Rowing and Track Athletics (extract)

Cross-Country Running in America 349 hurdler, was among its active members. As other clubs were organized the sport gradually changed and races over measured courses began to be interspersed between the paper chases. The first important race of this sort was the five– mile run for the individual championship, held by the New York Athletic Club in 1883, over a course at Mott Haven. The third of these in– dividual championships, in 1885, was won by E. C. Carter, the " Little Boy in Pink," who had just come over from England, and who was presently to prove himself one of the most consistent dis– tance runners in the country. Club athletics were at the height of their popularity at this time; the general public interest naturally spread over and included the new sport, and presently the Prospect Harriers and the Suburban Harriers were organized - the two organizations which were to have the greatest influence on cross-coun– try running. The Suburban Harriers were or– ganized in New York City, while the Prospect Harriers were a Brooklyn organization and named after the park where so many of their runs were to be held. Finally, in March 1887, all the clubs in the neighborhood of New York City got to– gether, the National Cros -Country Association was organized, and the first team championship was contested. The Prospect and Suburban Harriers and the Manhattan Athl tic Club each