He Ran for a Very Long Time, but Didn’t Come Up Short

Tom Walsh, a local keeper of the track and field flame, had the right equipment ready when CNN replayed San Francisco 49er nose tackle Michael Carter’s mad dash for a touchdown Saturday against the Washington Redskins.

Walsh, stopwatch in hand, timed Carter’s 61-yard rumble in 9 seconds, which converts to just under 6 seconds for 40 yards.

Noted Walsh: “He was well short of any U.S. sprint record.”

However, for a 285-pound defensive lineman in full pads, late in the fourth quarter of a playoff game, Carter’s time may be an NFL--and world--best.

Trivia time: If the Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers meet in Super Bowl XXV, how many former Olympians will be in uniform for the game?

Current event: On this day in 1927, George Young, a 17-year-old Canadian, earned $25,000 for winning the 21-mile Catalina Channel Swim from Avalon to San Pedro.

A total of 102 men and women, “clad in anything from much to nothing but a coating of grease,” competed for a total of $40,000 put up by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley.

Add swim: According to The Times, which made the event its lead story on Page 1, many of the swimmers were forced to withdraw early from the chilly waters--not to mention Mack Sennett’s Bathing Beauties, who appeared at the start but declined to take part.

Wrote Chester G. Hanson: “William E. Logg of Avalon, favorite of the fishermen and swimmers at the resort, chose the south course . . . but the current bearing eastward was threatening to carry him down the shore line toward Long Beach which would add greatly to his mileage.”

Wake by the lake: Asked to describe the plight of Cleveland Browns’ fans, Cleveland Plain-Dealer columnist Bill Livingston recently told Daniel Ruth of the Chicago Sun-Times:

“I think the Browns’ fans are the most long-suffering. Don’t give me that . . . about Cubs fans. They’ve been close before, and now they’ve been winning divisions anyway.”

Reason to run: Diane Dixon holds the world indoor best at 500 meters and the American indoor record at 400 meters. A gold medalist in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and a silver medalist at Seoul in 1988, she will run the 400 meters in the Sunkist Invitational at the Sports Arena Friday night.

Dixon recently moved home to Brooklyn after three years of moving “from state to state.” The 26-year-old sprinter told Bert Rosenthal of the Associated Press that she is happy to be back with Atoms Track Club Coach Fred Thompson, who started her in track and field at age 16, and added:

“I love to wake up to garbage trucks and gunshots.”

Trivia answer: Four: Raider cornerback Ron Brown (400-meter relay gold medalist in 1984) and wide receivers Willie Gault (1988 Winter Olympic bobsledder) and Sam Graddy (400-meter relay gold medalist and 100-meter silver medalist in 1984), and 49er nose tackle Michael Carter (shot put silver medalist in 1984).

Quotebook: Five-foot 8-inch Detroit Lion running back Barry Sanders, on 5-11 Chicago Bear safety Shaun Gayle: “He has a determination you can only find in a smaller man.”