1885 AAA Championships

[1][6] The track, the home of Southport Athletic Club, was a cinder circuit 440 yards in circumference with a grass infield where the hurdle races were held, and there were stands of reserved seating on both sides of the stadium.

[4] There were three official timekeepers and they employed the services of a professional starter, Tom Wilkinson from Sheffield.

[4][8] William Henry Meek (West Side AC, New York), the holder of the 7 miles walk championship, has since turned professional and was unable to defend his title.

[10] And Donald Mackinnon (London Scottish RFC), after winning the shot put and finishing second in the hammer at these championships, had an exhibition throw measured at 111ft 3in (33.92m).

[11] Three yards behind Cowie was the American Lyndon Smith, and he explained his defeat by saying that having enjoyed himself too much in Paris before the championships he was not in condition, but under the circumstances he felt satisfied at getting second place.

[4] Three weeks before the championship Cowie had raced Lon Myers over 440 yards at the Civil Service Sports at Stamford Bridge.

With eighty yards to go Cowie was leading but his shoe burst open and he had to stop and Myers won in a new world record time of 48 4/5 seconds.

In the championship, a level race, Myers won easily, taking the lead after twenty-five yards and staying comfortably in front without being pressed.

[12][3][8] Myers repeated this in the 880 yards, allowing his only opponent to lead for the first lap then cruising past and winning easily.

Snook was an experienced runner and the results of these races was not in doubt, but Stewart, a younger man at the start of his career, was commended for the way he stuck to his opponent and prevented them from being a simple procession.

[11] At the start of the 7 miles walk Michael Hayes (Limerick AA & BC) took the lead, closely followed by J. Jervis (Liverpool AC) and Fred Crowther (Wakefield FC).

[12][7] In the final Daft, who was from the same club as Charles Gowthorpe, last year's winner, led from start to finish and won "in grand style.

"[13] The only Englishman in the field events was Thomas Ray (Ulverston AC), the world record holder in the pole jump.

[10] He won that event with ease and finished second in the high jump, setting a personal best of 5ft 10in (1.78m).

They repeated this several times, with each man taking the lead for a short while only to be passed again in turn with never more than a few yards between them.

Both men beat the previous championship best performance and their effort received a generous round of applause from an appreciative crowd.