Newton, 45-Year-Old South African Farmer, Sets World’s 100-Mile-Run Mark in England

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 281, 17 February 1928, Page 10

Newton, 45-Year-Old South African Farmer, Sets World’s 100-Mile-Run Mark in England

Arthur Newton, 45 years old, exSouth African athlete, ran from Box Villa, near Bath, to Hyde Park, London, in January, a distance of 100 miles, in 14 hours 25 minutes, thus beating the amateur record of 14 hours 35 minutes established by him in South Africa. v Enthusiastic crowds had gathered in Hyde Park to welcome him and he had to be rescued by the police. A number of children were knocked down in the crush and it was almost impossible for Newton to run the length of the park to complete the distance. Faint and exhausted, he was taken to St. George’s Hospital.

Newton, who is a farmer, was paced, each of four British marathon stars running 25 miles. His first seven miles he made in only 49 minutes, whil© at the 25-mile mark his time was 2 hours 53 minutes. His time for 50 miles was 6:41:13. He was forced to run over bad roads due to the flood and at Maidenhead had to quit the water-covered road and use an elevated footpath. Newton, who didn’t begin to run until recent years, has peculiar training methods, but despite them claims to be the best-conditioned long-dis-tance runner in the world.