Athletics (British Sports Library)

THE HALF MILE 101 Ernie Hjertberg, the Swedish and D.utch Olympic coach, the late Michael Murphy, perhaps America's greatest coach, and Ted Meredith, himself a world's record holder, all agree that the runner should aim at running the first quarter mile at least 3 seconds faster than the time to be occupied for the sec;:ond quarter mile of a half-mile race. It may be noted in passing that when Melvin Shepherd ran his Olympic record 8.00 Metres in 1 minute 52+ seconds, " and was fortunately timed over the full half - mile course, he ran the first quarter mile in 53f seconds and the second quarter mile in 60~ seconds-that is to say, the initial quarter was 7t seconds faster than the second one. HALF M,u. (srrode Acflo") S~e.rcl\ I Very briefly stated, the scheme for running a half mile is to start fast, to know and hold yo11r pace for the first quarter mile, and then to stick to your pace as closely as possible over the second quarter mile, while reserving just sufficient power for a fast sprint at the finish. There are other things to remember-namely, to run on the rear part of the sole of the foot, with the arms swinging lightly at the sides and bent at the elbow, the feet