AMATEUR ATHLETICS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21210, 3 December 1938, Page 18

AMATEUR ATHLETICS

By “Relay” Season’s Fixtures: Saturday, December 3: Inter-club handicap meeting; visit from Oamaru and Ashburton Clubs, Ashbury park, 2.30 p.m. Saturday, December 10: Inter-club scratch meeting, Victoria Park, Waimate, 2.30 p.m. B programme. Saturday, December 17: Open Handicap Meeting, Fairlie Club. Monday, December 26 (Boxing Day): Waimate Caledonian Society’s annual meeting, Victoria Park, Waimate. Monday, January 2, 1939: South Canterbury Caledonian Society’s annual meeting, Caledonian Grounds, Timaru. Athletics for District High Schools The four District High Schools —Temuka, Geraldine, Fairlie and Pleasant Point—will conduct their annual athletic contest on Monday, December 12, at Fairlie. The programme provides for swimming events in the morning, and the afternoon period is devoted to athletic contests. The authorities responsible for this very interesting competition are deserving of every success, and the officials responsible for the conduct of the meeting can rest assured that they have the good will of the South Canterbury Sub-Centre in their efforts to promote the sport of amateur athletics in their separate district schools. The programme is as follows : Swimming Events Senior Girls: 25 yards breaststroke. 50 yards freestyle, relay (4 x 25 yards) Junior Girls: 25 yards breaststroke, 50 yards freestyle, relay (4 x 25 yards). Senior Boys: 25 yards breaststroke, 50 yards freestyle, relay (4 x 25 yards). Junior Boys: 25 yards breaststroke, 50 yards freestyle, relay (4 x 25 yards). Athletic Events Senior Girls: 75 yards, 100 yards, relay (4 x 75 yards), broad jump, hop, step and jump. Junior Girls: 75 yards, 100 yards, relay (4 x 75 yards), broad jump, hop, step and jump. Senior Boys: 100 yards, 440 yards, broad jump, high jump, hop, step and jump, relay (4 x 110 yards), 880 yards. Junior Boys: 100 yards, 440 yards, 220 yards, broad jump, high jump, hop, step and jump, relay (4 x 110 yards). To-day's Meeting at Ashbury Park A very interesting afternoon’s sport should be witnessed at Ashbury Park to-day. Good fields will be taking part in practically all events, and as most of the competitors are now striking form, some close contests will be witnessed in most events. Coaching School The venture of the South Canterbury Sub-Centre in the establishment of an athletic coaching school under the direction of A. L. Fitch during the holiday period has created interest in practically every athletic centre in this Dominion. Already athletes from Milton, Dunedin, Ashburton, Christchurch, Greymouth, Nelson, Wellington, New Plymouth and Auckland have registered for the school, and everything points to the effort of the local athletic officials and supporters being crowned with success. Other centres apart from those already registered have made inquiries for athletes who are interested and desirous of taking advantage of the benefits to be derived from the coaching of A. L. Fitch. New Zealand Championship Dates Venues and dates for various national championships are as follows: , New Zealand Track and Field Championships, 1939—March 10 and 11, at Napier. 1940—At Wellington. Women’s and Junior Championships, 1939—March 25, at Auckland. Cross-country Championships, 1939 Hawke's Bay. TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETICS The HALF-MILE The half-mile shares with the quarter-mile the distinction of being the most exhausting race to run, not because longer races ara not exhausting, but on account of its affording no

real relief from top-speed running at any stage, at all events in first-class races. There is no lull in the race similar to that which. occurs in the third lap of almost every mile—although boys must Inevitably introduce one after the first lap. A chappionship half-mile consists in two consecutive fast quarters; and all halfmiling demands thorough training writes D. G. A. Lowe in “World Sports." A good style is of the greatest value. Perfect technique is almost indispensable. Without a sound knowledge of pace success is unlikely. And a flair for tactics, based on common sense, experience and appreciation of one’s opponents’s worth, is essential. Nevertheless, the half-mile is a most fascinating race to run and even to train for. The acquisition and application of pace knowledge have already been described. One must know one’s maximum speed in order to plan a race; and one also needs to judge quickly

during the progress of the race whether the pace is satisfactory, too fast or too slow. Most people gain nothing from ! a slowly-run first quarter, although the other extreme may be almost as fatal. Broadly speaking, the time for the full distance depends upon the runner’s speed for the first quarter; and with this fact in mind and knowing the fastest rate at which he can go and still achieve his best time for the second quarter, the half-miler has to decide ! what speed will best suit him in the actual race. (Of course, in a relay he | would go all-out at his best rate for the first 440 yards, or even a shade faster if ' consolidatinga lead.) Obviously, if his chief rival can outsprint him he can- 1 not afford to dally. He must secure i the fastest possible pace in the hope : of quenching that sprint, and if no one I else will do it, he must set the pace himself. And this in spite of the danger of leading in a half-mile. He may find it advisable to run the first quarter a trifle too fast, if he can induce his rival to hang on, and if he

feels confident that it will injure that rival more than himself. The fast

finisher can, of course, afford to laugh I at a slow first lap; indeed, he usually prefers it. But even he must look out | lest the very slowness of it tires him, as i it will do if he is obliged to clip his stride.

The actual danger of leading is this, that to lead is for some reason, largely mental, more fatiguing than to follow, quite apart from such an obvious disadvantage as facing the wind. Undoubtedly the second (or third) position is the best in half and one railing, unless the pace set is too hot to last and one can safely stay behind. In this position one can virtually control the race. If the pace is too slow one can often whip it up by moving up to the leader’s shoulder. One has his finger on the movements of three if not four runners, for often there is someone at one’s elbow. When the time comes to go for home one can strike unhampered by having to pass several others, only one man being ahead, and he usually tired and not fit to resist a good challenge. The only thing to guard against is getting boxed in—a fate less likely when running second than third or later. If this fate be Imminent, one should get out of the danger zone at once, even by j taking the lead. If it occurs early in i the race one can always slow down until one, and only one, other man has got nervous and taken the lead again. And observe that if one trails in the I last position, one may be eight or ten yards behind the leaders, a tremendous lot of ground to regain in the last 20 yards; or, in the case of boys. 60 yards.

There is a tendency to slacken the pace towards the end of the first quarter, which gives the class man a chance to stand out. If lie cannot make the leader maintain the gait it will often repay him to go out himself. Otherwise his stride will be clipped, which is tiring and wasteful. The good man can sometimes run his opponents to a standstill here and save seconds of time. Indeed, if he can stride from the 550 yards mark at pure quartermile speed and save his final effort for the last 100 yards, he will tax the ability of any opponent to the limit and have a well-nigh irresistible finish. This method is certainly to be recommended after a fast-run first quarter. Probably the most perplexing decision called for in half-miling is at what moment to sprint. Practice will have informed the runner how far he can sprint; but three considerations may be borne in mind. First, one can always manage an extra 40 or 50 yards sprint in a race on stamina and excitement alone. Secondly, the change of action from the tiring stride to the more choppy sprint style is a great mental and physical relief. Thirdly, it may pay to make the effort perhaps 20 yards earlier if it proves unexpected. That invaluable lead of four or five yards is then more likely to be gained, although the wise opponent will coun-ter-challenge immediately. It is a pretty safe rule not to allow anyone to pass in the back straight (where most people try) and to fight for the lead round the last bend; and it is a tremendous risk to allow someone to go by, say, 300 yards from home and depend upon a pious hope that fate will check his headlong career before the post.