Club Race Reports Season 1937-1938
Liverpool & District XC Union
Championships - Court Hey - 05/03/1938 - Senior Men
In the 9-mile race of the Liverpool & District Cross-Country Championships at Broadgreen last Saturday, Liverpool Pembroke Harriers gave a brilliant display placing the first six men home.
They thus broke a record for the event that had stood since 1914, when Wallasey A.C., then in its heyday, had seven out of the first eight. N. Jones, Johnson and Frost of Pembroke led throughout the race, well clear of the rest of the field of about 80 runners. On the last lap, Jones went ahead of his clubmates to win fairly easily by about 20 yards. On this performance, Pembroke stand a good chance in the National Championships that are being run to-day at Reading.
As anticipated, Wallasey A.C. seniors put up a better show than for several seasons, though they just failed to get a team position. K. Westmore and J. Edwards ran very well to finish 9th and 11th respectively, the former gaining the medal awarded to the first man home of an unplaced team. W. Richardson, the Wallasey captain, also had reason to be satisfied with his position, for he had only recently recovered from a leg injury and was not in proper training. The rest of the club packed well but unfortunately it was at the wrong end of the race.
W. Davey, of Wallasey, was unable to turn out to defend his junior title, and the team had therefore, little hope of success in this event. The race over 6 miles (two laps of the course) was won by E. Jones, of Liverpool University in the fast time of 35 mins. 12 secs., with Downs (Sefton) second and Riley (Wirral) third. Chief interest from Wallasey's point of view lay in the performance of N. Marples, the junior captain, who run brilliantly to finish fifth very close behind the leaders. This achievement was all the more creditable as this is his first year in the junior ranks and he had moreover little incentive to run hard as the team could hardly hope for a place. Marples has a very easy style and a long stride and is at his best over a longer distance than 6 miles. There is no doubt that he will be in championship class in a few years.
Next to Marples, D. Grisedale also did very well to finish 10th. Here is another runner in whom Wallasey A.C. has high hopes for the future. He showed on Saturday that he has not only the running ability but also, what is more important, the tenacity to keep a position and run for the rest of its counters. Eventually, however, a full team finished, J. Kelly, after a close struggle over the last lap with a University representative, just managing to avoid the distinction of coming in last.
In the youths' race over 2 miles, W. Marsh of Pembroke won easily in 37 min. 44 secs. From Owen of Liverpool H. and Craddock of Sefton. Andrews was the only Wallasey runner to distinguish himself, finishing 8th in excellent style. Fishwick, handicapped by a bad cold was not up to his usual form and could do no better than 23rd.
Christmas Handicap
Christmas Handicap - Leasowe - 18/12/1937 - Seniors
The President, Mr. A. G. Nicholson, and four Vice-Presidents were present when Wallasey Athletic Club held their Christmas Handicap last Saturday.
The race, which attracted 22 starters, was run over a 4½ mile course, including most of Leasowe Road and a good stretch of shore. J. Kelly, with an allowance of 4.00, was first away followed at intervals by other runners, the last man to start being the actual scratch man, J. Edwards. E. A. Sawyer lost a few valuable seconds at the start through not being completely changed when the starter (Mr. W. S. Brookes) called his name. Although there were two retirements before half-way, it was obvious, that the big allowance men were not making the best of their advantage, their pace being considerably slower than in the corresponding race last year. Many runners made the mistake, a very usual one in handicaps, of merely trying to overtake the man in front, thus running in a series of very tiring spurts, instead of aiming at running steadily throughout. Edwards ran in hurricane fashion off the scratch mark and succeeded in beating the handicapper and those in front of him, winning in a time which smashed the course record by no less than 100 seconds. No handicapper could have anticipated an effort of this description.
The conditions, apart from the intense cold, were favourable for fast times, although the embankments were covered with a layer of treacherous ice. Grisdale, who was 2nd, registered 3rd fastest time and Sawyer, despite his lost seconds, ran well into 3rd place. The 2nd to 14th men finished inside one minute. Rimmer and Barker with big allowances were only caught in the last half mile, and R. Yeoman, who is still in the Youth's section, worthily obtained 4th position on a day when most of the back-markers touched their best form. Noel Marples had the satisfaction of returning 2nd fastest time, thus confirming his position as the Club's 2nd runner.
Result.-1, J. Edwards; 2nd, D. Grisdale ; 3, E. A. Sawyer ; 4th, R. Yeoman ; 5th, J. Whittingham ; 6th, N. I. Marples.
Mr. R. J. Edwards presented the prizes to all competitors after the race and some brisk speeches followed.
