More on the New York Athletic Club Cross Country Course that Crossed Much of Pelham Manor in the Early 1900s

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It is hard to imagine for the many, many Pelham Manor residents who live between Shore Road and the Branch Line railroad tracks that cross Pelhamdale Avenue at Trestle Field, but that area once was virtually pristine woods and meadows and was used by the New York Athletic Club to lay out a nationally-famous cross country course on which major cross country championship races were held.  Indeed, as noted before by Historic Pelham, "In 1903 and 1904, the large area of Pelham Manor bounded by Shore Road, the boundary with Pelham Bay Park in New York City, Pelhamdale Avenue and the railroad tracks along which Pelham Manor Station once stood looked very different than it does today. The area was virtually undeveloped with heavy woods. Indeed, before the area was developed it was widely used as a picnic ground."  See Tue., Sep. 13, 2016:  Notable 1903 and 1904 Cross-Country Championships Were Run on a Course Between Travers Island and Pelham Manor Station.  

In the earliest years of the 20th century, the New York Athletic Club was still an international force in the sport of Cross-Country.  Indeed, "The thirteen years extending from 1891 to 1903 are considered by many to be the Golden Age of NYAC's track and field history."  The Winged Foot, Vol. 62, p. 99 (1951).  

In 1903 and 1904, the cross-country course was the site of very significant competitions. On November 4, 1903, the "Cross-Country Championship of America" was held on the course. John Joyce of the Pastime Athletic Club ran the six-mile course with a time of 32:23-4/5ths. 

Only three weeks later on November 25, 1903, the "Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship" was run on the course with teams from Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. W. E. Schutt of Cornell won the six-mile race with a time of 53:15. Cornell finished first among the six teams that competed. 

The following year, on November 23, 1904, the Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship was run again on the same course. Unlike the previous year, this championship was for eastern teams with a separate championship scheduled for western teams. E. T. Newman of Cornell won the six-mile race with a time of 32:52. Once again, Cornell finished first among the five teams that qualified and competed.

Lest one believe that the only races run on the course were Intercollegiate championships, news reports make clear that in these same years the course was used for a host of other cross country races.  Indeed, on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1904 (the day after the 1904 Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship held on the course), the Metropolitan Cross Country Championships, senior and junior, were held on the course.  

News accounts of such races give some sense of the nature of the course that once covered the area.  For example, it appears that the cross-country races typically began and ended on the oval running track on the grounds of Travers Island.  The course was two miles long with runners making three laps of the course to complete a race.  Additionally, one of the more difficult aspects of the course was a fourteen foot water jump with shrubbery in front of it that runners had to leap over and run out of the water to the extent they could not clear the entire obstacle.  

The area of the course extended between Travers Island and the Pelham Manor Train Station at a time when the station still existed and served passengers and commuters who traveled between Pelham Manor and New York City.  This area, for a time, was a national focus as newspapers from coast to coast reported on the Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships in 1903 and 1904.

Detail from Plate 24 of the John F. Fairchild Atlas of the City of

Mount Vernon and the Town of Pelham Published in 1899 Showing

the Area of the NYAC Cross-Country Course. NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.

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"CORNELL AN EASY WINNER
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CAPTURES THE INTERCOLLEGIATE CROSS COUNTRY RUN.
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Pennsylvania Second, Yale Third, Harvard Fourth and Columbia Last -- Four Out of Seven Ithacans Entered Come in First in the First Five Places -- Yale Man Comes in Third.

New York, Nov. 23. -- Cornell's sturdy athletes once more captured the inter-collegiate cross country championship, in the run to-day, over the course between Pelham Manor station and the home of the New York Athletic club on Travers' Island in Long Island sound.  Five teams, made up of thirty-four runners representing Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, took part in the contest, and of the seven men who carried the Ithacan colors, four finished in the first five places, winning the honor with a total of 12 points.  E. T. Newman of Cornell led the big field during the greater part of the journey and finished fully fifty yards in front of his teammate, C. F. Magoffin, who in turn was a like distance ahead of W. J. Hall of Yale.  Nearly 100 yards back of these three leaders were D. C. Munson and A. Starr, both of Cornell.  The sixth place was won by C. D. MacDonald of Columbia, while W. G. Howard of Harvard was seventh and C. R. Major of the University of Pennsylvania, eighth.

Newman's time, 32:52, is 23 seconds faster than the time of his college mate, Schutt, made on the same course, a little over six miles, a year ago.

Cornell's colors were always in the van and while every one expected that the Ithaca men would win very few thought that they would be so well to the fore at the finish.  To-day's contest was the sixth event or its kind which has taken place under the auspices of the Intercollegiate Cross Country association of amateur athletes of America, and Cornell has won five times, upon the birth of an heir and tendering have been improved upon, and the race was well contested throughout.

Following is the result by points:

Cornell, first with 12; Pennsylvania second, with 41; Yale third, with 51; Harvard fourth with 52, and Columbia last with 73."

Source:  CORNELL AN EASY WINNER -- CAPTURES THE INTERCOLLEGIATE CROSS COUNTRY RUN -- Pennsylvania Second, Yale Third, Harvard Fourth and Columbia Last -- Four Out of Seven Ithacans Entered Come in First in the First Five Places -- Yale Man Comes in Third, Journal Courier [New Haven, CT], Nov. 24, 1904, Vol. LXX, No. 238, p. 1, col. 4.  

"CORNELL'S SWIFT RUNNERS.
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For the Fifth Time Won the Cross Country Event.
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New York, Nov. 23. -- Cornell's sturdy athletes have once more captured the inter-collegiate cross country championship in a run today over the course between Pelham Manor station and the home of the New York Athletic club on Travers Island, in Long Island Sound.  Five teams made up of thirty-four runners representing Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania took part in the contest and of the seven men who carried the Ithacan colors, four finished in the first four places, winning the honor, with a total of twelve points.

Today's contest was the sixth event of its kind which has taken place under the auspices of the inter-collegiate cross country association of amateur athletes of American and Cornell has won five times."

Source:  CORNELL'S SWIFT RUNNERS -- For the Fifth Time Won the Cross Country Event, The Arizona Republican [Phoenix, AZ], Nov. 24, 1904, Vol. XV, No. 187, p. 1, col. 6.

"Cross-Country Championships.

The revival last year on Election Day of the once popular paper chase, or hare and hounds run, elevated and dignified into a general competition for all registered amateur athletes, under the sonorous title of Cross-Country Championships, will be repeated this year.  The Marathon Race at the Olympic Games at the St. Louis World's Fair covered some of the elements and purposes of this method of testing the ability of athletes for sustained effort in running, but could not compare with a cross-country run as managed here in value or interest.  The second annual Cross-Country Championships will be started at 1.30 P.M., Tuesday, November 8, Election Day, at Travers Island.  The entries include runners of wiry muscles and good wind, and the winners will not have a walk-over.  With the good fortune of crisp, cool, bracing weather this will be one of the interesting events of Election Day in the vicinity of the Metropolis."

Source:  "Cross-Country Championships" in New York Athletic Club Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 11, p. 28 (Nov., 1904).

"Cross Country Championships.

The Metropolitan Cross Country Championships, senior and junior, were run on Thursday, Nov. 24, Thanksgiving Day, at Travers Island.  The winner was an Irishman from County Galway, J. J. Daly, although he represented the Greater New York Irish Athletic Association of the Borough of Queens.  The race was under N. Y. A. C. auspices, the start and finish being on Travers Island track.

The runners covered the course three times.  At the very start Daly dashed ahead, took the lead and covered the first lap of the three in 10.46 2-5.  Each lap measured two miles, and the final sprint was over the N. Y. A. C. track for a quarter of a mile.  For the first three miles John J. Joyce, his team mate, was the only man of the field of thirty able to keep at his heels.  When half of the second circuit had been covered Joyce turned the weak ankle that had prevented him from competing at St. Louis, and was forced to retire from the race.  This withdrawal left no one in the race who could force Daly to extend himself, so that it is hard to compare his running with that of Newman, of Cornell, who Wednesday covered the course in better time by eleven seconds than did Daly.  At the finish of the second lap Daly had a lead of two hundred yards on Carr of the Xaviers, who was being hard pressed by W. G. Frank, of the Irish A. C.  Three hundreds yards behind.  Newton was leading the second squad.

Daly came out of the woods for the final dash seemingly as strong as he was at the start, and, unlike most of the other runners, he neither stepped on the hedge in front of the fourteen foot water jump nor fell into the pool, but easily hurdled both and sprinted over the last hundred yards.

He covered the six and a quarter miles in 33 m. 11 s.  Twenty-two seconds afterward Carr came in, with the veteran runner Frank forty yards behind.

The Xavier A. C. team of five men won the club trophy with a score of 35 points, the Greater N. Y. I. A. A. took second place with 62, and the New West Side A. C. third with 65, and the Star A. C. fourth with 77.

M. Spring, of the Pastime Athletic Club, and winner of the last Boston Marathon road race, set the pace throughout the entire distance in the junior championship race.  Sullivan, from the same club, was at his heels at the conclusion of the first two miles, but from there on Spring increased his lead at each step, until he reached the tape a hundred yards ahead of Farrell, of the Star A. C.

The Pastime A. C. scored 38 points; the St. Bartholomew A. C., 48; the Mohawk A. C., 90; the Starr A. C., 92, and the Mort Haven A. C. came last with 111.  Summary:

Winners -- Senior Championship -- J. J. Daly (G. N. Y. I. A. A.), first, 33.11; E. P. Carr (X. A. C.), second, 33.33; W. G. Frank (G. N. Y. I. A. A.), third, 33.40; J. Foy (S. A. C.), fourth, 34.48; E. Coates (X. A. C.), fifth, 35.02; A. L. Newton (N. Y. A. C.), sixth, 35.18; R. Todd (N. W. S. A. C.), seventh, 35.23; C. Andrews (X. A. C.) eighth, 35.40; J. Burns (X. A. C.), ninth, 36.14; P. H. Pilgrim (N. Y. A. C.), tenth, 36.22.

Junior Championships -- M. Spring (P. A. C.), first, 34.18; J. J. Farrell (S. A. C.), second, 34.34; J. Hayes (St. B. A. C.), third, 34-37; W. C. Bailey (Mohawk A. C.), fourth, 34-42; P. Smallwood (P. A. C.), fifth, 34-43; J. N. Lonergan (National A. C.), sixth, 34.50; J. Sullivan (St. B. A. C.), seventh, 35.08; L. P. Marks (P. A. C.), eighth, 35.09; D. Miller (N. Y. A. C.), tenth, 35.28."

Source:  "Cross Country Championships" in New York Athletic Club Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 12, p. 22 (Dec., 1904).

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Notable 1903 and 1904 Cross-Country Championships Were Run on a Course Between Travers Island and Pelham Manor Station

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In 1903 and 1904, the large area of Pelham Manor bounded by Shore Road, the boundary with Pelham Bay Park in New York City, Pelhamdale Avenue and the railroad tracks along which Pelham Manor Station once stood looked very different than it does today.  The area was virtually undeveloped with heavy woods.  Indeed, before the area was developed it was widely used as a picnic ground.  According to Lockwood Barr in his history of Pelham published in 1946: 

“The groves of trees between the Harlem Branch and the Sound were once a favorite picnic ground. The old trees bear the scars of amateurs who carved their initials--and worse--in the bark.”

Source:  Lockwood Barr, A BRIEF, BUT MOST COMPLETE & TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ANCIENT TOWN OF PELHAM WESTCHESTER COUNTY, STATE OF NEW YORK KNOWN ONE TIME WELL & FAVOURABLY AS THE LORDSHIPP & MANOUR OF PELHAM ALSO THE STORY OF THE THREE MODERN VILLAGES CALLED THE PELHAMS, p. 125 (The Dietz Press 1946)

Today the region today is fully developed with lovely neighborhoods and virtually no vacant land.  In 1903 and 1904, however, the area was bucolic and undeveloped.  There were a handful of homes on Manor Circle.  One home, the William B. Randall home known as "Hermitage," stood between today's Beech Tree Lane and Park Lane near the boundary with New York City.  The Bolton Priory and its carriage house, cottage, and outbuildings stood near Christ Church and its little one-room school house.  That was it.  There was no Beech Tree Lane, Park Lane, Forest Road, Elm Tree Lane, Bolton Road, Roosevelt Avenue, Priory Lane, or Shoreview Circle.  Instead, there were rolling hills, a large wooded area, and small creeks.  In short, the area was perfect for a cross-country course.  That is exactly what the New York Athletic Club created.

Detail from Plate 24 of the John F. Fairchild

Atlas of the City of Mount Vernon and the

Town of Pelham Published in 1899 Showing the

Area of the NYAC Cross-Country Course.  NOTE:

Click Image to Enlarge.

The New York Athletic Club created an ambling two-mile cross-country course between the Pelham Manor Station on the old branch line train tracks and Travers Island, site of the New York Athletic Club summer clubhouse.  For six mile races, cross-country runners made three laps of the two-mile course.  On each lap the runners would emerge from the woods into the sight of race officials and cheering spectators and leap across a thrilling water jump before either heading off for the next lap or, at the final lap, crossing the finish line at Travers Island.

In 1903 and 1904, the cross-country course was the site of very significant competitions.  On November 4, 1903, the "Cross-Country Championship of America" was held on the course.  John Joyce of the Pastime Athletic Club ran the six-mile course with a time of 32:23-4/5ths.

Only three weeks later on November 25, 1903, the "Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship" was run on the course with teams from Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.  W. E. Schutt of Cornell won the six-mile race with a time of 53:15.  Cornell finished first among the six teams that competed.

The following year, on November 23, 1904, the Intercollegiate Cross-Country Championship" was run again on the same course.  Unlike the previous year, this championship was for eastern teams with a separate championship scheduled for western teams.  E. T. Newman of Cornell won the six-mile race with a time of 32:52.  Once again, Cornell finished first among the five teams that qualified and competed.

It may be difficult today to image young men running, leaping, and scrambling across hill and dale in an almost rural setting in this part of Pelham Manor.  The fact that the New York Athletic Club made its cross-country course in this area, however, reminds us of simpler times when much of Pelham Manor retained a more rural character.

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Below is the text of three articles describing the cross-country races run in Pelham Manor in 1903 and 1904.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPION.
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John Joyce, Former Cornell Student, Defeats Fast Field.

New York, Nov. 4. -- John Joyce of the Pastime Athletic club, this city, has won the senior cross-country championship of America in a contest at Travers' Island, the country home of the New York Athletic club.

By defeating the field, Joyce took down the numbers of such men as Newton, Grant, Schutt and Valentine, each of whom occupies a prominent place for championships won over long distances.

Schutt is a Cornell student, who spread-eagled the field of two-milers in the intercollegiate contest last spring, while Grant but recently took the measure of the two-mile amateur record, which stood for many years.  The course covered about two miles and was run over three times.  Joyce's time was 32:23 4-5."

Source:  CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPION -- John Joyce, Former Cornell Student, Defeats Fast Field, The Salt Lake Herald, Nov. 5, 1903, p. 7, col. 1 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link.)

"CORNELL WON THE CROSS COUNTRY RUN
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Her Seven Representatives Finished in the First Dozen, With Schutt and Woodward Fighting It Out to the Tape -- Harvard Second, Yale Third.
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New York, Nov. 25. -- Cornell scored an easy victory in the fifth renewal of the Intercollegiate Cross Country Championship, six miles over the Travers Island course and through adjacent woods to-day.  Thirty-nine athletes started and of these thirty-four finished, but H. M. Frank of Princeton, who was the twenty-fifth man to get home, was disqualified for failing to take the water jump.

Cornell had five representatives in the first six.  W. E. Schutt, the intercollegiate two-mile champion, was first to cross the line, his time being 53:15, which is 52 seconds behind the time made by John Joyce, winner of the national championship over the same course three weeks ago.

Cornell had seven representatives in the contest and they all finished in the first dozen.  W. J. Hall, of Yale, finished third, and King, of Harvard, bleeding freely from the effects of a bad fall, got home in seventh position.  Cornell not alone took the team honors but all of her men crossed the tape before any of the representatives of Columbia, Princeton or Pennsylvania.

The start was made at nine minutes past 4 o'clock with Jacobus, of Yale, in the lead.  As they disappeared into the woods, Schutt was running second to Jacobus, with Hall, of Yale, and Woodward, of Cornell, close up.

At the end of the first lap Schutt was in front by a narrow margin, the time being 11:23, with Woodward about a yard behind, Hall being third, and the rest of the Cornellians well bunched only a few yards back.

There was little change in the relative positions of the runners in the second lap, at the end of which Schutt was about twenty yards ahead of Woodward, his time being 21:22.  In the final run into the Travers Island grounds Schutt led Woodward by about twenty-five yards and cleared the water jump in fine style, sprinting to the finish with Woodward, Hall, Foster and Magoffin in the order named.

The team scores were counted for each college in the positions that their first four representatives finished, Cornell winning with twelve points, the lowest score on record.  Harvard was second with thirty-seven, Yale third with forty-six, Princeton fourth with seventy-six.  Pennsylvania fifth with 100 and Columbia sixth with 112.

Following is the order at the finish with the time made of the first ten men:  W. E. Schutt, Cornell, 33:15; K. W. Woodward, Cornell, 33:18; W. J. Hall, Yale, 33:26; T. M. Foster, Cornell, 33:42; C. F. Magoffin, Cornell, 33:48; E. T. Newman, Cornell, 33:56; A. King, Harvard, 34:00; D. C. Munson, Cornell, 34:05; W. A. Colwell, Harvard, 34:04; S. Curtis, Harvard, 34:22."

Source:  CORNELL WON THE CROSS COUNTRY RUN -- Her Seven Representatives Finished in the First Dozen, With Schutt and Woodward Fighting It Out to the Tape -- Harvard Second, Yale Third, Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, NY], Nov. 26, 1903, p. 13, col. 4 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"CORNELL TEAM IS FIRST.
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WINS THE ANNUAL CROSS COUNTRY RACE IN THE EAST.
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Ithaca Men Furnish Four of the First Five Men at the Finish, Pennsylvania Being Second, Yale Third, Harvard Fourth, and Columbia Last -- Western Colleges Are to Have Their First Contest of the Kind This Afternoon at the Midway.
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New York, Nov. 23. -- Cornell's sturdy athletes once more captured the intercollegiate cross country championship in the run today over the course between Pelham Manor station and the home of the New York Athletic club on Travers Island.  

Five teams made up of thirty-four runners representing Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania took part in the contest, and of the seven men who carried the Ithacan colors, four finished in the first five places, winning the honor, with a total of twelve points.

E.T. Newman of Cornell led the big field during the greater part of the journey and finished fully fifty yards in front of his teammate, C. F. Magoffin, who in turn was a like distance ahead of W. J. Hall of Yale.  Nearly 100 yards back of these leaders  were D. C. Munson and A. Starr, both of Cornell.  The sixth place was won by C. D. Macdonald of Columbia, while W. G. Howard of Harvard was seventh and C. R. Major of the University of Pennsylvania eighth.

Newman's time, 32:52, is twenty-three seconds faster than the time of his college mate, Schutt, made on the same course, a little over six miles, a year ago.  Today's contest was the sixth of its kind which has taken place under the auspices of the Intercollegiate Cross Country association of the Amateur Athletes of America, and Cornell has won five times.

Following is the result by points:  Cornell, first with 12; Pennsylvania, second with 41; Yale, third, with 51; Harvard, fourth, with 52; and Columbia, last, with 73."

Source:  CORNELL TEAM IS FIRST -- WINS THE ANNUAL CROSS COUNTRY RACE IN THE EAST -- Ithaca Men Furnish Four of the First Five Men at the Finish, Pennsylvania Being Second, Yale Third, Harvard Fourth, and Columbia Last -- Western Colleges Are to Have Their First Contest of the Kind This Afternoon at the Midway, The Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 24, 1904, p. 11, col. 4 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

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