Bredin on Running & Training

MY CAREER AS AN ATHLETE. 119 of opinion should have the option of contesting the event again or not, their agreement to do so being a unammous one. The amateur plan of two or three judges and one referee, though apparently unavoidable, is much more liable to cause confusion than the professional system of one judge, who is very particular in placing the first man, and names the next two without troubling very much about them, as the" peds" themselves usually care little what position is assigned to them if it is not the premier one. With three judges there are double the chances of a mistake with regard to the winner, for if one official happens to spot the same man for second or third that judge of number one has given his vote to, a general muddle is the result. It is said that with a worsted to guide the eye, inches can be detected between men at the finish of a race. This is no doubt correct with a very experienced judge, but I believe it to be impossible to make certain of correctly placing the first three men out of five runners, if they all finish within half a foot, an unusual but by no means extraordinary occurrence. The Honorary Secretary of the London Athletic Club was, I think, the finest judge I ever saw. Owing no doubt to continual practice, he could alone, and with lightning rapidity, pick out the first three men correctly time after time in close finishes. When he did make a mistake, however, it was apt to be a most glaring one, and I have heard a man own that he was beaten a yard whom this official had placed first. But to return from fancies to facts. The evening of those '92 championships, very crestfallen, I wandered