HARRIERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 241, 12 October 1931, Page 5

HARRIERS

WANGANUI CLUB EACE FROM WANGAEHU C. GRANVILLE FIRST HOME With a wind in their faces for the greater part of the journey, ? jmbers of tho Wanganui Harrier Club held their annual road race from Wangaehu to Wanganui on Saturday afternoon. O~ tho llmin. mark C. Granville camo horn, an easy winner ahead of J. Pemberthy ar 8. Dustin after an interesting race. Over thirty runners started. Fastest times were gained by K. Johnston ami C. Weiler, who covered the 8 1-3 miles in 47min. 45sec. The handicapping was all in favour of the limit men and the two scratch markers had an exceedingly hard job to catch up on tlie quarter of an hour’s start which was given to Dustin. T n spite of the odds against them, and although they were still last of the field by the time the half-way mark had been reached, they ran into 16th and 17th places respectively, Johnston beating Weller by a yard. The pace set by these two men over the final portions of the journey was exceedingly fast and it is to their credit that they caught up seven of the 11 minutes which were given to, C. Granville. Public Interest The race drew a large following of the public. The runners were followed by cars and by bicycles. The large crowd which assembled to watch the finish was most enthusiastic and gave the runners an ovation as they finished the course. Setting out on the lomin. handicap, S. Dustin held the lead for tho greater portion of tho race and ran remarkably well. He was followed by Ansley, Cathro, Vincent, Gaze and C. Granville, who were sent after hii at intervals according to their handicaps. Following Granville were Edwards, Crysell, Foster, Reid, Stephenson, Bilderbcck, Pemberthy and Craig. Further bacl were M. Granville and K. Law, while behind them again were McKay, Minnell, Cave, Northover, Bourgeois, F. Hoskius, G. Johnston and tho two scratch men. Over the first two miles there was little difference in the position of the field where the Lack-markers were concerned, but further up towards the front several alterations took place. C. Granville Goes Ahead When the half-way mark was reached one or two members had dropped out. C. Granville was already creeping up on tho leaders, while young Pemberthy was taking long strides and overhauling tho twelve men ahead of him in fine style. K. Law had left his co-marker, M. Granville and was going ahead, both men running well. S. Minnell was having a day out and was rapidly making his way up to the front. H. Arnold was showing better form and was going along easily, while G. Johnston had caught up with Bourgeois and the two were pacing along with a stride that was quickly placing tho miles behind. Edwards was still well up with the field. Behind them all were the two scratch men, helping each other along and making a great effort in the face of heavy odds. F. Hoskins was making good headway. Handicapping Tells. Shortly after the half-way mark was passed it became apparent to tho onlookers that the scratch men had too much handicap against them to allow them to make their way up to tho front. Attention turned to the leaders, who were watched closely in tho ■ effort to pick the'winner. ' C. Granville, who was running with a splendid action and not over- exerting himself, passed several men and set out hard after Dustin, overtaking ' him. Behind Dustin was Pemberthy. There was a gap of about 460 yards between this youngster and Granville when the last mile was started upon. 1 Pemberthy overtook Dustin, but there was too great a distance between him ! and Granville, who came home with a margin of some 100 yards to spare ' after putting up what was probably his best race to date. The win was most popular. It was expected that Law and M. Granville would put up a good exhibition, and this they did, finishing in fourth and fifth places respectively. ’ Wisnewski and Foster ran well and' followed them home. Minnell, who had started with McKay, outdistanced his co-marker by 13 places, which was a creditable performance. ' Following were the positions in which the field finished:— C. Granville, llmin 1 A. Pemberthy, Bmin. lOsec. ..... 2 S. Dustin, 15min 3 K. Law, 6min. lOsec ...... 4 M. Graciville, 6min. lOsec 5 N. Wisnewski, 7min 20scc 6 C. Foster, 9min. 30see 7 S. Minnell, 4min. 40sec 8 C. Craig, Bmin. lOsec .... ..... 9 H. Arnold, 6min. 50sec. .... .... 10 A. Collings, 7min 11 C. Crysell, 9min. 50sec ..... 12 A. Bourgeois, 3min. lOsec 13 G. Johnston, 2min. lOsec 14 C. Anderson, 13min. 30sec. 15 K. Johnston, scr ..... 16 C. Weller, scr ... ..... 17 It. Edwards, lOmin. H A. Vincent, Bmin. lOsec. 19 F. Hoskins, 2min. 50sec 20 A. McKay, 4min. 40sec 21 L. Stephenson, Bmin. 40sec. 22 L. Bilderbeck, 7min. 40scc 23 E. Gowan, 6min. 30sec ..... 24 J. Northover, 3min. 30sec. ..... 25 G. Gaze, llmin. lOsec 26 Fastest t.mes were as Allows:— K. Johnston, 47min. 45sec.; C. Weller, 47min. 46sec.; G. Johnston, 49min. 50see.; A. Bourgeois, 50min. 32see.; F. Hoskins, 51min. 7sec.; S. Minnell, 51min. 20sec. Others were as follow: K. Law, 51min. 33sec.; M. Granville, 52min.; A. McKay, 52min. 59sec.; A. Pemberthy, 53min. 53min. ssec.; N. Wisnewski, 53miu. 14see.; E. Gowan, l9sec.; 11. Arnold, 53min. 38sec.; A. Colli--gs, 54min. Isec.; C. Granville, 54min. 53sec., J. Northover, 55min.; C. Craig, 55min. 4scc.; E. Foster, 56min. 4 ec.; A. Vincent, 56min. 34sec.; E. Crysell, 56rnin. 55sec.; L. Bilderbeck, 57miu. 56see.; L. Stephenson, 57min. 17sec.; R. Edwards, 57min. 50see.; S. Dustin, GOmin. 9sec.; C. Anderson, 61 min. I3see. On the conclusion of tho race rieinbers were entertained to afternoon tea by Mr A. Peters, of the Metropolitan Hotel. There was a large attendance of the club’s supporters, including Mr \V. L. Young, the patron, and Mr and Mrs C.,