At London's White City Stadium this Saturday, Wallasey A.C. jumper Len Platt will take on the best in the country in the long jump and the hop, step and jump events in the A.A.A. Championships.
As these championships are also open to foreign athletes, Platt will be facing his biggest test of the season and he can be assured of the best wishes of his many Wallasey supporters, Len's form this season, has not been quite up to last season's level, but he is the type of athlete who never gives a poor performance and is always likely to pull something out of the bag. He has already had many successes and will have the confidence of going into both the long jump and hop, step and jump as this year's Northern Counties champion.
The Northern Junior Championships were held at Stockport last Saturday when Don Anderson, finished in 4th place in the final of the half mile after finishing 3rd in the fastest heat of the day.
This race was a good example of how the luck of the draw can influence the result of a race; as one or two runners in Anderson's heat who are quite capable of a 2 mins. 2 secs. half mile were not placed while the other two heats were won in 2 mins. 17 secs. and 2 mins. 7 seconds.
Although Anderson was for two years English Schools champion over this distance with a best time of 2 mins. 0.6 secs., he found the final a little too fast, with the winner turning in a time of 1 min. 58 secs. At the U.G.B. sports at St. Helens, Wallasey athlete, Matt Smith, gained second place in the high jump with a good leap of 5ft. 7ins., while Roy Parry was third in the junior half mile handicap with an actual time of something like 2 mins. 6 secs.
Next Saturday sees the annual inter-town contest to be held this year at the L.B.A. grounds, Fazakerley, and any Wallasey athlete interested and eligible is asked to contact Ron Hubbard immediately at 44 Tollemache Street, New Brighton.
Telephone - Wallasey 2389.
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 11/07/1953 by R.M.
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