The Washington herald., 1909-04-25

Duaey did SIS seconds he should have
been in race BY himself and the other
men nowhere
The following week Duffey ran sixty
yards 70 break the record OF s IS seconds
at TraveTs Island Everything was IA
vorable, but the best be could do in sew
eral trials was SIS seconds. To do i00
yards in 3 3-5 seconds. DUffey would have
had 70 do the last forty yards in just
three seconds I would 90 good many
miles TO see a sprinter who could travel
the last forty yards Of a hundred in three
seconds As I said before. sprinters hard
~ vary foot in their various perform
ances. The only luck IS in the start and
since Dufey got what was for him a
very poor start, and only beat the other
men by such small margins, I have al
ways disputed the correctness Of his rec
Ords Of 3-5 seconds. Yet Duhey was a
man who when right could do As sec
onds and was Infinitely better able to do
? So seconds than Kelly.
Wefers Could Beat Duney.
Il have been asked a thousand times
Gould Wefers beat Duffey for 100 yardsg
I have always replied that a good big
man can always beat a good small one
in any race from 100 10 leo yards. I
think that Wefers could have beaten
Du1ey as much as he beat Crurn and
Bradley in 1885. How do I know? Be
cause I have had the same men running
against them both
A few weeks ago I had occasion 10
observe how records are broken so easily
in New York In two events. the mile
and two miles. new records were estab-
hshed- I was suspicious Of the track be-
oause a twO-mile relay team I had en-
tered had run seven seconds faster this
night than it had ever been able to do
for me. ! felt that~the track was short
and since then one Of the men who helped
10 measure il told me that il had been
measured eighteen inches from the rail
Since the rail was only an inch higher
the average runner goes within six inches
Of this rail. This, coupled with the fact
that the rails were taken out on each
end for the sprint races. explains the
fast time. The difference between a ten
lap track measured eighteen inches from
the rail and six inches from the rail is
Just sixty-three feet II Is q ysery easy
matter To break records when track is
measured Ike this I insist once more
LiAdA tELNltaS lAlt1AE ltAt NfalS az AAlA A14a4
records and should not be allowed.
First Race Witnessed by Murphy.
The first race I ever saw was a twen-
ty-mile contest on the BrockTon. Mass.
race track An Englishman named War
burton ran twenty miles while two Amer
leans ran ten miles each. Warburton
gained one lap. or half mile. on the
first American. and the second man did
not make IL Up until the last Loo yards,
when he just beat out the Elglishman
thirty Yards in ! hour % minutes. Eight
years later I heard OF a man who had
beaten the best half-nileT IN Canada in
I5I He finished as he liked the last 100
yards, and We knew he had done a trial
in l54 I had q yoUngster with me that
I thought pretty we'll OF. and We offered
them a race with a start Of twenty feet.
but they would rot run This same man
had run a trial 80 yards, measured dis
tanCe. in 4s seconds.
Last summer. while IN England, the
trainer OF the famous George Tinker
told me that Tinker had once run a trial
for him In 4,09- And am just as sure
that Tommy ConneT. in 1895. could have
beaten a mile in 40
Athletes Become COnceited.
The reason I have given these last
few incidents Is that those youngsters
who read this may know that when they
break some existing record they should
not allow themselves to be puffed Up. nor
to imagine that they are the greatest
athletes in the world Don't get the big
head. II you break q record. Try 10 show
that you are q real champion by dupii-
eating It Some day you viii meet a man
who will take your laurels from you.
because nothing was ever done IN this
world which somebody some day can
not 90 a little better
When a man gets conceited over his
performances then he starts down hill.
he becomes careless and imagines that
he can beat his opponents without train
ing. This is a fatal mistake. Don't IN
derrate your opponents. but always keep
yourself In condition. And, above ali,
avoid cigarettes and alcoholic stimulants.
I call attention 10 these things az every
opportunity because I have had occasion
50 often 10 note their injurious effects.
Finally. remember that beating
mans record and beating the man him
self are entirely different things Don't
consider yourself a real champion until
YOU can do both"