WORLD OF SPORT

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17242, 29 October 1927, Page 21 (Supplement)

WORLD OF SPORT

MARATHON CHAMPIONS.

CLASSICAL ORIGIN OF RACE .RUNNERS OF PAST AND PRESENT. ATTRACTION OF OLYMPIC GAMES. When the Italian, Dorando, staggered into the London Stadium in the Olympic Games of 1908, delirious and blind with fatigue, he set a craze for Marathon running in the hearts of many gallant youths. "What is this urge? In 490 B.C. Pheidippides, a soldier, ran from the Plain of Marathon to Athens, 26 miles, with the message that Miltiades, the Greek Commander, had beaten the invading Persian host. After delivering the message he dropped dead. That is the classical origin of the Marathon. On May 15 Quanowanu, a Hopi Indian, won the great American race, Long Beach marathon. At the end he twiddled the toes of his blistered feet. Quanowahu lives in a pueblo. He is a snake dancer. He came from Arizona to get his first view of the sea from Long Beach, and it is doubtful whether he ever heard the legend of the Greek soldier, or ever inquired why he should run 26 miles, 385 yards, rather than some other distance. But Quanowahu focused the attention of a quarter of a million people during his race. The same number or perhaps a greater number, a few days earlier watched a plumber’s helper win a modified marathon. Pickled feet are the most important thing jn marathon running. To be sound in wind and limb and to be possessed of a strong heart and plenty of grit are not enough. From the days of the bruisers in the London prize ring down to the aesthetic Mr Tunney, pugilists have hardened their fists in brine. Feet are as important to marathon runners as fists are to prize fighters.

Ran Barefoot, S. Loues, a Greek peasant, reputed to have worked in the fields in his hare feet, .won the first marathon held in Athens in 1896. lie ran barefoot because shoes chafed him. The other competitors, seeing Loues , getting along famously, took off their shoes. Lemursiaux, the Frenchman, collapsed. Flack, the Australian, gave Up. They all had blisters. Loues had a glass of wine. When he arrived at the stadium where the race finished, the Crown Prince of Greece and Prince George paced him to the line, one onjeach. side of him, and the King waved his yachting cap. Nowadays, with more than thirty years of experience to go on, maraihon runners disagree on methods of training, on diet, on clothing, and on many other things, but they all agiee on pickling th feet. , After the pickling, however, the disagreement begins again. Some say that the feet should be rubbed with vaseline, some Uiat Uiey should be rubbed with talJow. Others favour talcum powder. \s one cannot teach an old dog tricks, and as most of the great distance runners are no longer young, the prospect of a uniform procedure seems remote. Men of Ail Sorts. The rhyme about “the butcher, the baker the candlestick maker,” would perhaps make a fair representation of the occupations of the greatest distance men. Henry St. Ives, of France, who won the title of world s champion,” was a waiter. Hayes was a sporting goods clerk in a department store and returned to America to find himself head of the department. He passed this up to become an actor on the vaudeville stage. ' . Gaston Strobino was a silk worker, Nicholas Giannakopulos a pastry cook, .lames G. Morris a milkman, Clarence de Mar and Henry Parkinson were printers, Karl Koski and David Fagcrlund carpenters, Bill Kenned} and Ilannes Kolcmainen bricklayers, Albert Michelsen was a plumber s helper, Vi liar Kyroncn a baker. And, of course, Quanowahu was a snake dancer. just a Hobby. AA U. officials and distance enthusiasts will tell you that the marathoners are the greatest, amateurs in the world. There is no “Kate” nowadays in marathons; the races are run along the Puhhc thoroughfares. There are no expenses” offered by clubs as mduceme Th S e" marathoners have their trade, and they have their hobby. Then hobby is, marathomng. Clarence de Mar runs to and from his work each day Harry Parkinson does the same, Morris ehies his horse afoo along the milk route. A story is told of Olir S. Weeks, who is narer 60 than 50 and of his love for distance running Getting away early from work one°afternoon, Weeks felt Lkc * ja “ nt and rail fifteen miles. He went home washed up, and ' had supper Afte supper he sat around, and things wer rather dull. He put on hie bet, out and covered another Aft miles. Then he went to bed.

Distance running Is don® most efficiently by men who are no longer young. A boxer is o at 30. At 30 a marathoner is callow. D® Mar is 40. Kennedy must b® 45. .-Kick Glannakopulos is 36, and Whltey IVSichelson Is well over 30. Parkinson Is 40. Weeks was running at 55. En the last Boston marathon a snow-haired veteran of 70 appeared on the starting line. He was infused official entry but started anyway. wa f as^ scan at the tenth mile, trailing the field. The sun was so hot that the feet of the runners stuck in the softened asphalt, miles, the 1926 victor, was forced to drop out. Shuffle To Win. In twenty-six odd miles of maraihnirn 0- about 35,000 strides sliouh. ' iSTen. That’s about 13,000 for ion miles. The marathon stride is i ■•'culiar ' if should not be graceful; pc.tuna . chuffie. Of course the S shuffle can be harmonious. Alfred England’s great marathoner was considered the most graceful distance men. Tom Longboat, _ Onondaga Indian from Canada was considered awkward. Tet both were great runners. Charley Paddock is said to have cleared twenty feet m his last great jump from the tape m the liuudred-yard cash. Nurm, s stride was about seven feet in the mile and two-mile runs he did so sensationally.' A marathon stride is about ■four feet. The legs are not lucked up behind as in a short race. It takes effort to lift the leg high off the ground. Most of the great distance

men ran flat-footed. It means less strain. The arms are carried low. Kicking the legs up and holding the arms high when one does it 35,000 times in three hours is a matter to he considered. To look at De Mai' in the course of any of his races would cause one to expect him to stop within half a mile. Ilis face looks strained and he appears dog-tired. Yet De Mar has five times won the Boston marathon.

Long and Short. Big men do not make good distance runners. Shrubb was tall, but gangling. Longboat was tall, but slender. Hayes was a small man. Dorando and Strobino and St. Ives were not many inches over five feet. De Mar and Michelsen are welter-weights. Quanowahu weighs about 125 pounds. The constant pounding which a big man’s feet are subjected to over the .long route so blisters and bruises them that it is next to impossible for him to go on. No amount of pickling will prevent the tissue inside the skin from swelling, even though the epidermis has been so toughened as to resist blisters. One of the grittiest of big rricn is Nicholas Giannakopulos. To-day he weighs close to 200 pounds, lie weighed 175 in his greatest races, among the national senior cross-coun-try championship and the famous squad hike from Timc3 Square to the Thirteenth Regiment Armoury in Brooklyn. . The matter of diet is another point on which the various marathon runners have their own ideas. Some

drink nothing but water. Some drink tea and some milk. It is noticeable that all eschew coffee. Despite the glass of wine that spurred Loues on to victory in 188 G, alcoholic liquors are taboo. Without exception the great distance men believe in eating heartily. As much as ten pounds may bo lost by a marathon runner, and a man hardly ever completes a race without losing at least five pounds. It is well defined opinion among the veterans, therefore, that they had better eat everything they can get, so long Is it is wholesome food. Fried food seems to be unpopular. Potatoes were considered too starchy until Pat White, the Irish champion, flashed some rare form, and Matt Maloney, the Trinity Club star, admitted that potatoes were a very important part of his diet. Said Matt: “Potatoes are an Irish food, and the Irish are great distanoe runners.” Some runners believe in talcing refreshment during a race. In the early marthon it was considered tiie thing to do. Now it is against the A.A.U. rules. In certain races practices had grown up that caused the officials to promulgate rules providing ■ that the use of dope or liquor would be grounds for disqualification. The consensus seems to be that water is the only helpful refreshment in a marathon. This is not against the rules. Here, again, the runners disagree. Some believe in drinking from a glass. Others want the water only by slow degrees and hold a wet sponge in tlui mouth. Still others merely splash water over the head and neck or suck slices of orange or lemon. Eating, immediately before the race is considered poor judgment, although many ex-

cellent distance men insist on some sustenance. A light luncheon is provided for those who want it before the Boston marathon. Despite the fact that almost every marathon race •is replete with stories of collapse, it is a fact that marathoners are, as a rule, long-lived. In 1 897, when the first Boston marathon was held, the starters were considered subjects for an insane asylum and were accused of courting heart strain, sunstroke, fallen arches and many other ills. Yet of all the winners of the Boston .marathon, held annually since, only four are dead. Origin of Games. There was no marathon in the old Olympic Games. The origin of the games is lost in antiquity, according to authorities; hut time was dated from the Olympiad of Coroelms, which wes held in 776 B.C. In those days they named llie Olympiad after, the winner of the foot-race. The Emperor Theodosius suppressed the Olympic Games in 294 A.D., because it is believed, lie considered them inimical to Christianity. The footrace in these games was probably not longer than 100 yards. A longer race was later inaugurated, but it seems to have been not over a mile in length.