24 Slow but Sure

Nowadays the Indianapolis 500, one of the world’s most famous car races, takes about three-and-a-half hours to run. If the Indy 500 had been held in 1895, it would have taken almost three days. The horseless carriage had just been invented a short time before. Top speeds back then were much lower than they are today. For most people, just seeing a car move without a horse pulling it was thrilling enough. The driver’s main concern was making sure the car didn’t break down.

One of the first car races was held in Chicago on Thanksgiving Day in 1895. Folks crowded the streets to gawk at the new machines. The route of the race went through the heart of town. The cars were to go out to a nearby suburb and back. The race covered a distance of about fifty-four miles. That’s less than one-tenth the distance at Indy. The drivers cranked up their engines and prayed that they wouldn’t conk out. Then they were off. The race proved too much for some of the cars. Perhaps they couldn’t withstand the high speeds. The winner of the contest was J. Frank Duryea. He got the checkered flag a bit more than seven hours after he started. He had covered the grueling distance at an average speed of 7.5 miles per hour. That is slower than a modern marathoner can go on foot. Even so, as Duryea finished, the crowd went wild.

如今，印第安纳波利斯500英里赛是世界上最著名的汽车比赛之一，跑完全程大约需要三个半小时。如果1895年举办印第安纳波利斯500英里赛，那几乎需要三天时间。当时，无马 carriage 刚被发明不久。那时的最高车速比现在低得多。对大多数人来说，仅仅看到一辆不用马拉的车移动就足够令人兴奋了。司机最关心的是确保汽车不会抛锚。

最早的汽车比赛之一于1895年感恩节在芝加哥举行。人们涌上街头，呆呆地看着这些新机器。比赛路线穿过市中心。汽车要开到附近的郊区再返回。比赛全程约54英里，还不到印第安纳波利斯500英里赛距离的十分之一。车手们发动引擎，祈祷汽车不会熄火，然后就出发了。比赛对一些汽车来说太艰难了，也许它们无法承受高速。比赛的获胜者是J.弗兰克·杜里埃。他在出发后七个多小时才获得方格旗。他以平均每小时7.5英里的速度完成了这段累人的赛程，这比现代马拉松选手步行的速度还要慢。即便如此，当杜里埃冲过终点时，人群还是沸腾了。