Athletics of To-Day 1929

The Steeplechase pace, which he will acquire in training by having a friend time his runs, so that a racing schedule may be planned. Good form over the hurdles is to be acquired by the methods recom– mended in hapter XI, with the exception that the steeple– chaser does not need to develop quite so much snap over the obstacles as is required in a 440 yards hurdle race, but must practise much at running at his hurdles from various distances, to acquire the facility of taking them in his stride without any hesitation. The water jump is often the crux of the race. It consists of a hedge and water-filled ditch. The hedge is something over thr e feet in height and the ditch, which is too wide for most men to jump, is three f et deep at the foot of the hedge, whence it slopes upwards to the landing. The conservation of nergy and the maintenance of speed throughout the race are depen– d nt largely upon the conomy with which this difficult obstacle is negotiated. ome men rush it in the hop of tal ing the whole affair in their stride. hould they succeed in so doing they h ve used up far more nergy than is warranted by the saving in time they have effected. Others, anxious also to avoid the water, climb or jump to the top rail, running through the hedge, and spring thence across the ditch. The climb rs waste an unconscionable amount of time; the other risk a nasty fall in taking off from the ins cure foothold of a flimsy rail. The best plan is to speed up one's running about twelv yards in front of th hedge and to spring ov r it asily as J. 1 • W ter i ing 1n . 2, late 22. This action all w th athl t to fall naturally int th w t r, but he mu t nev r land n both feet. The sp din approaching th he ge hould b in r ased just sufficiently to nable him, in th jump, to lan on on foot o far forward in the hallow\ at r that then xt st p will carry him cl ar of th ditch and on to dry land. T. 1 • Living tone-L armonth, .U.A.., and ritish Empir T am, 192 , shows this action to perf ction in the accompanying illu tration ( o. 4, Plate 22). J. Montgom ry, of the U..A. team, who is following Livingstone-Learmonth, is making the