Athletics of To-Day for Women

400 Metres to I ,ooo 1\1etres the preceding chapter should be studied carefully by the would-be aspirant to quarter mile honours, for starting and sprint running must be part of her tock in trade. With the proviso that she makes her elf proficient in the details just mentioned we may confine ourselves to a consideration of how the race should be run, and the way a girl should train to produce her best performance. The length of the initial sprint burst for position depends very larg ly upon the nature of the track upon which the race is to be run. The thing to rem mb r is that all positions should be secured before the fir t bend is reach d, because it is the worst thing in the world to start jock ying for position at a corner, where every one i slightly of£ balance, and it is almost impossible to pile n any extra pace. An op ning burst of thirty to forty yards will be ju t about the most any girl can manage ; if she i not in the 1 ad and holding the pol po ition when he ha travelled that far, then sh had better dr pinto a plac in the moving line of runners and await a n1orc favourable opportunity to take the lead at the crucial moment. nee the fir t struagl for p sition is vcr, and wh ther you arc in the 1 ad or n t, y ur g it. houl chang fr m the uick p tt ring run of the print r to what th An1 ricans term a " float." At this gait the fiel appears t. b moving mu h slow r, but, in reality, ther is very little diminution of pac if the float i properly manag d. You have got t r m mb r that, ven f r a m n, 300 yards i still reg r ed as th maximun1 SI rint i tanc ; th refore, in the quarter mile th re mu t b a stag at which you have simply got to 1 t up. You hav the hoice of running n arly th whol di tance slightly r lax d, r of dropping t omething under sprint speed and tyle at ome ta e of the proc edings. It i b t aft r th op ning bur t to ettle down t a fr r gul r striding f rm which \ ill allow y u to br ~the r 0 ularly with slight r lax ti n. his i th fi t. Your stri sh ull b 1 n and springy, but n long r than Y nr own c mfort.all r( ng . Th . · ·h ull lir et d t wards a S} ot. n t.h tra l· al ut t. n yard· ahead ; th anns