WORLD OF SPORT.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17964, 8 March 1930, Page 9 (Supplement)

WORLD OF SPORT.

ATHLETICS.

DRUG TAKING.

DOES IT INCREASE SPEED? When runners dope themselves what do they use, and what advantage Is it to them? The question has been raised by the handicapper of the Victorian Athletic League, who says that deadly dopes are being used by trainers of professional athletes, sometimes unknown to the runners themselves. Doping the athlete Is not a modern custom (says the medical correspondent of the Sydney Sun). For a long time, for instance, the people of Styria have eaten white arsenic in small quantities, and it is said that it increases their strength, weight and appetite, and clears their complexion. Those folk can take more than the ordinary person; they probably develop an anti-toxin, which saves them from the effects of a dose than might kill' the ordinary person stone dead. But I don’t advise the ambitious recordbreaker to have arsenic with the last meal before a race. It will probably be his last meal in more senses than one. The Commonest Dope. Of course alcohol is the commonest dope of all. I well remember a very prominent tennis player who always went on the classic courts of Wimbledon accompanied by a champagne bottle. It probably bucked him up considerably at the critical moment, when he felt Ills energies slipping from him. Alcohol has an undoubted beneficial effect on a tired brain and body, but I consider Its use foolish to a person who is feeling perfectly fit and healthy. To have a whisky and soda just prior to a hundred yards sprint is, to my mind, quite useless (unless it is used to rid the racer of nervousness severe enough to hinder him doing his best). On the other hand, I can quite see that the running of a marathon could be assisted by a little champagne taken' towards the end of the race. I.can see nothing but foolishness in having it before the race begins. Of course, one speaks in a purely medical way on the matter; the use of drugs in a sporting event is entirely indefensible.

Cocaine is, of course, a noted temporary stimulant. Even Sherlock Holmes sucked ids cocaine jubes to tlie order of his medical creator, Conan Doyle. The brain is immediately rendered more active, and it is recorded that a cocaine addict becomes extraordinarily /prolix in both conversation and writing immediately after taking the drug. But the penalty! An early death. Any trainer who gives a runner cocaine should be tried for attempted manslaughter. Medical evidence would support the Crown. Very Doubtful Value. One understands that both atrophine and hyoscine are used for doping. Both drugs have a reputation for stimulating the brain, but one doubts very much whether they do any real good in an athletic contest. As a matter of fact, it is of extreme ’’doubt whether any heaithy person would be benefited by taking any alleged stimulating drug a little while before a race. The time of, action of various drugs varies, as

does also the lasting qualities of their effects. What Follows Stimulation? Stimulation in invariably followed by depression, and it would probably happen that this after-depression would come in just at the critical moment of the race. Those of you who have a whisky and soda sometimes will understand what one means. How long does the pleasant, stimulative feeling last, and how long does it take to come on? Generally it takes about live minutes for a “spot” to have any noticeable influence on the brain, and it lasts from about ten minutes to hair an hour, according to susceptibility of the individual. Then another spot is required to key you up again. And so on. There is no need to stress the point that depression follows stimulation. Anyone who has had a hectic night out will explain their feelings on awakening. That Is, of course, an exaggerated case, but It Is not hard to reason out that a similar slight depression follows a corresponding slight stimulation. There is only one advice to those about to drug—don’t. It is extremely doubtful, medically speaking, whether it will do you the slightest good; on the contrary, there is everything to show that if your particular athletic event spreads itself over many minutes tlie results may be strikingly harmful, even as far as the particular race of the day is concerned. The permanent results of drugging are, of course, ghastly.

TRAINING FOR ATHLETICS.

HINTS BY A CHAMPION. The hints on training for the half-mller, which are given below, are written by IVIr C, H. Taylor, who was one of New Zealand’s best middle-distance runners, holder of the 440 yards and 880 yards championships and Australian champion over the half-mile. As a coach he is without superior in Mew Zealand. In the half-mile success depends on a combination, of three thing's—speed, endurance and judgment. The halfmiier should have the speed of the sprinter and the endurance of the distance runner. Training for a championship should consist of at least three months preparation, starling with slow jogging for the first three weeks, followed for the next three weeks by runs over -i 00 yards and 1000 yards at halfspeed stride. Care should be taken that the leg action is a long, swinging stride from the hips, without any wasted action of the rear foot. A common fault is to make the foot describe a curve upwards towards the thigh in bringing it forward for the next stride. The final six weeks should be spent in developing the essentials given above. To obtain speed a fair amount of spurting must be done, and work over 220 yards is especially valuable because it will develop both speed and strength. Endurance will be obtained by running more than the half-mile,' the runner occasionally covering 1000 yards, or sometimes even a mile. The runner will gradually lessen these long distances as he feels himself gaining stamina, for too much of this long work tends to make a man slow. Judgment of Pace. Judgment of pace is gained by running occasionally the first 440 yards of a half-mile at a set pace with the aid of somebody with a watch. If a runner is trying to break 2min for the half, for instance, he must get his first quarter down to between 57sec and sSseo. In the final stages of training a man should run frequently over 600 yards, beginning fast and maintaining the pace he has set to run the first quarter mile until passing the 600 yards mark. Then he should ease off gradually. Starting practice should be an almost daily affair, because if a race starts on the bend, as it generally does, and a runner draws an outside position, he must sprint out of the holes to get the pace line and to get out of the jostling that generally takes place in the first 50 yards. Correct arm and leg action, together with the correct running angle, as previously explained, must be maintained constantly.

The schedule for training- as given for the quarter-mile can, with slight alteration, be used for the half-mile. The distance work can be increased to three laps, with a run, say, once a week during the second month of training over one mile at half-speed stride.