On this day, track and field – November 11
1868– From Wally Donovan’s Indoor Track History
https://www.amazon.com/history-indoor-track-field/dp/B0006CJ3TG
“On a cold and rainy night in New York, closed track was born. The newly formed New York Athletic Club held the first organized track and field meet ever held in the United States in a skating rink building at 63rd and Third Avenue.th Street:
The building (later known as the Empire City Rink) had only a partial roof, so loyal club members hurriedly gathered tarps, sewed them up, and stretched them over the yawning hole atop the structure.
The center of the rink still had to be covered indoors, so athletes competed on a bumpy eighth-mile clay track with four straights, narrow sides and awkwardly sharp corners.
It was raining on Wednesday evening, November 11, 1868, when the crowd arrived in horse-drawn carriages and carriages. They were greeted by a 42 piece band and the place lit up with gas lights. However, that didn’t leave the 2,000 spectators (both male and female) and the athletes in their lackluster tracksuits reeling.
Spiked shoes were used for the first time, but there was only one pair, so they were shared by (some) athletes. The shoes helped win an award in every event they were used in, with three firsts, a second and a third making up the evening’s total. When it’s remembered that none of the users had ever worn spiked shoes before, and that the track was almost as hard as a concrete floor, one can understand that the new style shoes were somewhat uncomfortable, to say the least.
At first the use of the gun was less general than it later became, and at this meeting a bass drum was used to give the starting signal. Although it is generally accepted that such a sound would be audible not only to beginners but also to spectators, a participant in one heat of the 75-yard dash asked for another test because he “didn’t hear the drum”.
Each winner’s marks were the first amateur records ever set in America.”
Winners:
75 yards — William B. Curtis NYAC 9.0
220 – Frank Johnson NYAC 28.0
440y—HS Magrane NYAC 1:02.0
880y—HS Magrane NYAC 2:26.0
Hurdles (no distance listed) – Frank Johnson NYAC 24.0
Running Jump — FW Stone Woods’ Gymnasium 5′-2″
Sprint Broad Jump — John Gould Caledonian Club 17′-0”
Standing Broad Jump (with Weights) — PM Broderick NYAC 11′-6 1/5″
Standing High Jump: John Gold Caledonian Club 4′-5″
Standing Triple Jump — PM Broderick NYAC 33′-8″
Pole Vault — WL Campbell Caledonian Club (NYAC?) 8′-3”
Shot put — Alexander Graham Caledonian Club 35′-5″
Hammer — WL Campbell Caledonian Club (NYAC?) 73′-0″
Mile Walk–JE Russell NYAC 7:50.5
1882-Lon Myers lowered his American record in the mile to 4:27.6 in New York. A charter member of the National Hall of Fame (1974), Myers also held American records in the 100, 220, 440 and 880 and won a total of 15 US titles in the 100 (2), 220 (4), 440 (2). 6) and 880y (3)
WikiBio:: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Myers
https://www.usatf.org/news/2020/myers-earns-throwback-athlete-of-the-week-honors
1963 (New)— Just as the mile has its own 4-minute barrier, the traditional 2-1/2-mile high school course standard at New York’s Van Cortlandt Park is 13 minutes. Although he did not attract the level of attention that Roger Bannister did when he ran his historic 3:59.4 in 1954, Bill Leahy, 17;
The Boston Catholic Memorial HS senior hit another hurdle when he ran 12:58.6 today at the Irish Christian Brothers Championships.
Mark Blum, a Van Cortlandt Park Hall of Famer (an iconic venue for extensive coverage of high school events), writes at length about Leahy’s life before and after his prime in this RunnerSpace article:
