HARRIERS IN THE RAIN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 151, 29 June 1931, Page 5

HARRIERS IN THE RAIN

BENSON TROPHY COMPETITION WANGANUI HAS LEAD ON MASTERTON

(By

"Jog-Trot.”)

Bun in a teeming rainstorm, the first race in the fifth contest for the Benson Trophy was held by the Wanganui and Masterton Harrier Clubs over the Bramwell Course on Saturday afternoon. The race went to the Wanganui Club by a margin of 84 points, thus giving them a substantial lead for the second race, which is to be held at Masterton at the end of next month. The trophy will go to the club obtaining the lowest number of points for the two races. In spite of the unpleasant conditions and the heavy state of the course on Saturday, excellent times were returned by the leading men, K. Johnston, C. Weller, and G. Johnston, who literally cleared out and left the remainder of the field well behind, crossing the finishing line arm in arm.

By winning tho race by such a large number of points the Wanganui Club put up a surprising performance and one which was scarcely expected of them even by their most ardent admirers. Althougl they are a much stronger and faster club this year than last, and although they had the advantage in that they knew the course, which was 'ightly different from that of past years, it was expected that the excellent work of their opponents, which showed up well against the Hu Valley Club the week previously, would give them a hard run for their money. But that Wanganui should win by such a largo margin in no way detracts from the ability of the Masterton men, who ran doggedly over country to which tl.ey were little accustomed, and their team work, too, was excellent. But they were outpaced by the Wanganui men.

In gaining such a large lead the three winners were perhaps tho greatest surprise of the day, G. Johnston being outstanding, while C. Weller, who had injured his leg a week earlier, ran phiekily. These three runners, especially Weller and Johnston, are L o bo congratulated on their <.< llent team work. The e is no doubt that they could have made a much faster journey than they did, but, instead they did all they could to encourage a youngster of 16 years over the course to breast the tape with them. Also they hung bac’- a little in the hope that F. Hoskins, who lan a splendid race in spite of a recent injury, might be able to pick up with them so that they might come in together. Newton, who ran in behind Hoskins, ran a solid race the whole way through. As a rule he hangs back over the hilly country and then makes up his leeway on the flat. But 'm Saturday, when approaching Peake’s Road, he was lying seventh, and at the top of the Tayforth Hill he had taken sixth position, lying in behind J. Burns, of Masterton. am 1 followed by Rutherford. At that point there was still a fair amount of hill work yet before him, but he headed off Burns to take the fifth posi ion. Tho three Masterton men who took the next three places, showed excellent team work and determination in sticking to their task in face of heavy odds. Dudley and Rutherford were not content that they should take, the places for their club, but they had to decide the issue with a sprint to see which of the two was the better man. Incidentally, they failed to do this, for they tied. It was a great sporting incident in a race which was noted for healthy competition and splendid sportsmanship. Bourgeois and Northover were the next men home for the local club, after a very good performance. Bourgeois maintained his position in his own club by taking sixth place in the Wanganui individual placings of the day, and Northover improved his by three places, proving better than A. Hoskins, A. McKay, and E. Carde, with B. Clark at d S. Minnell, who had dropped a long way from his form of a fortnight ago, all ran with good judgment, while the fact that they filled tho ninth, tenth, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th positions showed that they had a good knowledge of team work.

From the 17th position to the 26th, when they had the last man of their team of twelve home, the Masterton men gave a repetition of their performance against the Hutt Valley Club, for they took position 17, 19, 20, 21. 22, 23 and 26, which proved that the Wanganui men had good cause to believe that they wore up against a club who were strong in team running. On their own country at Masterton, it is safe to assert that they will be a harder team to beat altogether and team-work in the return race will again be the most important factor. About the Bace. Some sixty harriers lined up in front of the grandstand on the racecourse, and were started by the president of the Wanganui Harrier Chib, Mr C. R. White. The field was naturally well bunched as it made up the track and ran out through the gate. The local men, who knew the value of reaching the sharp bend before the turn to the gate, headed the. field in a mass and, led by K. Johnston, who was a yard or two in front of the field, they set out for the open country. As the field passed the gate A. McKay tailed it by easily 50 yards, preferring to take tho first stages with ..n easy stride. That ho should run up into 18th position and form the hist man of the Wanganui team, was an excellent performance, though ti would appear that he took matters far too easy over the first stages. At Peake’s Road. From the racecourse the runners headed past St. George’s School for the top of the hill at the back of Peake’s Road, instead of going through the property on the right-hand side as previov 'y. If anything the course has thus bee improved, while a better view of the runners can be gained by tho spectators. At this point the two Johnstons and Weller had already asser ed themselves and were leading the field. F. Hoskins vias well up with the leaders, and they crossed the fence together, followed closely by Carde, Burns, Newton, Rutherfurd, Dudley, A. Hoskinq, Bourgeois, Hack, A. Burns, Northover, and

Moore, with the rest of the field strung out behind. The leaders must have had at least half a mile lead of the last man as they field climbed the hill, and the string of harriers presented a splendid sight. Tayforth Hill Shortly after Peake’s Road w r as passed a dow-.pour commenced, which lasted for tho greater portion of the run. Tho rain stre: med down on the harriers, who looked as if they had been indulging in a swimming contest. At Tayforth Hill, w’hich is regarded as the half-way point in the race, the two Johnstons and Weller had a lead of some 50 yards over F. Hoskins, who had met with difficulty in negotiating a gate. The Masterton men were not far behind, and J. Burns led Newton and Rutherfurd, with Cardo close on their heels. Behind Dudley and Mulvey, two Masterton runners, Bourgeois and Northover were striding along with A. Hoskins, Minnell and Clark hanging on to them, while behind two further Masterton men, A. McKay was running freely. From this point the field sorted itself into the positions in which tho race finished, with the fie/l closing, or gaps opening up, at various points. Of the Wanganui men placed further back in tho field Moore and L. Bilderbeck ran well, and by sandwiching in between Barnes and Pointon gained their club a few points. J. Irvin and H. Arnold ran good races, the latter especially, for he has had not more than four runs with tho harrieV, though Irvin dropped back somewhat on his performance of last year, when he ran into 16th position. The following are some of the positions and times returned, Wanganui men being indicated by (W) and Masterton by (M): —

The following was the order in which the teams of twelve arrived, and the aggregate number of points gained:— Wanganui Johnston 1 Weller „ _ .... 2 Johnston ...... 3 F. Hoskins 4 Newton. _ ..... 5 Bourgeois .... .... 9 Northover ..... __ 10 A. Hoskins _ ..... 12 E. Carde ..... ..... 14 Clark _ 15 S. Minnell ..... .... 16 A. McKay 18 Total points 109 Masterton J. Burns _ 6 R. Dudley .... ~... 7 L. Rutherfurd ..... 8 J. Mulvey _ 11 .J. Wink _ ..... 13 A. Burns _ ..... .... 17 E. Shaw 19 McDonald 20 W. Hack __ ..... 21 H. Boyes _ 22 J. Barnes 23 W. Pointon 26 Total points 193 Lead for Wanganui 84 points. The Henson Trophy has been competed for on four prior occasions, and was donated by Mr G. Benson, of Wanganui, in 1927. The folowing are the results of tho competitions:— 1927 Wanga nui. 1928 Masterton. 1929 Masterton. 1930 Masterton. The second race for this year’s competition will bo run at Masterton on July 25, and the club gaining the lowest aggregate points for the two races will hold the trophy for the yea r. The sealed handicap for the Wan ganui runnei was won by Stevenson, and for the Masterton runners by W. Burns.

K. Johnston (W) Min Sec Pos. 39 57 1 C. Weller (W) 39 57 I G. Johnston (W) ..... 39 57 1 F. Hoskins (W) 40 51 K H. E. B. Newton (W ) 40 51 5 J. Burns (M) 41 51 5 R. Dudley (AT) 41 17 7 L. Rutherfurd (M) ■11 17 7 A. Bourgeois (W) 41 9 Norf hover (W) ...... 41 45 10 J. Mulvey (M) 41 45 11 A. Hoskins (W) . . 41 54 12 J. Wink (M) 42 2 13 E. Cardo (W) 42 16 14 B. Clark (W) „. 42 21 15 ' S. Minnoll (W) ..... . 42 29 16 A. Burns (W) 42 2»0 17 A. McKav (W) 42 32 18 E. Shaw (M) 43 43 19 McDonald (M) ...... 43 58 20 W. Hack (M) 44 99 21 H. Boves (At) 44 22 21 J. Barnes (M) ..... 44 21 23 G. Moore (W) 44 °3 24 L. Bilderbeck (W) .... 44 26 °5 W. Pointon (M) ..._ 44 27 26 J. Irvin (W) M ...... 44 33 27 H. Arnold (W) ..... 44 36 28 S. Spicer (M) 45 38 29 L. J. Burns (M) 45 8 30