Athletics of To-Day 1929

-- ---- The Distances-2 to 1 o miles 105 and you will find that, with the same amount of effort, you have achieved a longer stride. The back foot in each instance must be kept grounded as this test is made. Leg action and foot work are important. The distance runner does not aim at great length of stride, but often commits the fault of placing the heel down first. This is wrong. The sole of the foot should make fir t contact with the track (see No. I, Plate I2 and No . I and 2, late 23) ; then the heel sinks and touches the cinders v ry lightly, and the foot ris s again on the sole as the oth r leg swing through for the next stride forward (see No. 3, late I2). Thi action is just as important as the" ankling" mov ment in cycling or jumping. Keep the head set in an easy, natural position as you run, as shown in Plates I2 and 23. The finishing speed is built up by completing each training run with a sprint, starting at 50 yards and increasing the final sprint distance to 440 yards if pos ible as your fitness im– proves. Note the perfect form in which Kolehmain n finished when he won the A.A.A. four miles championship in I9II (No. 2, late I2). Nurmi, as great a distance runner as any, is a law unto himself, as his pictures prove.