BIG PROGRAMME ARRANGED

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20989, 16 December 1939, Page 20 (Supplement)

BIG PROGRAMME ARRANGED

CYCLING, ATHLETICS, WRESTLING

The decision of the Morrinsville Athletic and Cycling Club to proceed with its programme for the 1940 sports meeting on January 2, in spite of the war and the attendant difficulties, will be greeted with keen interest in many parts of New Zealand. In many branches of sport, organisations of much longer standing than the Morrinsville organisation have deemed it advisable to curtail their activities in view of the uncertainty of conditions, but the Morrinsville Athletic and Cycle Club has decided to expand its activities with the intention of providing the biggest programme of its existence. This season the club will present, in addition to the athletic programme, six cycling events, six amateur and professional wrestling events, midget car racing and clay bird shooting. The chief event on the cycling programme will be a one-mile handicap of £ll3, which is expected to draw entries from many parts of the Dominion. The first prize for the race will be £6O in cash, a cycle frame valued at £9 and a Centennial sash worth £2 2s. The other major prizes for the race will be as follows : £ls to the second rider, £lO to the third and £5 to the fourth. In addition, heat winners who do not collect in the final will receive £lO, while a cup valued at £2 2s will go to the rider who makes the fastest heat. Another departure this year which should meet with the approval of the club’s patrons is the introduction of a soldiers’ 100 yards flat race. It is expected that the event will arouse wide interest and draw a large field. The race will be free of entry and will carry £lO in prizes. With a splendid 518-yard clay banked track, which has been described as the best of its kind in Australasia, accommodation for thousands of spectators, ample parking space for cars, three entrance gates and adequate picnic facilities the club is in a position to cater for an attendance of fully 15,000 people, and it is expected that this season’s meeting will far exceed its predecessors in all respects.