There were some fine performances at Port Sunlight Oval last Wednesday evening, when Wallasey A.C. nearly swept the board by winning 6 events and placings in 7 others.
Personal best performances were recorded by Les Watchman, running in the Grade I mile, when he knocked 4.8 secs. off his previous best time in returning 5 mins. 8 secs. , and he must surely break '5' in the near future. In the grade II mile Kevin Mather made his return to the track after an absence of three weeks, and won in 4 mins. 30.2 secs whilst in the next heat young Colin McDonnell played a waiting game before coming off the last bend with a sprint to the tape which left the second man 20 yards behind/; his time 5 mins. 30.4 secs. In the same race Barbara Banks ran pluckily and finished 4th in a good 6:18 which was also a personal best mark for her. The 440 yards produced the best running of the meeting and Bob Birrell took the first race in a fine 51.6 whilst Ian Wilson once again lowered his own mark by placing 2nd in 57.3. The sprints were dominated by Wallasey's athletes. Tony Parry won his heat in 11 secs., when running into a slight head wind and new member Eric Kendrick repeated this success in the following heat which he won in 11.4 with Ian Wilson 2nd in 11.8
In the 3 miles, Brian Woolford showed no mercy to his opponents and soon ploughed through the field to the front where he stayed for the remainder of the race which he won in 14 mins. 45.8 secs. whilst in the same race David Field was placed 5th in 16:16. On the same evening, Ron Barlow running in an invitation 3 mile at Blackburn returned a great 13 mins. 50.1 secs. when finishing third to internationals Ron Hill and Mike Frearv of Bolton. This was a best for Ron and would appear to be his optimum distance.
Running his best race to date, John Morley flashed home in the Cheshire 440 with a personal best time of 51.9. At the same meeting juniors Mike Teehan and Tony Parry met with partial success in the 440 and 220 respectively, Mike was second in his heat in 53.6, but lacked strength in the final and faded after a poor start to 3rd place. He later made amends by being placed 3rd in the long jump with a good 19 ft 7½ ins., whilst Tony recorded 24.4 in the furlong and came third after an 11 secs. 100 yards in which he finished 5th.
Twelve-year-old, Yvonne Broomhead did 12.0 in the junior girls 100 but finished 4th as did David Field in his 440 heat which he ran in 56.9. John Hughes put up a good performance in the junior mile. After trailing the field for most of the distance he came home with a great effort to snatch 2nd place( in his best time of 4:38.6, and in the senior 3 mile Brian Chalton ran third with 15:20.8.
The Pembroke 20 miles road race which incorporates the Northern and Cheshire equivalent was run in intense heat last Saturday and was a triumph for diminutive Ron Hill who slammed a field of 120 starters which included no fewer than ten international representatives. His time of 1 hour40 min. 55 secs. lowered the existing record by 88 secs. and is an unofficial world best for the distance.
Brian Kilby was 2nd, Basil Heatley (the holder) 3rd and Brian Woolford 4th, in 1 hr. 47 mins. 34 secs. Brian was placed second in the Northern championships and won the Cheshire championships.
Next Tuesday the inter club championships take place. Details of this and club camp from Carl Gee, 78 King Street, Telephone New 5429.
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 06/06/1964 by DISCOBOLUS
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