Kiser and Rose.

It was the American miler Rufus Kiser, who furnished another great thrill. Kiser was a great believer in “running to the clock,” but for the greater part of his tour of New Zealand, he was not in the physical condition to run to the schedule he had set for himself.

He could cover the first three laps within a second of the time he would nominate before walking on to the track, but the final lap would see his long lead wiped out by the other competitors who would not take his pace earlier in the race. That last lap lead was invariably turned into a loss until Kiser ran against Rose and others at Athletic Park. Kiser held a good lead at the bell lap but Rose quickly reduced the gap and it looked odds on Kiser losing again when a miracle happened. Seated at the foot of the straight was George Simpson, a fellow American and teammate. Seeing Kiser falter when Rose was within five yards of, him, Simpson called out “Wenatchee! Washington!” Kiser rallied as he heard his home town called out and, pulling himself together, staved off Rose's challenge to win in the best time recorded for a mile on that ground.

It was the turning point in his tour of New Zealand, too, because he easily vanquished the New Zealand quarter mile and ex mile champion, Don Evans, at Taihape a few days later. But the tour ended with that meeting—Kiser had struck form too late—