CHAPTER XXIII
MY FIRST CLOSE DECISION—BROCKTON
Of all the gruelling races that I figured in in that season of 1899, the one-mile championship at Brockton was the hardest. It was fiercely contested every inch of the way. The first three riders being so closely bunched at the finish line that it took the judges some time to determine the place winners. Some of them decided it was a dead heat but in the end I was awarded first place, James Bowler of Chicago, second, and Watson Coleman of Springfield, Mass., third.
I quote from an article in a Brockton newspaper of the following day as follows:
“Major Taylor wins National Championship. The first national championship races at the new Brockton track were run off yesterday. The events were all hotly contested and the meet was a huge success. The features of the program were the capture of the two-mile paced record by Harry Gibson of Cincinnati, and the winning of the one-mile national championship by Major Taylor. The first event was remarkable for the time of the second mile. The time of the first mile was 1:38 and then Gibson got down to business. All through the second mile he kept calling for more pace and reeled it off in 1:31 4/5 making the time for the two miles 3:09 4/5. The previous record for two miles was 3:13 held by Major Taylor, and the Major was there to see it done.
“The final of the one-mile professional championship was the hardest fought since the opening of the National Circuit, and the verdict of a dead heat or the placing of any one of the first three men to the front, would not have been much doubted. Major Taylor was given the decision, however, with James Bowler of Chicago, second, and Watson Coleman of Springfield, third.
“There was not eight inches between the three. Coleman had a good lead two yards from the tape, but Taylor and Bowler came up fast and it took a good eye to see which brushed the tape first, Coleman or Taylor. Bowler was also caught for first place on the outside of Taylor. The crowd and the riders near the tape shouted for Coleman, but the announcement later in favor of Major Taylor seemed to please the audience. Coleman’s third, however, was a sticker. No time was taken, owing to the excitement.”
In this race the riders succeeded in getting me into a tight pocket that I could not very well get out of without bringing someone down with a crash, and possibly two or three of them, because every man in the race had a hand in the job. I was obliged to use every trick I
