The rail strike caused many Wallasey Athletic Club members who would have liked to compete last Saturday to stay at home. One or two members managed, by various means, to arrive at Helsby for the B.I.C.C. sports.
However they were not very successful though their efforts to make sure Wallasey was represented at these sports must be commended.
Another Wallasey runner whose plans were upset by the strike, was Frank Ledward, our marathon runner, who had hoped to turn out for the Radcliffe 20-mile Road Race, but found he could not make the trip.
Most of the other club members could be found at the Wallasey G.S. Sports. The results were very interesting, perhaps the most surprising being the defeat of Ian McIvor and Tony Townsend by an 'unknown' Chris Jones, in the mile. After a fast first half mile 'Mac' seemed to have the race in his pocket but Chris, a strongly built young runner, pulled out a speed burst over the last 200 yards which enabled him to beat 'Mac' by about 5 yards in 4 mins. 46 sees. Incidentally a similar thing happened about 4 years ago in the School Mile Race when the winner was Don Anderson who later went on to establish an all England schools record for the 880 yds. One of the Club's most promising junior runners Tom Kennedy gained the Victor Ludorum after winning five or six of the events. In the 440 he was given a very good race by Ian Bell, who he just beat on the sprint in.
This Saturday the club compete in the Lever Trophy which is being held at Port Sunlight. This meeting is always very good and times are certain to be fast as the Liverpool clubs' Pembroke and Liverpool H. in particular, will be competing. The club has selected a fairly strong team who have a good chance of success in many of the events. They should do quite well, though last year we were hampered by the non-appearance of some members.
Anyone who would like to give up smoking and have a cast iron excuse for doing so should take up athletics. It is amazing how good it feels to be fairly fit. Anyone interested should contact either Mr. R. F. Hubbard, 44, Tollemache St., Wallasey (Tel. 2389); Mr. C. Gee, 78, King St., Wallasey (Tel. 5129) or Miss J. Massey, 200 Seaview Rd., Wallasey (Tel. 6455).
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 18/06/1955 by SPIKE
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