Athletics

FLAT RACES. 65 poach nor to hang fire. There is a great deal to be learned here, andwhenever possible, practice shouldbe carried out by report of pistol, otherwise, so highly are the nerves strung, that the unaccustomed report in an actual race startles one and spoils that "bound-froni-the-mark" which characterizes the expert. Nearly everyone hassome little fad of his own. Junker, the great Russian sprinter,winner of the British championship in 1878, who died in 1890, used to stand almost upright. The opposite extreme has been recently introduced, viz. the hand-spring start (see illustration) of which there is no better exponent than E. H. Felling, who proved its efficacy by beating theworld's amateur records for 200 yards (19! sees.), at Stamford Bridge, 28 Sept., 1889, and 250 yards (24^sees.), Stamford Bridge, 22 Sept., 1888—feats which prove him to be the best runner ever known at these distances. We cannot do better than give his own words on both training and starting. PRACTICE FOR SPRINT RACING. By E. II. Felling, Hon. Sec. Ranelagti Harriers, L.A.C., Civil Service A.C.; 100 Yards AmateurChampion, 1889 ; Holder L.A.C. 100 Yards Challenge Cup, etc. Training. —As a rule I do all my training between six and seven in the evening at the L.A.C. grounds at Stam­ ford Bridge, and my usual plan is to run about thirty or forty yards attop speed three or four times, and then stride through a hundred yards. Undoubtedly the best way of learning to get off quickly is to have plenty of pistol practice; but, my ankles beingrather weak,I do very little of this, as the strain is too great. When I wished to get F