Evening star., 1939-01-14
Lag in Interest
Seen if Mark
ChanceGoes
Gotham Courses WON'T
Permit Times Made
On Hanover Boards
BY LAWRENCE PERRY.

NEW YORK, Jan. 14-With Don
Lash and John Woodruff slated to
assault the 2-mile and x mile in
door records, respectively, in a
special meet on the Dartmouth field
house track next March, two ques-
tons of Importance arise.
First. did the A. A. u. commit a.
dlsservice to the paramount sport
falling under its sponsorship in ap-
proving the 4:044 mile run by
Glenn Cunningham at Hanover last
Winter, and,
Secondly, will further harm come
to the sport in event that Lash and
Woodruff and other athletes Of note
pile up a sheaf of broken records
under the Dartmouth roof?
Promoters of track and field in
New York, Boston and other points
where the sport is extremely popk
ular and hence financially signifi-
cant, are very greatly interested in
these questions, and, by the same
token, are doing a lot of worrying
about the future.
Promise of Records Draws EN-.
The great appeal of the sport of
track lies in the breaking of records.
Promise that an established figure
will be lowered is the talisman of
gate receipts, the answer to capacA0
crowds. Records, in fact, mean
everything. So, if the stellar run
ners in the established indoor track
centers turn in figures in various
events which are seconds slower
than have been achieved up in
Hanover, the tendency of the fans
Will trend toward a state of mind
best expressed in that expressive
colloquial phrase, "Aw, slush!'
And this situation is not at all
unlikely to come about, inasmuch as
no other track offering the record
breaking advantages of the DaAt-
mouth saucer exists anywhere. Much
has been written about the spring.
mess of this record board track,
quality contributing more than any
thing else, so runs theory, to the
extraordinary times made upon it.
But the fact is that it is not
greatly different from any other
properly banked indoor track. It
has no secret merits withheld from
the knowledge of any board track
builder. 1t is just track, more
resilient than some, perhaps, not
more so than others.
Size Is Big Advantage.
But its great advantage, according
to expert trackmen, lies in its size.
1t contains two long straightaways
and sweeping turn, six laps to
the mile. Naturally, runner can
work up and maintain higher speed
when he has fewer turns to make.
To cover mile in Madison Square
Garden, he has to make II turns;
and obviously he cannot do the dis
tance as swiftly under this condi-
ton.
So, with all sorts of runners romp-
ing free over Dartmouth's immense
track, you may draw your own con-
| cluslons as to the comparatively
sorry showing they will make else
where. Also conclusions may be
drawn as to how the fans will feel
about it.
The fact is that the size of track
in relation to speed often has been
demonstrated, notably in the case q
the I. c. A. A. A. A., whose athletes
invariably made better times on the
old Slap 258th Field Artillery
Armory track than subsequently on
the 11-lap Garden circle, even grant,
ing that the short spikes permissible
in the Garden are not permitted on
the State armory floors. granting,
too. that the armory tracks are
fiat. So you will gather how i'm
portant size is.
Since no other college track and,
no other track anywhere meets the
dimensions of the Hanover track.
it looks as though corner in
record breaking achievement Is 60
ing to exist up in the New Hamp-
shire hills.