Athletics and Football (extract)

92 ATHLETICS had the least chance of catching H. R. Ball, who sprinted throughout, and won in the fine time of 50} seconds. Prob­ ably Phillips, whowas certainly not deficient in pluck, as his race with Myers showed, suffered all along from the ' weak heart' fromwhich he suddenly died in the next year, and to this must be ascribed the disappointing form he displayed on some occasions. During the last few years,Cowie, Wood, Ball, and others have all made some extraordinarily fast time for quarters, all three having on occasions done performances better than 50 seconds. Probably, however, the improvement in quarter times since Myers appeared in England is due to the lesson taught by that runner, that to run a good quarter one must be prepared to ' spin ' all the way, and there will verylikely yet be seen some further developments in the wayof fast quarters in the next few years. Our survey of famous quarter-milers may aptly be con­ cluded with some notice of Myers. There is very little doubt that this runner, while in his best form, some years ago, could have approached very near to 48 seconds in his quarters, a performancewhich it is improbable that any other runner, amateur or professional, could have compassed. Myers, in more senses than one, wasa phenomenon; his physical con­ formitywas somewhat marvellous, and of a kind not likely to be soon met again. Although about 5 ft. 8 in. in height, his weight was only just 8 stone, and from a glance at a photo­ graph which we have before us of the American in running costume one fact strikes the eye at once : that his legs are disproportionatelylong as compared with his body. According to his own account his mother died young of consumption, and Myers himself, although not appearing in the least con­ sumptive, certainlywas not troubled with an ounce of super­ fluous flesh. Being, then, little more than a long pair of wiry legs, with a verysmall and light body upon the top of them, it is hardly surprising that he should have made a very good running machine. Certain it is that Myers' extraordinary times