MILE RUNNING RECORDS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 936, 9 February 1917, Page 2

MILE RUNNING RECORDS.

THE LATE WILLIAM SNOOK. Nearly 15 years have elapsed sini-o Joseph Binks, then of the Unity Athletic Club, won the Mile Championship, and at the same time established a British amateur best on record ot' 4niin lfi 4-ssee for running that distance —a record which still remains unbeaten, writes J.E.F.D. in the "Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News" of December Ki. On Saturday Binks, run ning as a Highgate Harrier, showed that he is not yet done with, by winning the Southern (.'aunties* Cross-Country Association's "open'' mile race for veterans, and incidentally beating so useful and experienced an athlete as the Polytechnic Harriers' old obstacle racer, \V. M. Tombleson, by 60 yards. *»The latter, truly, is some years Binks's senior; but, even so, it was a fairly good test of the winner's ability, and of his retention of staving power and speed. / By those who were fortunate enough to witness it, that said mile championship'of 19(12 at Stamford Bridge will be long remembered. Previously to then Hie fastest known time for a mile, by a British amateur was -tmhi 17sec by P. B. "Bacon when winning the A.A.A. Championship at the same distance, on Hie same track, in 1895. though Hugh Welsh, of Watson's College A.C., very closely approached, and, if he had been more experienced, or more hardly pressed, would probably have beaten it when gaining the first of his two consecutive victories, three years later, in limn 17 l-osce. It has been claimed by experts, and with some foundation, that Mi» existing record which Binks established many years afro was built up by four men. each of whom took a turn at pace-making, not as the term is generallv understood, for pace-making mirnccs. but w'+h a view of running their onponeuts off their leo-s. In the last <>*rnieht for home Second .Lieutenant Hawtrev, of the L.A.0.. Thames Hare ■Mid Hounds, and Rovn] Engineers fnow. bv the wav. a Lieutenant-Colonel "somewhere abroad") w»« leading and oeeme'l fo be the most likelv winner: but Binks, who was served bv the *Wter natural nower of sprinting, in which branch of foot-racing, as well as ft loncrer distances, he lmd freonentVv "roved successful in fast times, ennio up it, ;i great pace. and. parsing Hawtrev ; n the last Few strides, won amid as much excitement as T have ever seen •» cham'donship meeting }>v two yards from Hawtrev, who. therefore, very nearlv Bacon's nM best on record. The fine all-round form of the. ~ien chieflv engaged in that sensational fl-nish max- be cleaned from the fact that 'he slowest of them accomplish a performance which would have been ouite -nod enough to win most of the mile "hampionships which have since been

decided. Our has to go back Tii the year 1*7.", so far as my memory, as that of an I've witness, ami as regards my personal observation goes, fur a par allol rase of a mile record being "Iniilt li|i" by a quartet of rimners. That was in the'bnitdon Athletic ("lull's Challenge Cup race at Lillio Bridge, when Walter Blade wiiii. with his long raking and loping stride ami sturdy tinisli, in 4inin L'Usoi —n performance the merit of which was neither foreseen nor reflected in any of his live consecutive .championship wins. How well I can oven now call to niiml that said Challenge Cup race of ls7."i. fought out as it was by Slado, Burt, Hewitt, and H. A. Bryden—the last of which names, by the way. must be fauiilar to all read ers of' this paper. Little ilitl 1 imagine, when penning the !>liO\e notes, that William Snook. record holler and ex-champion, had previously passed away. He had been for some time in pour health. Snook

was born at Shrewsbury on February :>. IS6I. Admaston College. Shropshire, wnv liis alma mater; but he did very little in the way of sports at school. When ho took to foot-racing it was as a sprinter, a branch of athletics at which he was only partially successful. It noon became clear, however, that distance runnig was his forte, and in that way some of his achievements were remarkable, lie beat the renowned W. 0. George at 1000 yards in 3min lIS ]-f>.--ee. a best on record, which still stands, although it was accomplished more than :i0 years ago. lie deprived George of championship honours at one and four miles in 1883, and secured the 10 miles

championship, of which George was also Hie holder, but in which event the latter did not compete. I took part in two of these events, and was only "placed'' in one, viz., tie' 10 miles championship, in which it was mv lot. to finish third. A "ionth previously Snook had won the (livil Service A.A. Strangers' Mile Han dicnp from scrit.eli. looking round repeatedly near the finish, in 4niin 120 see —onlv three-fifths of a second outside Cipnnre's then best on record. All the before-mentioned championships were again won hv Snook in ISBS, in addition to the Midland Counties and National oross-cor m *rv Olinmnionsb»os of that vear. The rlos» of S'mok'-- athletic career raino in 188*5. when the A.A.A. suspended him for not trving to fin ; sh first in the National Championship, his argument that, as a member of his team, he had a rtfht. to stav behind and "each his men. b«ing without avail. Snook wis of rather "stoekv'' Iniild. s*ft hi"-h. ?nd weighing 9st 71b. His <?reat strength enabled him to put ou a fremendous and lorn* -"stained spurt, at the finish of a race. Vet on two memorable occasions he failed to hold his own atrninst. much slighter men. One was when the late ft H Mason beat, him for "peed in the Ten Miles Championship of ISsO, and the other was when, after a i"ost. sensational race, he lost the National Cross-count.rv Championship of IsKl to G. A. Dunning, of the Clapton Beagles.