The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-07-30
United Press Association.
By STUART CAMERON

United Press Sports Editor)
 Los Angeles, July 30 (UP)-For many years one of the most popu- lar forms of sport in Great Britain was the cross country run, usually in the. form. of. a "hare and hounds" event with the partici- pants ambling over a hill and dale course, scrambling over fences and hedges and fording streams in the course of their race. The modern steeplechase event on the Olympic program is an attempt to stage this sort of cross country event within the narrow confines of a great stadium.
 Hills and dales, of course, can not be duplicated on the fiat in- field of the modern stadium and, for that matter, it would be quite an engineering feat to run a few streams athwart the course with out ruining the stadium for other purposes but modern engineers have substituted makeshift ob- stacles in the form of fences and hurdles and water jump so that the luckless steeplechaser not only has to run the better part of two miles but must scramble over something like forty of these. ob- stacles in negotiating this distance.
 Tirclcss Runner.
 Needless to say it takes a tire- less runner to win the steeplechase. He must have as good speed as the average two-miler and yet cannot be mechanical as he scarcely gets a chance to get into stride between the obstacles before he begins to clog dance excitedly in order to get his step properly to take the ob- stacle with minimum loss of time.
 During the early days of the steepleehase various distances were used but now the 5000 meter dis tance has become standard and, whereas until 1920 the steeplechase events were the exclusive property of the Americans and British they have recently gone the way of all distance races and have fallen into the hands of the long, -winded Films whose unbelievable stamina and ability to keep running at terrific pace more than made up for lack of elegance in negotiating the ob- stacles.
 The 1928 steepchase at Amster- dam was wild event which was featured by the fact that the great Paavo Nurmi fell into the drink on his first attempt to get over the water jump while another of the Films managed to fall in all by himself when he was just practice ing before the race to see how he might go about the job of scramb- ing over this water jump.
 Strength of Speed.
 Ritola and Nurmi, both of whom have been Olympic cross country or steepchase winners. have been victorious solely on the strength of their speed but at Amsterdam in 1928 there was one by the name of Loukola, who not only could run but who could also get over a hurdle or water jump with considerable grace and speed. The result was that this new Finn champion not only broke a record in winning but he beat Nurmi badly and forced Ritola to drop out of the race. Loukola- has been i'll recently and may not compete at Los Angeles, but If he does he will be the man to beat.
 America, however, promises for tiie HEOb lliiC HI SCNCk9i JcaA " have a real contender for honors in the person of Joe McCluskey. the Fordham college youth whost two mile running has been the sensation of the eastern tracks for several years. McCluskey's ability to run two miles in close to Q minutes is proof of his speed while his numerous successful cross country efforts have demonstrated his stamina.
 He tried the two mile steepie- chase in the national champion- ships at Pittsburg In 1880 and won by q terrific margin. His f.C.4.A. | two mile victory In 1881 after be-. ing knocked down and trnmpied on by . horde Of athletes was m. other proof Of his nerve and abil. | ity to come back and aIi of those factors came into action in the in. door meet ht Madison bquare 0aFs den this winter when he ran the two mile indoor stsepieehase, GOV. ering forty obstacles, in . minutes 4e gsb seconds which. by the way, wouldn't Dc bad tims for two miles without any obsfAelea. flFnnf FeTf0FmnBee,
 MeeluskfN's fw0smiie perfOrms aneo indicates that Do could run sia 5OD1 meter distance In Vefs close ie nlBe minutes nat which would be 70 seconds fnnief than ihe Oifmplq record an1 thls means