Athletics (British Sports Library)

FOR PARENTS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 27 compete. Directly the event is over they get back into warm clothing. It is fatal, even on a hot day, to stand about too lightly clad. Another evil to be guarded against in early training is shin-soreness and over-strain of any muscle. Work on an asphalt road or pavement should be avoided, and in the early stages of training the runner is advised to stick to the turf and to leave the hard track alone until his legs have got a little tone. Any 'too early attempt to give of one's best by way of a trial should be strongly discouraged. We come now to the bad old bugbear of " specialization," which has, I firmly believe, done much in the past to make athletics unpopular at the public schools and to delay their progress. That there is a time to specialize is undoubtedly true ; but that time is not while one is still at school. A case came to my notice recently in which a schoolboy competed in an open meeting during holidays and surprised the critics by running a half mile in I minute 58 seconds off the 50-yard mark. This is equivalent to 2 minutes 5 seconds for the full distance, a performance good enough to take the Public Schools Challenge Cup on most occasions. This boy shortly afterwards received a letter from a well-known newspaper correspondent urging him to give up rowing and rugby and to concentrate upon athletics. It is obvious, however,