ATHLETICS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17035, 8 May 1923, Page 8

ATHLETICS.

(By “HALF-MILER. ”)

The harrier racing season in Christchurch was to have commenced on Saturday, but weather conditions made this impossible, and the opening run was postponed till’ next Saturday. The course will be over the Canterbury College steeplechase course at Cashmere Hills, the run commencing at 3 p.m. Runners are advised to catch the 2.30 p.in. tram from the Square. ( Any runners who have been considering the advisability of taking on the sport during the winter mouths, but j have not quite made up their minds, should do so without delay. They will j be given every assistance and encour- j agement- in the runs by members ot j the Christchurch Harriers’ Club. j As the N.Z. Cross Country Championship will be held in Canterbury this year, it is the duty of all harrier runners to taka advantage of every opportunity to get into form, so that Canterbury will be well represented in this important event. There is ample mate rial in Christchurch for a strong team. Several weeks ago T suggested that the local centre should give consideration to instituting races for ladies next season. In Wellington and Wairarapa an athletic programme is . not complete without two or three j sprints tor members of the fair sex, and it is high time that a similar j course was pursued in Canterbury. ; The first move should come from the i centre. This year's iaigiish National, one of the world’s greatest cross-country fixtures, was held at Lord Burnham’s country scat. Hill Barn, Beaconsfield. South Bucks, on March 10. The course of ten miles stretched over undulating grassland in the park, and grassland and plough in the country outside. There was a field of more than three hundred runners, representing twenty, eight- clubs. Guillemot, last year’s winner, did not defend his title, but his compatriot, Schnellmann (third last year) went across from France. Hv • was not in good health, and did not i show up at any stage of the journey, j Th.e winner was C. E. Blewitt, of tho I Birohfield Harriers, who covered the course in 58min 32sec, prevailing after a desperate finish with Lance Corporal Cottrell, champion of the Services, whose time was a second slower than Blewitt’s. The third man. E. Harper. of the Hallamshire Harriers, is a young runner, twenty years of age, who leaped suddenly into prominence this year. He finished twelve seconds behind Blewitt, and but for hanging hack to the field at about seven miles when, the freshest man in the race at that stage, he should have gone ahead, he might well have won. He had not run across country prior to this season during the course of which, besides his great performance in this race, he won the Northern and Yorkshire junior championships. Blewitt, the winner, has been for years one of England’s greatest distance runners, both on the track and across country. Some of his most notable performances -prior to this win were (across country) fifth in last year’s National, second in 1921, seventh in last- year's international, and second in this year’s Midland. On the track he won the English four miles championship in 1920. and was second in the same race last year. He is the present Midland mile champion, and was third in last year’s English mile championship.