THEY CAME HOME IN A HURRY

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 43, 19 April 1940, Page 38

THEY CAME HOME IN A HURRY

| N.Z. ’s Times And The World’s Great Mile Runs t+ ILES of the Century" have \ | been almost as common as butter on biscuits over the last few years. One or two have come close to deserving the title given Lovelock’s great run in 1933. Others have served only to rank the boosting of athletics with movie picture advertising. All have indicated the extraordinary place which this distance has in the imaginations of men and women, whether or no they ordinarily follow sport, Partly, this may be the common sort of wishful thinking that makes us anticipate the almost unattainable. We want to see someone run a mile in four minutes, or less, because not very long ago experts said no human ever would, and now Cunningham, for instance, is only 4.4 seconds off the mark. Partly it must be genuine admiration for the combination of skill and stamina that takes a man over this gruelling distance at such gruelling speed with such exacting need for such fine judgment, It is the classic race. In Almost Any Language If it were not, the lucky users of the Continental decimal system would not bother with it. Over other distances we must run in their metres. Over this one distance, more than over any other, they agree to abide hy our senseless system of measurement. The word "mile" is common property to most modern languages, thanks to Nurmi, to Ladoumegue, to Lovelock, Wooderson, and Cunning. ham. The queerest of all outstanding mile races was run this season at the New Zealand championships when Pullar came in first in 4mins. 18.2secs. Pullar had previously featured in a mile race which was notable for the speed of the last 880 yards. In 1937, at Auckland, running against Wilson, he covered the last two laps in a speed faster than any had before, except Lovelock and Cunningham. Once again, this year he came home just ahead of Dickison to make a flashing finish to a race which med during the first two laps destin? to be more than usually slow. Fascinating Study For the sportsman, the mathematician, the physiologist, or the plain man in the street, study of how these races are run is a fascinating business. The table given here will provide some food for thought.

Nurmi Ladoumegue Lovelock Cunningham Wooderson Cunningham Pullar Zo Pullar * ate Year 1923 1931 1933 1934 1937 1938 1937 1940 (This race was 64.0 63.6 Laps 63.2 64.9 63.4 63.8 62.2 65.1 63.7 61.8 64.0 64.6 64.0 61.7 run indoors) 66.0 64.0 73.2 62.8 63.7 61.2 58.9 59.4 59.2 60.2 60.8 58.6