A crowd of 15,000 watched the race, which also included Scot Robert McInstray, world-record holder in the 880-yard race, 4:21+1⁄2 miler James Sanderson, the Welsh mile champion William Richards and half-miler rabbit James Nuttall.
As bets were being placed, word came through that Mills was limping and would not be able to compete, meaning that Lang was now the clear favourite.
Nuttall led the field around the 651-yard track and hit the quarter-mile mark in 60 seconds, an unsustainable pace.
[1] Due to the downhill slope, the time would not have been valid for record-keeping but nonetheless would be the fastest mile ever run until 1943.
[8][9] Lang was from Manchester and he was trained by Billy Fish of Royton, a noted trainer at the time.