The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-26 00:00:00

AMATEUR ATHLETIC CLUB.

On Friday the gentlemen who compose the Ama-
teur Athletic Club of London held their annual
champion meeting in the grounds of Beaufort-house,
at Walham-green. An unusually large number
of competitors entered the lists, partly from the fact
of the contest taking place so soon after that of the
sister Universities, each of whom had large numbers
of representatives in town to witness the great
aquatic contest of to-day, and very many of whom
took up the challenge which was offered by the
London Amateur Club. The first event was the
race of 100 yards. This was contested in three
heats. The final beat was run in little over 12 sec.,
both the Oxford men winning, though not easily.
The first to breast the rope at the winning-post
was Mr. T. M. Colemore (Brasenose), Mr. R. W.
Vidal (St. John's), who ran so well at the Uni-
versity competition a fortnight ago, being second.
The hurdle race which followed was also in three
heats ; it was a run of 120 yards, over ten flights
of hurdles, each 3ft. Gin. high. Mr. Tiffany of
Cambridge, and Mr. Morgan, of Oxford, both of
whom so distinguished themselves at the University
competition, won each a heat in this race. The final
heat, however, left them comparatively nowhere,
and Mr. Milvaine, of Trinity, Cambridge, came in
the winner, Mr. C. W. Jackson (Oxford) being so
good a second that for a long time it was contended,
or at least believed, that it had been a dead heat.
The seven- miles walking race was one of the con-
tests in which great interest was manifested. It
was, however, comparatively speaking a hollow
affair, Mr. J. G. Chambers, of Trinity College,
Cambridge, easily keeping clear of his competitors,
and winning a fair toe-and heel walking match of
seven miles in 59 minutes 3 seconds. In " putting
the : weight" all the University competitors were
easily beaten by Captain Fraser, who threw the ball
with ease to a distance of nearly 35ft. None of his
antagonists came within five feet of this fine effort.
In !throwing the hammer not one of the competi-
tors, even including those who won in the Univer-
sity games, came near their previous performances,
, the two winners, Mr. D. Morgan (Oxford) and Mr.
R. James (Oxford) only throwing it respectively a
distance of 75ft. and 78ft. thus leaving Mr. James
an easy winner. The high jump was, excepting in
the speed of one of the races, the only portion of
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Mr. J. C. Little jumping with comparative ease the
height of sft. 9in. Mr. Roupell, also of Cambridge,
made a very good second. In the broad leap both
the Cambridge men won, Mr. Fitzherbert being
first, springing 19ft. Bin., and Mr. Little second,
jumping 19ft. 4in., or a foot less than he was able
easily to accomplish in the rival University sports.
The one-mile race was won easily by Mr. C. B.
Lawes, of Trinity College, Cambridge, Mr. Boiv-
man, of Oxford, being a fine second. It may pro-
bably, be recollected by our readers that in the one
mile race at Oxford every dependence was
placed by the Cantabs on the performance of Mr.
Lawes. He, however, was unable to run, and cer-
tainly the style in which he was able to beat his
competitors yesterday showed that the expectations
of his friends and backers were well founded. This
race was run in 4 minutes 39 seconds, and none of
the gentlemen appeared in the least distressed,
though the pace was terrible, especially at the end.
The quarter of a mile was actually run within 55
seconds, Mr. J. -H. Ridley, of Eton, being the
winner. Mr. C. W. Beardsell, who was second,
made Mr. Ridley's victory a very hard one ; in fact,
all the competitors were well together and the pace,
as the time of running shows, was tremendous.
The half-mile race was an easy victory for Mr.
Thornton (London) ; it was run in two minutes and
five seconds, Mr. Gibbs (Cambridge) being a very
good second. All the competitions were brought to
a conclusion by the great event of the day, which
was a foot race of no less than four miles. For this
as many as nine entered, or rather started, Mr.
Garnett, of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Mr.
Molloy, of the London Rowing Club, being favou-
rites. Scarcely one of the gentlemen, but the winner,
Mr. Garnett, seemed in good training for such a
terrible contest. The pace from the outset was very
severe, and the whole four miles were run in a few
seconds over 21 minutes. For a long time Mr.
Garnett and Captain Barnes kept the lead, Mr.
Royds, of Eton, following close behind them. At
the conclusion of the third mile, however, it was
evident that Captain Barnes's chance was gone, and
he at last resigned the race, but not without a struggle
which showed that be had pushed his physical rapa-
city to its utmost limits. Mr. Royds then took up
the running with the most earnest spirit. All others
were now out of the contest, and it was evident that
the race lay between Mr. Garnett and Mr. Royds.
The former gentleman ran magnificently, and
Mr. Royds, who was a mere lad compared with
his antagonist, was evidently deficient in proper
training, and seemed to use greater efforts in keep-
ing himself going than were at all necessary to his
actual speed. At this time the race became a scene
of almost painful interest, as Mr. Royds came along
gasping, and visibly taxing his powers to the very
utmost to overtake Mr. Garnett. But the latter
was well ahead,'and was clearly running apace that
suited him, though it nevertheless was one of tre-
mendous speed. At the eleventh and last run round
the course Mr. Royds was cheered tremendously by
all who saw with what pluck and pertinacity, in

spite of failing powers, he was still sticking close
behind his antagonist. The final trial, however,
during the last hundred yards came at a time when
Mr. Garnett had a lead of at least 20 yards, and
was then going ahead at such a pace that it was evi-
dent nothing but a horse could overtake him. Still
Mr. Royds persevered, and made a most desperate
spurt at the finish. As he passed the winning-post,
behind Mr. Garnett by some 15 yards, he reeled and
fell exhausted on the grass, and after a few minutes
had to be carried to the dressing-room, where, we
are very glad to say, he soon recovered from his
exhaustion. Mr. Garnett won the race, but in the
opinion of all on the ground the endurance and
determination to win shown by his younger com-
petitor left the latter virtually the hero of the con-
test. With this last race the proceedings came to a
close. The times of all the runnings were noted,
even to tenths of seconds, by Mr. Benson's chrono-
graph.