RECORD TO ROSE

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 55, 2 September 1926, Page 10

RECORD TO ROSE

FRENCH CHAMPION BEATEN NEW ZEALAND RUNNER IN PARIS. _ Before proceeding to Holland after being unsuccessful in his bid for honours at the- English A.A.A. championships, Randolph Rose, the New Zealand distancerunning champion, made a trip to Franco with the team of British athletes, and at a meeting at the Pershing Stadium he succeeded m breaking the French record for 3000 metres. Joseph Guillemot was the record-holder having been credited with covering the distance in Bmin 42 l-ssec. The champion was beaten by Rose in Bmin 41sec Writing of his visit to France, R. A. Rose states: "On arrival in Paris we found the heat terrific. ... I was entered in only _ one race—the 3000 inetres-at the meeting at Pershing Stadium. There was a bus to take the English competitors out to the grounds, and about thirty were crowded into this conveyance, which should have cai-ried only fifteen. Consequently, by the time we arrived at the grounds we were in a proper old sweat, as the temperature was. about 89 in the shade. The same day London was sweating in a temperature of 85 in the shade. I got into my togs straight away to try to get a little cool, but it was impossible, and one had to keep drinking to keep.the throat and mouth moist. Lord Burghley, who was travelling with us, said it was a. much hotter day than that of the Olympic Games two years ago. Just before my race I took a lump of sugar, and it gave me wonderful relief. At 5.30 p.m., when we got on our marks, the heat was terrific, and I could see that I was not the only one suffering from. it. 'I was the only outsider in the race. An American was entered, but he stood down on account of the heat. It appears that the French competitors were out to try and make their own man break a record, and had two pacers in the race. This I knew nothing of until after we had covered about three laps, when I was pacing the pacers and found it hard work. It was when they went to the front for a lap and I dropped back to fifth place for a breather that it struck me that they were out to kill me. At one part they had me blocked in, and the leaders were away making a gap between myself and the laggards. Well, I got out of that pocket, and kept with the front man after that. Entering the last lap he eased up, and gave me a breather which I needed after my effort in the middle of the race to make up the gap. When we entered the straight the Frenchman was leading by about three yards, and no sooner had I drawn level with him than he threw in the sponge. I won easing up in 3min 41sec, beating the French record by 1 2-ssec." Rose added that he was still a little over weight, but thought that he was getting pretty close to his New Zealand form. At the time of writing he was in Rotterdam, and expected to have a month in which to prepare for his meeting with Nurmi. This did not eventuate, recent cable advices stating that there was no prospect of Rose showing Tiis best form. The New Zealand champion is now returning home. He leaves America for New Zealand about Wednesday next.