N. Marples, the brilliant nineteen old athlete, won the Senior Cross-Country Championship of Wallasey Athletic Club run over 7½ miles last Saturday. K. A. Westmore, former Liverpool University champion and one mile champion of Wallasey, was second, and P. Watson ran a fine race to take third place. Four of the first five finishers were under twenty-one years of age.
The hat trick holder, J. Edwards, was unable to defend his title owing to damages sustained in a fall whilst training on the previous Tuesday and his absent robbed the race of a great deal of interest especially in view of his fine efforts in inter-club races during the season. Another notable absentee was W. P. Davey, the former Liverpool & District Champion, who, along with Edwards was forced to be a mere spectator.
The race was run under fairly arduous conditions, the runners having to face cold, driving rain over the first half of the course, which went through Bidston, Moreton, Upton and back to Bidston over to the finish in Leasowe-road.
A field of twenty-five runners included distinguished visitors in R. Leach, the former Cheshire and Wallasey mile champion, and W. R. Richardson, who has won this race three times. Marples led for practically the whole of the distance and although Westmore drew level at about two miles the latter runner was incapable of producing his best running, and Marples went on to win rather easily by about 150 yards. P. Watson created a surprise by finishing very strongly in the third place and is obviously now settling down to become a very useful performer, whilst D. Grisdale, who finished fourth, took the award for the first Junior outside the first three, his racing "shadow," G. K. Andrew, keeping up the partnership by finishing close behind in fifth position. J. Williams effected a mild sort of "come-back" with a good run into sixth position, closely followed by the veteran of the race, F. K. Ledward, who undoubtedly registered one of the best performances of the afternoon. J. L. Davis, who finished 12th, won the sealed handicap first prize, with J. Williams second and J. Cunningham (8th) third, only ten seconds separating these three runners. Results :
mins. secs.
1. - N. Marples 46 25
2. - K. A. Westmore 46 55
3. - P. Watson 47 37
4. - D. Grisdale 47 55
5. - G.K. Andrew 47 7
6. - J. Williams 50 8
7. - F.K. Ledward 50 15
8. - J. Cunningham 50 18
9. -J .S. Arkless 50 36
10. - C. F. Peers 50 39
To-day Wallasey Grammar School entertain Old Wallaseyans of Wallasey Athletic Club from the former's headquarters over 3½ miles, and in view of the School's meritorious performance in gaining second place in the Northern Public Schools Championship at Manchester last Saturday, a good race should
Ensue.
PENNINGTON WINS AGAIN.
Alan Pennington, the local Olympic Games and International sprinter, who was formerly a member of Wallasey Athletic Club, won the 440 yards race in the annual Oxford versus Cambridge athletic match last Saturday. Running in the Hertford College, Oxford, colours, he won easily in the fairly fast time of 49.1 seconds, which represents a really good performance so early in the track season and seems to indicate that Pennington is finally forsaking his favourite distance of a furlong and concentrating exclusively on the 440 yards race.
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 25/03/1939
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