Modern Athletics 1868

REVIEW OF THE ATHLETIC SEASON, 1867-8. 69 mile amateur timeon record—viz., 6 minuteg 55 seconds, cauglit Iris opponent in the fifth quarter ofa mile, and won easily. It has been observed at thebeginning of this chapter, that although the athletisceason in general may be said to end with the last week in April, yet that there are, during the summer, somemeetings of importance,—such as those of the Civil Services in London and Dublin, the Amateur Champion meeting,and others in the provinces. Of these I will now proceed to givesome particulars. The sixteenth annual meetinogf Cheltenham College was held on May 1and 2. A very full programme was got through, there being upwards of850 entries; but no cri­ terion can be formed of the merits of the competitors in any of the sprint races, from thefact that there is a fall of 5'65 feet in the100 yards course, of8'1 feet in114 yards, and of 8'13 feet in 120yards. A more favourable slope could hardly be chosen,since if it were more, none but very light weights couldrun on it without being shaken all to pieces. B. Turnerwas adjudged the first place inthe final heat of the 100 yards, bya bare foot, many thinking J. Godfray had won; but from the situation of the judgeit was hardly possible for him to correctly decide so near a thing. The actual timewas lOf seconds, but wouldhave been at least a fifthof a second longer on level ground. Turner's other performances during the meeting were, finishing eight yards behind Godfray in the "quarter," and two behindE. Fox inthe cricketers' hundred yards. W. Lawrence secured thehigh jump at the nominal height of 5 feet 7 inches, really some five or six inches less, as a rope was used instead of the usual lath, andthe competi­ tors frequently struck theimpediment withoutdisplacing it. G. Strachan seemed well at home in both steeple­ chases, as he won the 220 yards one easily in35^-seconds, besides making a dead-heat for second place with W. Hennell in the quarter mile one. In this case, also, the difficulty arose from the misplaced position of the judge. Strachan's other victories were, throwing the cricket-ball 114 yards1foot,* and putting the weight; but * As a prootfhat theabove down-hillthrow was no real test of the victor's meriti,t may be stated thathe could not beat a winning throw of 97 yards only on level ground, at the Crystal Palace Cricket CluSbports, two monthsafterwards, onJuly 18, 1868.