The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956)(about) |
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Wednesday 23 June 1954
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3 corrections, most recently by malaus1 - Show corrections
"I had the old girl flat out"
Excited crowd sees tram
almost outrun.
COBURG Harriers raced
against a tram last night "to show how slowly Melbourne's trams operate" - and almost won.
They failed by only 12sec. to beat tram No. 233 over a five- mile course from Elizabeth St. G.P.O. to Bell St., Coburg. But for a "run on the rails" over
the last half-
mile, where the traffic was light, the tram would have been beaten. "But we will win next time," said Mr. Norman Stevens
Coburg Harriers secretary after the race. "Next time we will have Bob Prentice, Australian marathon champion, in the team."
Sightseers
Dozens of sightseers boarded the tram to get a bird's eye view of the race. Bystanders along the route stood and gaped as the pas- engers roared encourage- ment to the runners.
Motorists took up the chase, and soon a procession of cars was following the tram.
Veteran tram-driver 50 year-old Mr. Jim McKie, who drove No. 733, said: "Gosh, can those fellows run. I had the old girl 'flat' between sections, but it wasn't until the last quarter-mile that she really got to the front.
"They got off to such a flying start that I did not sight them for the first 15
minutes."
The tram covered the five miles in 30 minutes 2 sec- onds.
Ernie Bentley, 19, and Vin Rowe, 23, were first off from outside the G.P.O. Then about two and a half miles further on at Brunswick rd., Brunswick, Ivan Carter, 26, and Bob Auld, 20, took over.