ATHLETICS

Otago Witness, Issue 3764, 4 May 1926, Page 17

ATHLETICS

BY

AMATEUR

By now the harrier season is in full swing, and a few notes on cross-country running will no doubt be appreciated by tbe novices at least. Cross-country running with harne; clubs Las ore great advantage over distance track work, iu that the 'atter is bound to become montoncus, whereas a spin over ever changing count r 7 provides a pleasing variety "When you strike a patch of bad going the stride should be shortened to decrease strain on tendons, and strong striding is necessary also to prevent the chance of slipping or stumbling in thick mud. Lengthen out the stride over the good ground. It should, indeed, be easy to do this since the chopped stride in the rough would have given a rest to the muscles employed in the proper stretching knee actions. Shorten the stride and slow down the pace a bit going uphill, come downhill fairly fast, with sufficient hold-back to prevent yourseli from over-reaching. Run over obstacles where you can, hurdle where you can't, but do not hesitate to employ a hand-vault where you are not absolutely certain of your ability to effect a clearance in any other manner. The essence of cross-country running lie 3 in the ability of the runner to have his body and limbs always in perfect control, but always moving easily and smoothly. The cross-country runner should carry his arms loosely and swinging just as easily as if he were running upon a track. They are his chief asset in preserving his body balance. In view of Rose's trip to England to race Nurmi and the European cracks over a mile, a note on the previous mile records will be interesting. In the following I will not refer to Rose’s performances, but will content myself with mentioning the feats of those he will probably meet before he returns to New Zealand. Few people realise just how fast it is possible for the first-class athlete to run a mile. As long ago as 1895, the famous American T. P. Conneff covered the distance in 4min 15 3-53ec, which was then the world's amateur record. Since that time John Paul Jones and N. S. Tabe, both of America, have returned respectively 4min 14 2-58ec and 4min 12 3-ssec, while the British runner A G. Hill has set the English record at 4min 13 4-ssec. All these men followed an orthodox system of training and diet and used an orthodox style; but recently there has arisen Padro Nurmi, of Finland, who states openly that he eats what he fancies and drinks large quantities of coffee, and who yet has brought the world’s record down to 4min 10 2-ssec, and confident<y anticipates running a mile in 4min Geec before he finally hangs up his shoes. •- The important thing in mile running is to run as far as possible to a time schedule. The importance of timing and also of tactics may be emphasised by some description of Hill’s record-breaking championship race in 1921 and Nurmi’s still greater effort in 1923. A. G. Hill was up against a great miler in H. B. Stallnrd, and a great pacemaker in Stallard’s fellowCantab, W. R. Seagrove. At the English championships Hill drew second position from the Inside, with Stallard one place away from him, and Seagrove right out on the flank. At the crack of the pistol Hill went straight into the lead, closely followed by Stallard, with Seagrove coming over at tremendous speed to set the pace for his fellow-Blue. Seagrove fulfilled his task admirably until half a mile had been covered In 2mln 4sec. Hill had run his initial quarter-mile In 59 3-ssec, which was faster than the schedule S. A. Mussablnl, his trainer, had planned for him, but the Light Blues had challenged several times, and Hill had not thought it wise to let them have the lead. During the third quarter there came that Inevitable lull which has characterised almost every great recordbreaking race, but when the bell was rung for the last lap Hill produced an electrifying burst of speed. Stallard still stuck to his man like grim death and challenged for the lead on the first bend, again a furlong from home, and again coming Into the finishing straight; but the strength was not there-—only his Indomitable courage kopt him running until he staggered over

the line five yards behind the victor. Hill had kept his lead the whole way. Note now his quarter-mile times. The first lap was run in 59 3-ssec, the second in 64 2-ssec, the third in 67 l-ssec, and the final lap in 62 3-ssec. It should be noted that Hill had set out to run a level 62 seconds for each quarter. Could he have done so he would easily have broken the world’s record by returning 4min Bsec. In Nurmi’s record-breaking race at Stockholm against the almost equally wonderful Swede. Edwin Wide, Wide led at the quarter mile in 58 5 lOsec, with Nurmi only a tenth o£ a second behind him; at the half-mile they were running level in 2min 1 8-10cec. Then Nurmi gradually drew away, returning 3min 6 7-lOsec for the three-quarters of a mile, and 4min 10 2-ssec for the full mile. His quarter-mile times were:—First lap, 58 3-ssec, second lap 63 l-s Sec, thijyl lap 64 9-lOsec, fourth lap 63 3-ssec. The remarkable fact about Nurmi’s performance is that there was practically no falling off in his pace in the third lap, and it was here, indeed, that Ue outclassed Wide, forcing the latter to slow down his pace so much in the final quarter-mile that the Swede returned 4min 13 l-10sec for the whole journey. The moral of the Nurmi-Wide race is well worth studying. On the face of it, it appears that Wide cut out a slightly faster pace than Nurmi desired over the initial quarter, but that the Finn had a perception of pace so finely developed that even with this derangement of his prearranged schedule he was still able to adjust his running to a practically even pace over the remainder of the distance. All this argues that the theory of the slow third quarter is wrong, and that uniformity of speed throughout the race is the thing to aim at. *