Athletics and Football (extract)

i 10 ATHLETICS in all his races fresh and confident; and on the occasion when he beat George ran with wonderful judgment, steadily increas­ ing his pace all round the last lap at Aston, until he had his man settled at the top of the straight, when he came away and won in 4 min. 24I sec. Wise, who wasa man of great en­ thusiasm for athletics,wasthe firstVice-President of the Athletic Association, and that body lost much by his return to his native country. New South Wales, in 1883. He has recently been appointed Attorney-Generalof that colony. George'sother great rival wasW. Snook, of Shrewsbury,a runner of very remarkable physique. A short, thick-set man with tremendous legs,shoulders, and chest, he certainly looked most unlike a runner of long distances; but he, too, like George, trained his strength and staying powers to an extraordinary pitch of excellence,and, although most unlike George in build, resembled him in striding straight from the hips, and thus covering more ground in each stride than would have been thought possible from his height and make. When at his best Snook wasvery little inferior to George at any of his distances, and George's amateur record for a mile of 4 min. i8f sec. was made after a hot race with Snook in the championship of 1884. In one year (1883),when Georgewas again a bit off colour. Snook was too good for him in the Mileand Four Mile Championships, but on all the other occasions, when matches weremade between the pair, and both werefit and well, George proved himself the better man. Still Snook, when he won the Civil Service Milefrom scratch in 1883 in 4 min. 20 sec., was certainly not pressed at the finish, and a hard race on that day would,we think, have made him do an astonishingperformance. Since George has turned professional he has in a match with Cummings completed a mile in 4 min. 12%sec., and this seems to set at rest for ever the question which, in spite of George's victories, wasalways being debated—who was the better man upon his best day. Although steeplechases were popular in the earlydays of athletics, they fell into disuse at important meetingsfor many