The race goes not always to the swift

About a fortnight or so ago, all of England was agog with the story of a man who beat a horse in a marathon race.

Across the ocean in the city of Conway, the news of the feat was greeted with middling curiosity by five citizens familiar with the vicissitudes of the man versus horse centuries-old argument.

While the Briton won his race, the Conway runners who tried the same feat in the distant past trailed the nags at the finish line - but not by much.

The stouthearted Briton competed against 500 other contestants of the same ilk and 40 horses, winning 25,000 British pounds, or close to $44,000 in the bargain.

In what amounts to an understatement of deduction, the man from England named How Lobb, 27, an experienced marathon runner, said, "It is a very unusual event with men running against horses."

It certainly was an outlandish exploit in 1973 for the Conway runners when they huffed and puffed along a route to and from Mayflower trying their level best to beat five horses carrying riders. Dr. Max Stacey, along with four other professors with ties to the State College of Arkansas, now the University of Central Arkansas, finished the course three minutes behind the horses, all of which came in ahead of the runners.

The jogging enthusiasts, members of the college running club, included Faril Simpson, Loren Guffey, Denver Prince, Derald Smith and Stacy, faculty members, perky fellows in their salad days who thought nothing of running around the county and beyond at every whipstitch. They had run to Morrilton, Greenbrier and other way stations giving rise to enjoyment and challenges that incited their spirit.

It occurred to them then, at the time of Faulkner County's centennial observation and in celebration of the event, that they would attempt to put an end to the mixed opinions as to whether a horse can beat a man in a long distance race, and have fun doing it as a public feature. They might even win a place in the centennial parade through downtown Conway.

So, the five intrepid runners engaged five horses and their riders for the big showdown that would take them from the Conway airport to Mayflower and return.

They may not have known it at the time, but the competing five nags were being trained secretly in daily workouts in an effort to help them go the distance - probably an unfair advantage, but who was counting?

Obviously, there were leaks in this bit of chicanery for, as Simpson recalled, with more than ordinary amusement, that "the horses, during their training regimen, often balked and ran to the back of the pasture to get away from their handlers, not interested at all in proving their superiority over man."

Nevertheless, training of the horses continued apace. The betting public were warned by the "intelligentsia" that it was impossible to quote odds on such a race. The question of whether a horse could beat a man in a long distance race had bedeviled horsemen for eons.

On the day of the race, the town of Conway was agog, awaiting the showdown between horse and man.

The distance was about 20 miles. From reports of the race, now tainted with faulty memories, it was a closely contested showdown. A rider known as Doyne Kelley was astride the winning horse. Time: two hours and four minutes.

Dr. Stacey was the first runner to reach the finish line. His time was 2:09. All the horses came in ahead of the runners. But the lapse between the horse and Dr. Stacey was about three minutes.

Dr. Smith followed Stacey with a time of 2:18.45; Dr. Prince was third at 2:22.52; Dr. Guffey was fourth with 3:07. Simpson was next at 3:09.

Kelly's horse was about three years old. One onlooker commented that he felt sure the outcome of the race would have been different if the horses had been as old as the runners.

(Fred Petrucelli may be reached by phone at 327-1148 or e-mail at lpetru@cyberback.com.)