ATHLETICS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10318, 29 January 1927, Page 9

ATHLETICS

(By ‘Stride.”)

JANUARY $0 EVENING MEETINC.

NOTES AND NEWS,

At the evening track meet of the Gisborne Amateur Athletic and Harrier Club held on January 20 quite a numbei of interesting tilings liappenFirst and foremost, '‘Digger” Douglas shattered the five miles Poverty Bay cycle record ; Miss N. Jansson won the 100 yards handicap in Hie sensational time of 113-Ssec; Prank ■ Bobbie-lost the President’s Clip; and last, but not least, Jack Algie got disqualified. Douglas Now Holds All Records. That crack wheelman “Digger” Douglas now holds all the Poverty Bay cycle track records, which is surely an indication of his prowess and skill as a cyclist, who must be ranked amongst the best in the Dominion. In smashing the five miles record held jointly by E. Algie and F. Herbert, the crack Gisborne pedaller gave a great exhibition over a distance which “Stride” thought might find him out. Douglas, in try opinion, is essentially a sprinter, and it is over the short distances that 'lie will shine. The experience gained by him at the Auckland and New Zealand championships has been fully availed of, and I doubt if there is an amateur wheelman in the Dominion who would defeat him in a match race over a sprint distance. Douglas rides with a groat deal of headwork. whilst his pedalling is beyond reproach. This rider shou'd be prominent at the New Zealand eh am--pionships if he competes. A Fast Run—Miss Janssen Greatly Improved. Competing off the 16} yard mark at. the January loth meeting, Miss Jansson was defeated by Miss Eastwood over 100 yards in 12sec, yet at last week’s meeting off a similar start she turned the tables and registered 11 3-ssec. Without doubt Miss Jansson ran well, her finish being a very determined effort. If this runner would put some pep into her racing she would meet with greater success. Run like you did on January 20 and you will be a nuisance to the' ban dicapper.

President’s Cup Changes Hands. At times Fred. Truman puzzles me, and I think the handicapper also. Occasionally he makes a brilliant effort, after which come a number of mediocre performances. In the 300 yards President’s Cup Handicap Truman never left the race in doubt. Running in his best form of this season, this good sprinter annexed Mr. H. F. Forster’s trophy after a splendid race. It appears as though Truman has lost a little of his dash over the short sprint, and if he concentrated on the furlong and quarter may prove a. contender for championship honors. Algie’s Disqualification, The unfortunate happening whereby Jack Algie was disqualified by the referee for cutting in is to he regretted. The peculiar point of the affair is the attitude of a number of the riders who, of course, side with Algie. He is not to blame for this, but the astounding statements made by one cyclist in particular, and also a so-called trainer, is indeed amusing. As to whether the disqualification was right or otherwise I am not prepared to say, as ,1 was not in a position to see the incident. This much can ,ba said', that the referee is a fearless official who gives his honest and unbiased opinion. The referee is the sole judge of whether any unfair tactics have been used and nothing can alter his decision. I don’t for one moment- suggest that Algie would commit a breach of the rales intentionally, but T do say that the referee is in a position whereby he can give a decision, and his verdict should he accepted. Nobody is infallible, but some people think they are. The race had just reached an interesting stage when the alleged breach took place, and at such times a competitor does tilings which he cannot clearly remember afterwards.

Agitators. In all communities, and for that matter, all sports clubs, there is always some person who is “agin the Government.” Unfortunately for the Club one of its members never approves of anythin'! which the officials do. Why docs he stay in the Club? For all concerned he would be better out of it. When his own fellow competitors complain of his unsportsmanlike methods there is something radically wrong. Again there is ayouth who is designated as a trainer, but seems to be one who would become an important power in the athletic world it lie had his own way. I suggest to the officials that they use drastic measures to stop this continual squealing. Lady Sprint Ace Injured.

Quite a sensation was caused in athletic circles when it became known that Dr. Mice, honorary surgeon to the Club, had ordered Miss Nancye Eastwood, the crack sprinter, to spell for some days on account injured foot, in view of tfce New Zealand championships the occurrence is unfortunate, but it is thought that the spell will be very beneficial. It is fully anticipated that the Poverty Bay champion will he fit and well for the national meeting.

jottings. i Jack Algie rode a great race against D'ouglas in the five miles handicap. The way he clung to the redoubtable “Digger” makes me certain that it was. the best effort o. his track career. Ernie* Algie has recovered from the severe shaking he received at the Oval and has commenced training again. Miss Eastwood’s run in the Id vards handicap on January 20 jvas a superb effort, and perhaps her fastest on the Gisborne tracks.

Miss Denton ran well to secure second place to Miss Jansson and should soon pay a “divvy.

On the form shown recently hv Miss McDonald the selector ha* again thought her worthy of consideration for relay honors.

The following team will represent Fovertv against Wellington on February 10: Misses N Eastwood (contain). N. Wilson. .B- McCarthy, ir>rl H. Hansen, with Miss McDonald as emergency. . - i- .

Coach- Paltridge is keeping The relay team in good nick, and tkev are constant attenders at the Reserve for relay practice.

who will win the 75 yard chainpionships at .Te Karaka to-day ( Neither sprint champions will he starters.

Is is rumored that Messrs. Kiee and Houlahan have started training and every morning compete against the clock.

Evidently the judges now obtain a clearer view of the finishes from the special stands, their decisions bein| given with certainty.

B.’lly McDonald was again in the money when he secured second place in''the President’s Handicap. This runner is very consistent and is a great trier. Preparing for Olympia. Although the Olympic Gaines at Amsterdam will not commence until July, 1928, the whole of the athletic world is engaged in the work of arranging for representation and accommodation. Continental Europe, especially Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and Holland, are taking the matter seriously. Recently the Danish Athletic Union discussed the Games, and its opinion thereon will meet with general approval. The union held that the Olympic Committee should be composed of men who had had experience of practical work in athletics, and who had gained their knowledge by actual participation, not, as is often tlie case, of people who have gained a reputation in matters totally outside the realm of sport. The strongest criticism, howevei, was passed by the Danish Footfall Association, which declared that the original purpose of the Games had been totally lost sightof, and that they were now simply means of national advertising on an extensive scale. At the annual dinner of the British Olympic Association on November G, the Duke of Sutherland, the president, said that everything possible would be done to have British representatives properly equipped. In proposing the toast of the British Olympic Association, Lord Birkenhead asked, were the Games worth while? Before the question could be answered he said it must be qualified. His opinion was that, A they led to the cultivation of sport and to the stimulation of courage ami endurance on the field of spurt rather than in the miasma of war, they would attain a great dignity of achievement.

Record by White. W. (“Tickle”) Whyte, the Victorian middle distance star, cracked an Australian record in Melbourne a week or two ago and never even tried to do it. The record was for threequarters -of a mile, which was held by the American. J. A. Power, who was out. in tlie Antipodes just before the war. Whyte dM the journey in 3.153. almost two seconds better than the old figures, but a long way behind T. P. Conneff’s great world’s record of 3.2 4-5. At the same-time it mustbe said for Whyte that he could probably have run the distance faster. He did not come out to run this distance, as the particular race lie was competing in was a mile event. It was just a brainwave on somebody's part to put up a tape at the end of the third lap and arrange for the timing. Before going out Mbyte complained that he did not feel his best, but he set a spanking pace in the first two rounds and, as mentioned, at the end of tlie third was comfortably under the old record. Then he faded away somewhat over the last lap, his time for the full mile being 4.23-}.

Notes and News. The ex-Gisbornian G. J. Sceats is a versatile competitor. His actual performances at the Petone Sports were: Javelin, 160 ft. 3}in ; long jump ]Bft 9in.; high jump, oft- Tin. ; (lie cleared oit. Tin. alter the contest. He also competed in putting the shot. Sceats is becoming proficient in the American style of high jumping, and when he masters the art of lilting liis front foot higher he will do six fee t. —Spo r tsma n.

Through the American Amateur Athletic Union, Paavo Nurmi, tlie Finnish runner, sent to President Calvin Coolidge a gold ornamented knife and chain said to be a type carried in some parts of Finland as a weapon against attacks by highwaymen. The chain is for suspension around the neck. Murray Hulbert, president of the A.A.U., presented the gift to the President at the White House on November 17. Two Mexican Indians, Thomas Zafiro, and Leonicio San Miguel, put up a world’s record on November 8, running from Paehuca to Mexico, a distance of 62} miles in 9hr 37min. During the run the Indians were frequently at altitudes of from a mile and a half to 2 miles. The run was arranged for proving the. ability of the Tarahumare Indians as distance runners. The best previous record for 62 miles is credited to J. Saunders, who during a run of 120 covered the first 62 in lOhr lOmin 50sec.

Death recently claimed A. i>\'. (“Billy”) Shaw, a noted sprinter in tho pro-war days. He died, in the Caulfield Military Hospital, where he has been an invalid since the war. He began his athletic career about twenty years ago and won all manner of races from-75 yards to 220 yards. Running off S 3 yards lie defeated Arthur Postle, in the KalgoorJie £IOO handicap of 130 yards, in 1907,-and had other successes. He was associated with Jack Donaldson, from whom he received a yard start in handicaps. After appearing m different parts' of Australia, Shaw visited England a few years before the' war, and was successful there, winning events from 75 yards to 220 vards in England and Scotland.

RELAXATION FOR THE ATHLETE. MUSCLE CONTROL AND REST. Few people realise the importance of proper relaxation to the athlete. In active competition it enables him to move freely and conserve his energy, writes Frank Brown in the"‘Sporting Globe.’ After, training it enables nature to restore strength and vitality. The tensed-up athlete can never reach the Olympian heights of success. Such an athlete is quickly affected by fatigue. He wastes his strength and vitality by unnecessary contraction of the muscles. In all athletics an athlete must tense his muscles to some extent, but he must 16arn to time this tension. A boxer does' so for a fraction of a second when he releases a blow. A runner does so when his foot strikes the ground to give him a forward impetus. A swimmer relaxes one arm while he pulls with the other, and a wrestler when he snaps on a hold. Tension must be applied at the

right instant, and because the body is loose and free in between times, lie is able to apply his full strength with perfect effect. Niurmi is the greatest endurance runner of the day. He has a loose, free swing from the hips and shoulders. He could never be a champion otherwise, Billy Grime as a boxer is another free mover who is relaxed except at the moment of fighting action. The wrestlers who recently visited us are other, examples of perfect relaxation. Some of them look as though they could wrestle all night, and in fact Thye and Yokel have wrestled matches of over five hours during their careers. The free easy mover in all branches of athletics has acquired the basis of good style, for he can do his work in the most effortless manner. Every athlete should endeavor to acquire free movements. By doing so he will become more effective. The value of relaxation is also necessary after training is over. The amount of work from which a man can benefit on the track or -in the ■gymnasium is regulated by the amount of rest and relaxation he can obtain. Unfortunately many athletes think training is over when they finish their exercise. This is not the case. The amateur athlete who is standing at a counter all day or working in some other way is handicapped in this respect because he finds it hard to get sufficient rest to compensate him for the amount of exercise lie does, unless he is willing to make a personal sacrifice. The professional with plenty of time on his hands can rest himself to the limit if he desires. He can stand more work because he can get more rest. Hard work and plenty of rest are the means of turning out champion athletes. When a man exercises he stretches and contracts his muscles. This drives the blood from them for the time being, and brings alxrat- fatigue. Massage is helpful to soften the muscles, and allows the blood to flow! through them easily again. An exhausted man can be recuperated by massage just because the tightness is taken out of the muscles and the circulation properly restored. Yet a similar though slower effect can be obtained by relaxing all over both physically and mentally-. The man who has studied muscle control can do this well. He can command his muscles to “go loose and rest.”

During the period of rest the blood flows through the body and builds up fresh muscular tissue to take the place of the old tissue that has been broken down by exercise and tension. This is a process that goes on every moment in our lives, but exercise and rest accelerate the action of breaking down and building.

The man who does not exercise becomes clogged with food poisons, and as the blood stream is sluggish the action of breaking down and building up is too'slow. Thus lie gets sick. Jack Donaldson, perhaps the greatest runner the world has ever known, was a great believer in plenty of hard work followed by plenty of rest. He worked in a way that would break the hearts of many modern athletes, hut he spent 11 hours a day in bed. During this long period of rest the blood stream carried away the broken tissue, and built new healthy muscle. He stored away vitality to make tip for the vitality that he used in training. Those who remember him will recall his extraordinary electric force. He seemed crammed up to the eyes with latent energy which appeared eager for release. I am a great believer in an athlete resting two days before an athletic event, provided that he has trained hard and is in good condition for it. Those two days of rest will enable him to store up energy and produce times or form that he could not accomplish on the track or in the gymnasium. Once ,T read a book on. training that was published about 50 years ago. In this book a runner explained bow he ran 10 miles every morning and sprinted in the afternoon. That was the usual routine in those days. This man was one of the best in the country over the “quarter mile,” being able to cover the distance in -54 sec. Rather poor time for a champion. He tells how some slight sickness forced him to remain in bed for several days on one occasion before a big event. “And ynt,” fie went on to say, “I ran the quarter in 51. sec. that day—by far the best time I bad ever accomplished.” There was a good reason for that, although he did not realise it. Owing to the tremendous amount of work he was in the habit of doing in training right up to the day of an event, he had no energy to draw on when it came to the race. . Jt was eaten up by extreme practice, and tin's one time when he was forced to rest, his muscles loosened and he. piled up enough energy to beat his previous best time easily. The amateur who works all day cannot stand hard training unless fie can rest accordingly, and too often he does not give himself a chance to do so. He may spend his "harmlessly” enough at the jazz palais or at the pictures, but he i» losing his need l 'til rest. If our young athletes in all branches of sport cared to make the sacrifice, and went to bed, say at 9 o’clock, they would be surprised ai the improvement in their form.

PADDOCK ON TRAININC. ADVICE TO ATHLETES. In a letter to the Associated Amateur Sports Committee, of Victoria, C. W. Paddock, the world famous sprinter’, states that if all goes well He may yet visit Australia, from which it is not too much to hope that there may he a chance of the great American" figuring on the running tracks of New Zealand before his retirement from the sport in which he lias been such a conspicuous figure for so many years. In his letter, Paddock gives some advice to runners in training, but differentiates between a youth under 20 years of age and a grown man. He considers a youth is always more or less fit, being kept in this condition by normal games. “They need at least three weeks’ preparation, however,” he says. “But it takes a full man two months to get into form.” Regular hours for food, and rest are points he stresses. In regard to food he advises cutting down pastry and sweets, but is open in his mind in regard to other diet. The first week pf track work should consist of quiet jogging with a little work at three-quarter pace. In the second week mild work on the start may he tried with some 150yds run through at three-quarter pace. The third week a man should swing into his regular work. There'should be half a dozen starts over 40 to 60 yards, a hard 150 ymrds, and once a .Week 300 yards all out. . Paddock believes fn cutting out track work entirely the day before n race, and if a runner is in good condition two days’ rest is not too much. That long rest puts liim on his mettle for the competition.