of winter sports— Rugby football—attracts a very large number of those who participated in athletic meetings during the summer season. But there is ample scope for athletes to take up cycling or join the harriers and by so doing, become physically fit for the next athletic season. In other centres, including Christchurch, Timaru and Dunedin, the harriers are flourishing and it is to be hoped that before long, a club will be set up in Invercargill. SPORTING LIFE MARATHON. An important event at Home is the annual contest for the magnificent £5OO “Sport ing Life” trophy for a race over the historic Marathon course of 26 miles 385 yards from Windsor Castle to Stamford Bridge, London. The race starts, by permission of his Majesty the King, in the Castle grounds. S. Ferris, the present holder of the trophy, has been the winner for the past three years, and, when the last mail left Home, he appeared to have a great chance in this year’s race which will be run to-day. EDMUND CUP. The Edmund Cup race, to be held at the Wingatui (Dunedin) racecourse on June 9, is a very popular fixture, and is the first inter-club event of the season. Last year ! there was a field of 120, but 150 are ex- | pected to start this year. BIG RELAY RACE.

The St. Stephen’s Harrier Club (Melbourne) is organizing a relay race of 150 miles. This is the biggest thing in the way of a relay race ever attempted in Australia The course will be from Melbourne through Dandenong to Flinders, Cape Schartck, Sorrento, Dromana, Mornington and Frankston back to Melbourne. The distance each runner has to cover will be decided when the list is completed, and will depend upon the number who take part. PROFITS ON ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS. At last week’s meeting of the council of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association it was announced that the final Australian and New Zealand amateur athletic championships, held at Wellington in December last, had resulted in a profit of £378 10s, of which sum the Amateur Athletic Union of Australia and New Zealand takes £37 17s, and the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association £340 13s. The receipts totalled £843 14s 6d and the expenditure £456 4s 6d. PRAISE FOR LAMB. Cycling enthusiasts will still remember vividly the exhibitions put up in his New Zealand tour by R. W. (“Fatty”) Lamb, the Australian amateur champion cyclist, who has since turned professional. Here is what the New Zealand professional champion, Harry Watson, thinks of Lamb: “Opperman follows the motor nicely, but I think ‘Fatty’ Lamb will fully extend him after more experience.” This is high praise indeed, for Hubert Opperman is the idol of the Australian cycling crowds at present, and there were scenes of remarkable enthusiasm when he left Melbourne to join the Tour de France team at Fremantle. ADVICE TO ATHLETES KEEP THE EDGE ON. Mental condition is an important as physical condition. Old athletes discover this w’hen they are preparing for any kind of contest. When the edge goes off the athlete’s keenness he cannot rise to the same heights as when he was razor-sharp with enthus- ’ iasrn. One sees it in the boxing ring, in a ' golf match, on a running track, on the tennis court —in fact, in any sport you would j care to mention (writes Frank Brown, in the Melbourne ‘Globe’). Note most old boxers who go to the gymnasium to prepare for a contest. They do not like the prospect at all, and go through the work sluggishly. Training has become a bore to them. It is merely something to be endured. In a contest the old-timer is ring-wise and clever. He knows tricks and ways of stalling through that are foreign to the eager youngster whom he is fighting. The old-timer picks what he considers the easiest road. He knows that by turning the chin in sideways he can take many a blow on the forehead which other-

• wise would sting his nose. He suffers no i pain by adopting this method. Rather j would he do this than block or duck, both I of which methods mean the expenditure of energy. So he takes the comparatively • painless blow on the brow, and in time suffers the consequence. i The nerves of the eye become affected. ! When a boxer gets to the point where he i would rather take a punch on the brow : than try to dodge it, it is time that he got ’ out of the game for good. The golfer can play too much, and when 1 his enjoyment departs his skill drops in ratio. The same thing is marked in football There comes an opportunity to dash in and ; take the ball. The oldtimer momentarily shirks the effort required. When the reaction comes he knows that he must go, but it is too late. People say he is slow to move when the fact is that he is mentally tired of the game. Had the keenness been there the probability is that he would have moved in time. Take the case of the veteran international cricketer Andrews. He has retained his keenness, and age does not prevent him from being one of the best cover points you could find. You do not find Gene Tunney lazy to move when he gets into a championship fight. He is keen enough to avoid as much punishment as possible, and the reason is because physical fitness is a fetish with him. He trains and practices with enthusiasm, for he is still mentally keen. That is why he will be a hard champion to dethrone. Any athlete or sportsman can benefit from taking a couple of days’ spell prior to a sporting engagement provided he has trained conscientiously. In certain cases j even more may do good, specially for the mentally tired athlete. During this period ■ of relaxation some keenness should return as well as energy.