Athletes in Action

+7 THE H.\LF-l\IILE (5) THE finish of the stride-action, a , een in Fig. 5 opp ire, portray an excellently compact attitude. The body is pas ·ing forward o-ver the fulcrum of the grounded foot, which has been placed d wn with the ball of the ole, only, touching the track. Hal£-miler· hould not allow th heel of the shoe to come down on to th cinder urface. The trunk i well pitched f rward, in preservati n of the sprinting angle, the head is correctly set in relation to the spinal column, with the eyes direct d to a spot on the track ab ut a d zcn yards ahead, to cnsur the c rrcct angle of the body being maintain d in the next en uing forward stride. The elbows ar close in t th ides, \Vith the arms correctly b nt, and the Be. i n f the right knee i m re pronounced than in the prec cling picture because th runn r i gath r- ing power f r the drive \ hich will carry him f rward a th n xt trid i commenced. If the body does n t prc crv it forward lean in thi tran ition period from one stride to the next the ne.·t stride will, inevitably, be spoil d . There is one other important point in connection with th' maintenanc f a corr t b dy angle in the transition p riod which also affects the tride · f r if the b dy be held too upright, stride-I ngth "'ill be I st, and if the b dy is allow d tc pitch to far f rward, the r ar leg will drag unduly a the next stride is made · there will b probably a quite xag crated dcgr e f kick-up by the heel f the re. r leg, and th' 1 adin 1 g will have to short n it tride-length o that the fo t may catch th present f n ard momentum. The r ad r sh uld have hi wn running action heck d frequ ntly by mean f napshots and shoul study the story { hi running by his fo tprint on th cind rs.