The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 (extracts)

appeals to keep going he would never have finished at all. As it was, he came in twelfth, ahead of all the other Englishmen, and it is a significant fact that a runner who was practically crippled beat all the rest of a team for which we had nourished such brilliant aspirations of success. As soon as Price was really tackled by Hefferon on a long uphill stretch he was beaten, and soon afterwards retired from sheer exhaustion; but Lord kept on ahead of Longboat and Dorando at fifteen miles, though he had now dropped two minutes behind Hefferon, and when Longboat challenged him his strength gave out and he had to rest before continuing. He lost ground all the way afterwards and finished fifteenth. Not content with going easily in the lead which he held from the fifteenth mile to the twenty-fourth, Hefferon kept trying to get further away, though Longboat, behind him, had had to retire after a duel with Appleby at Harrow. At this point Hefferon, nearly three minutes ahead of Dorando, increased his pace on the up-grade and took a little more out of himself. Appleby, meanwhile, had to stop to get medical attention for his feet, and though he went on again it was clear he could not last much further. Hefferon's twenty-second mile took 8 min. 22 sec, while Dorando ran it in 7 min. 58 sec., drawing nearer all the time, with Hayes a mile behind the leader. At the Clock Tower, Harlesden, Hefferon's advantage over Dorando was reduced to two minutes, but Hayes, \Yelton, and Forshaw (all three Americans) looked stronger than either. The leaders and times up to now had been as follows :- T. Jack .. J. Price .. F. Lord T. Jack J. Price F. Lord F. Lord J. Price F. Lord J. Price F. Lord ]. Price FOUR MILES. h.m. s. 0 21 18 0 21 27 0 21 27 A. Duncan C. Hefferon Dorando FIVE MILES. 0 27 I 0 27 7 0 27 7 A. Duncan C. Hefferon Dorando SIX MILES. o 33 9 Doran do o 33 9 SEVEN MILES. O 38 57 o 38 57 Dorando~ C. Hefferon EIGHT .MILES. 0 +4 52 0 44 52 Doran<lo C. Hefferon M •• h. m. s. 0 21 27 0 21 27 0 21 27 0 27 7 0 27 7 0 27 7 .. 0 33 15 0 39 0 0 39 JO o -1-4 55 0 -1-4 58