HARRIER SEASON ENDS

Taranaki Daily News, 15 October 1934, Page 2

HARRIER SEASON ENDS

NEW PLYMOUTH EVENTS G. R. STEWARTS GRAHAM CUP. BROAD RUNS THE FASTEST TIME. The harrier season in North Taranaki was brought to a close on Saturday afternoon with the last of the New Plymouth club’s races, the' Graham Cup and consolation race. G. R. Stewart was the winner of the cup over a course of 6J miles, starting and finishing on the racecourse. The Graham Cup was for open competition, but the consolation prizes were open only to those of the club runners who had not won a trophy during the season: The Graham Cup is the club’s oldest trophy and has been competed for regularly since 1926. Winning it has been regarded as a feat second only to that of winning z the club championship. The first consolation prize was a cup presented to the club by Misfi Pike. The conditions under which the race was run were good, except for the rather strong northerly wind blowing. This made the going rather hard in places where the competitors had to run straight into the wind for considerable distances. The start of the race was from the members’ enclosure on the racecourse and the course led around the racecourse towards the high school. The school cricket ground was crossed and the course went across the school farm through the scout reserve to Timandra Street and on to the racecourse, which was followed around past the stands. Then followed a lap of the championship course and a lap of the racecourse, finishing in front of the judge’s box. Stewart ran a great race to record his second win in succession. He is now definitely showing fine form, and had it not been for a severe attack of stitch in the straight he would have won by more than he did. With a mile to go he had almost a 400 yard lead and at the finish, in spite of his misfortune, he was still well ahead of L. J. Thompson, the next man home. Thompson has always had a liking for the longer distances, and on Saturday he showed a return to form. E. Peterson ran a good race to finish third. On a crosscountry course he has always run well. L. Richards has usually finished well up in the placings and on Saturday he ran well to beat R. J. Stewart by about 2u yards. Stewart is another who ran well and over the last part of the run around the racecourse he made,ground in great style. C. W. Broad finished next. He ran very well to gain fastest time by one second from J. S. Pike, who also performed very well. Pike and Broad started off different marks, so that their running on the day was very even. M. B. Radford, who finished seventh, gained third fastest time. The detailed placings, with the times taken, are:— G. R. Stewart (7m 30s), 46m Ils 1 L. J. Thompson (5m 30s), 44m 30s 2 E. Peterson (3m ss), 42m 21s 3 Li. Richards (3m 10s), 42m 43s ~ 4 R. J. Stewart (3m 15s), 43m 8s a C. W. Broad (255), 40m 21s 6 M. B. Radford (50s), 40m 575; J. S. Pike (scr), 40m 225; J. A. Haymer (6m), 46m 31s; H. Hopkins (3m 20s), 44m; F. M. White (9m), 50m 17s; R. B. Walsham (2m 20s), 44m 375; J. E. Warner (8m 30s), 50m 525; A. J. Thompson (lm 30s), 43m 7s; T. Sheppard (3m 30s), 46m 425; V. Hodgson (6m), 49m 445. R. Richards did not complete the course. The fastest times were: C. W. Broad, 10m 21s, 1;J. S. Pike, 40m 225, 2; M. B. Radford, 40m 575, 3; E. Peterson, 42m 21s, 4; L. Richards, 42m 435, 5; A. J. Thompson, 43m 7s, 6. The consolation prizes were won by R. J. Stewart 1, J. A. Haymer 2, F. M. White 1 From the start of the race the pace was very fast, and this was kept almost without any slacking throughout. The first time the runners entered the racecourse the limit men, Warner and White, were together in the lead about 50 yards ahead of G. R. Stewart and R. Richards, who in turn were 400 yards ahead of L. J. Thompson and J. Haymer, There was another break of 50 yards to Hodgson, who was running -alone about 300 yards ahead of Peterson. The rest of the field was strung out with short intervals to the back-markers, who were running between 50 and 100 yards apart. The second time the-field came on to the racecourse the order had changed considerably. G. R. Stewart had a very comfortable lead of 400 yards on 'L. J. Thompson, who had not made much of a reduction in Stewart’s lead. Then followed Peterson, L. Richards, F-?M. White, R. J. Stewart, J. Haymer, C. Broad and J. Warner at short intervals. In the last lap of the racecourse G. Stewart was untroubled to win a long way ahead of L. Thompson. After the race a tea was held, after which the presentation of trophies for the race was made by the president, Mr. C. H. Croker, who made reference to the excellent manner in which some of th® runners had performed in the race. In the points prize for the series, for which the Te Hauroa Cup is awarded, G. R. Stewart, having had two wins and having competed in every other race, was first with 12 points. T. Sheppard was a close second with 11 points. The points were: G. Stewart 12, T. Sheppard 11, H. Hopkins 10, A. Thompson 9, J. Pike, M. Radford, R. Stewart, G. Broad 8, L. Richards, J. Warner 7, L. Thompson 6, V. Hodgson, F. White 5, H. R. Dingle, A. Lander, T. Gray, H. Kingston, E. Peterson, C. Robertson 4. Next Saturday two teams from the club will travel to Wanganui to compete in the Marton-Wanganui relay race for the Young Cup. The club’s A team at present holds the cup, having won it from Wanganui on the first appearance in the race last Labour Day. Tire following will comprise the teams: —A team: J. Pike, C. Broad, M. Radford, A. Thompson, R. Stewart. B team: R. Walsham, H. Hopkins, L. Richards, L. Thompson, G. Stewart. The club will hold a social on October 24 and a dance on Saturday, November 10. 20-MILES CHAMPIONSHIP ENDS. ANNUAL EVENT AT WELLINGTON. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The anual 20 miles cross-country championship was held over four laps of five miles each at Trentham. The teams race was for the Olympic Gold Cup, while the individual winner takes the Phipson trophy. Results were:— J. Blanchfield (Olympic) 2h 8m 44s 1 A. L. Stevens (Scottish), 2h 9m 48s ... 2 C. Campbell (Olympic), 2h 13m Ils .. 3 Teams race: Scottish 39 points’l, Brooklyn 40 points 2, Olympic 41 points 3.