Athletics of To-Day 1929

Athletics of To-day Between the years r88o and rgz8 inclusive, Cambridge have won twenty-five times, and Oxford nineteen times. The first Inter-Counties Cross-Country Championship was held in rgz6. At a meeting of representatives of County Associations held after the race, the Counties Athletic Union came into being, and has since continued to promote this most important cross-country championship, which is adding a strong incentive to cross-country running throughout the Midlands and South of England. Cross- ountry running is now almost entirely a team sport, and since the training of the individual is looked after most carefully by his club there is no ne d for me to say anything upon that score. Most cross-country runners, indeed, k ep in training all the year round by competing in the distance track events during the summer s ason. ross-country running gives the legs a variety of work to do up hill and down, over smooth ground and rough, and so th athl te who indulges in it must aim at always having perfect control ov r hi body and legs. The changing charact r of the ground generally causes th novice to run tensed up, but thi mu t b changed to an easy relax d style if succ s is to b achieved. n houlrl 1 arn to length nor shorten th stride and to balanc th body in accordance with th nature of the country. Th arms should be carried loo ely and swung xactly as if one were working at a distance on the track. The ross-country runn r mu t, f course, be som thing of a hurdler and jump r, in order that he may surmount the natural ob tacl s which will confront him. Overcome hill with a shortened stride, but go down them running loosely and resting a little longer than usual on the he l at each stride. In v ry cold weather run in a high-neck d sw ater and wear long draw rs under the shorts; you will travel faster warmly clad and avoid risk of cold. ro s-country running is now popular in many lands, and the ~r nch hav beaten us ov r r al country, just as the can– dinavians have overcome us ov r the rather futile cours s in