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Another Record-Breaking Run
In the Gisborne Amateur Athletic and Harrier Club's invitation 880 yards handicap race at the Childers Road Reserve, the world mile and half-mile record holder, Peter Snell, added another record to his already impressive list when he easily won the event with a time of 1min 50.8 sec, cutting 4.5sec off the existing P.B. record.
Snell thrilled the record crowd of 5000 which turned out at the floodlit meeting, with his powerful, supple style. By the half-way mark, he had caught the field, and was content to sit in at the rear until the final 200 yards, when he made his famous finishing sprint, and burst past the opposition to coast over the line a clear 20 yards ahead of the local champion, Graham Thomas, in second position.
Avis McIntosh, the N.Z. women's hurdles champion, also turned on a polished performance to equal her N.Z. time of 11sec over 80 metres.
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Tongue in cheek, Snell looks for an escape route from the hundreds of admiring youngsters who surrounded him after the race
Speaking to the crowd prior to the meeting. Others pictured are the Mayor, Mr H. H. Barker, Mr W. Carmichael, president of Athletic Club, and Avis McIntosh.
Avis McIntosh (right) with the three local hurdlers she competed against. From left: Isobel Johnstone (4th), Colleen Newman (2nd), and Sue Haydon (3rd).
Avis McIntosh clears her last hurdle well ahead of the rest of the field