Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-25
CROSS-COUNTRY RUN
A SPLENDID SUCCESS
Morse Heads the Y. N. c. A.
Runners in FVe-Mile
Event.

Z. c. Morse. an .unheraIded runner of
the Y. VI. G.. A. and one whose fleet
footedness was unknown, broke the tape
In the annual handicap cross country run
Of the Young Mems Christian Association
today. Starting with handicap of two
and a half minutes, Morse soon caught up
with six runners who had a start of half
a minute on him. He let the others pace
him during the greater part of the race
and won easily in the last mile.
But he divided honors with j. G.. Steck-
er, whose ability at marathon distances
has been shown by his work in several
local long distance races recently. and
who has been a member of the winning
Y. NJ. c. A. team in practically all OF the
local distance races. Stecker started alone
from scratch and in the first mile he
caught the tail of the procession that was
ahead. One by one he passed the pufnnS
athletes and he finished in fourth place
His actual running time, however, was
the best of the contestants.
He ran the five miles in twenty-Six min
utes, forty-five seconds. F. b. Galloway,
who finished third from a handicap of one
minute ran the distance in twenty-seven
minutes thirty-three seconds. Morse, the
winner, of the run. was third, in the time
taken to cover the course. he crossing
the finish line twenty-eight minutes thirty
seconds after he started. Arthur CraW-
ford finished second in the race, and his
time was fourth best
Faced Stiff Breeze.
Although the sun came out to smile
at the twenty-three men in running
clothes that toed the mark in front of
the Y. NJ. c. A. building at 18th and G
streets, there was a strong gale blowing
down the street, and when the athletes
rushed onto the speedway around the
tidal basin, they ducked their heads and
fought to make headway against the
breeze. AT times, when the wind was at
their backs. the men heightened their
strides, but the battle against the breeze
during half of the race prevented the
runners from making any record time.
1t was shortly after II o'clock when G..
T.. Beckett, physical director of the Y. M.
c. a. called the runners from the asso-
citation building to their marks on G street
in front of the structure. big crowd of
marathon enthusiasts was on hand and
gave the men cheer. The men with a
handicap of three minutes were called to
the macarthur b. Crawford, Ernest G.
Woodward, Wilbur j. Brown, r.. A. Leh-
man. James l.. Burch and Fred Magruder.
They started off with a sprint.
Just as they disappeared around the
corner Of 18th and G streets. the men
with handicaps of two and three-fourth
minutes were started-E. c. Mcdonald.
Prehtis D. Sale, George T. Wise-and
Morse and Mark De Grange.
Stecker's Big Handicap.
The two-minute handicap men follow
d, the starters being Max Yudelevitt and
Frank Germon. A half minute after
hem ]. NJ Cults and H. Thornton Knight
ir.. were off. f. G. Galloway started a
half minute later; and a full minute be-
hind him j. G. Stecker was the last man
off. 1t seemed as II the men who had
started three minutes before were so far
away that Stecker could never catch
hem.
The crowd watched the men go down
18th street until they disappeared out OF
sight as they turned on to the speedway
,eading around the west side of the tidal
BASIN. From the tidal basin road the
course went on to the road running under
The Highway bridge and down along the
river to the circle, around the circle and
pack under the Highway bridge. thence to
18th street, over the inlet bridge to the
path running by the retaining wall of the
Potomac basin to 18th street and thence
10 the Y. NJ C.. A. building at 18th and G
streets.
When the race was half over Crawford.
who had the limit handicap, was in the
lead. but Morse, the ultimate winner, was
close behind him. having gained the half
minute which separated the two men at
the start. Stecker, who had started in
twenty-third place. had forced his way
up to the fifteenth place and was running
strong. He passed all but three of the
men who were ahead of him at the half
way point in the race.
Crawford in Front.
When the race was half over Crawford
was in first place. Morse In second,
Woodward in third Brown in fourth. De
Grange in fifth. French In sixth. McDon-
aid In seventh. Sale in eighth, Wise in
ninth and Lehman in tenth. Stecker,
who started in twenty-third place, had
worked his way up to 18th place at the
halfway point and was running strong.
Just ahead of him was Galloway, who
started just ahead of him; and the two
men kept the same relative positions in
the race from beginning to end, the min
ute handicap being too great for Stecker
to overcome in the five miles.
The crowd that had watched the start
rushed down to the corner of 18th and G
streets to catch the first glimpse of the
runners as they turned into 18th street
from the speedway, and many were the
speculations that flew from mouth to
mouth regarding who would be the first
man to appear. The majority of the
crowd seemed favorable to Stecker as he
was the last to start.
In the distance the white jersey of a
runner could be distinguished and the
crowd Immediately rushed for the finish
line in front of the Y. NJ. C. A. building
GTelty SOOh TIE "hltc ISufe, arms uOu-
bled up and face strained, turned the
corner.
Its No. 49, some one near the corner
shouted. The number was not expected
and the expectant crowd turned to their
programs to see who No. Is was.
"E. c. Morse" one read; and the name
was on every lip by the time he had
covered the distance from nth street to
the finish line. A cheer went up for the
victor as he trotted across the line
Twenty-three seconds behind him came
Crawford. running with an easy stride.
He was closely followed by Galloway and
Stecker was only twelve seconds behind
him
How They Finished.
Place and name. Handcp. Time
l-E. C. Morse. 23o p 80
ARTHUR r. Crawford. BOO % 23
a. Coll