Athletics (British Sports Library)

llO ATHLETICS 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 indomit– able courage kept him running until he staggered over the line 5 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} seconds, the second in 64f seconds, the third in 67f seconds, and the final lap in 62t ~econds. It should be noted that Hill had set out to run a level 62 seconds for each quarter mile. Could he have done so, he would easily have broken world's record by returning 4 minutes 8 seconds. In Nurmi's record-breaking race at Stockholm against the almost equally wonderful Swede, Edvin Wide, Wide led at the quarter mile in 58-f 0 seconds, with Nurmi only a tenth of a second behind him; at the half mile they were running level in 2 minutes 1/o seconds. Then Nurmi gradually drew away, returning 3 minutes 6/ 0 seconds for the three– quarters of a mile, and 4 minutes 10 1-\ seconds for the full mile. His quarter-mile times were: first lap, 58 1 .6. 0 seconds; second lap, 63i 0 seconds; third lap, 64/o- seconds; fourth lap, 63 1\- seconds. The remarkable fact about Nurmi's performance is that there was practically no falling off in his pace ip the third lap, and it was here, indeed, that he ran Wide pretty well off his legs, forcing the