Bredin on Running & Training

SPRINTING. I3 sprints. A slight breeze of some ten miles an hour behind the runner is an aid in decreasing the resistance of the air during his passage through it ; but should he be obliged to face the same, the difference is very marked, for his rate of progression (about twenty miles an hour) must be added to the ten miles of our breeze, and together makes a miniature gale to contend against. I was very elated on one occasion at having run r3o yards in r3.gths, but being sensible enough to know that this was above my true form, I shortly re-ran the distance the reverse way, and found the watch denoted one yard worse than fourteen seconds, or a differ– ence of seven yards. By an ordinary observer the day could have been described as one on which the wind would interfere but slightly with athletics. It would be easy to dispel any possibility of doubting the value of any future short distance records (as far as regards wind assistance) if the A rna teur Athletic Asso– ciation thought fit to pass a rule to the effect that any sprinter, competing in a race run along a straight, that is, without its extending round a bend or curve, and equalling or beating a record which he wishes to claim, shall, at the conclusion of the sports, be asked to turn out and be again timed over the identical distance, with pacemakers if he requires them, but running in the opposite direction to that in which he had previously done, the governing body refusing to entertain any such application unless the record was either excelled or equalled on each of these occasions. It would then indeed be an honour to have his name included amongst the already lengthy list of " ten second " men, and I feel somewhat confident that this list would continue