Bredin on Running & Training

1Y CAREER AS AN ATHLETE. 147 yards handicap for their strangers' race, which I managed to win in the British record time of 58-! sees. There was a fairly strong breeze blowing directly up the straight, which had twice to be faced, and was only of aid in once travelling along the back straight, or I could reasonably have expected some improvement in this time. A fortnight after this event, at the West of Scotland Harriers sports, I again found the Scotch sprint cham– pion much above my class over a 300 yards course, as in a match between Downer and myself he romped away, and, despite the fact that on turning into the straight he met a very strong wind, won by quite eight yards in 31~ sees. At the commencement of this little book I credited Downer with the fastest British performance over 300 yards, and have quoted C. G. Wood's old record as 3Il sees. Perhaps a word or two on this subject may not here be out of place. When Wood made his record, one of the official timekeepers gave the time as 3rt sees. All the others made it faster; I believe some watches denoted 31-! sees.; however, as the slowest of these times lov;rered the old record, Wood suggested that the latter should be accepted, adding that it would be all the easier for him to lessen on a future occasion. No doubt it was owing to this reason that the record was passed as 3Ii sees., and quoted as such by the A. A. A. for some years. Subsequently this time was altered so as to read 3rg sees. That C. G. Wood did not complete the 300 yards in the last-mentioned time I do not wish, for one moment, to infer; on the contrary, I L 2