Athletics of To-Day 1929

74 Athletics of To-day Lowe came out for the final very quiet and collected. He waited until all the other competitors had drawn for positions and then picked the last number out of the hat, to find he had taken the favoured inside berth. E . Byhlen, Sweden, was next from the pole, and next him was H. Englehardt, Germany. At the crack of the pistol, Lowe jumped right into the lead, but the Canadian, P. Edwards, was close to his shoulder. Then Lloyd Hahn, who had run such a wise waiting race the day before, dashed into the lead to test his rivals, but no one would let him back once he was in front. Forced to act as pacemaker, he tried to build up such a speed as would break the field. But Lowe, Englehardt, and Sera Martin just made him run while refusing to take over. As the field came to the back straight for the second time, Lowe went up to Hahn's shoulder to test him. The American increased the pace for perhaps half a dozen strides, and then Lowe shot by, followed by 1Vfartin and Byhlen; Edwards and Hahn dropped back, and the other Americans and Keller, France, were out of the running . Lowe went on alone, changing his smooth stride to a deceiving gallop; Martin cracked and was passed by Edwards, leaving the Swede and the German to fight a supreme battle for second place, in which Byhlen came off best, with Hahn a poor fifth, and Lowe the victor by a dozen yards, in the new Olympic record time of r min. srt secs. It will be seen from Nos. 2 and 3, Plate g, and 3, Plate ro, that the body carriage of the half-miler is more upright than that of the sprinters and that the major portion of the running is done on the ball of the foot; the eyes should be directed at a spot on the track about ten yards ahead. The stride, which is loose and free, may be lengthened by pushing off harder with the foot as it leaves the ground (see o. 2, Plate 9) and by endeavouring to put the foot down some four inches further forward than the normal length of stride; this reaching out action ish lped by the throw of the knee and the pointing of the toes . An easy arm action, which comes from the natural swing of the hips, should not be interfered with. The arm, bent at the elbow, should swing forward as the back leg is straightened