Bredin on Running & Training

RUNNING AND TRAINING. to remain in its present state for at least a very considerable number of years. Further, regarding the amateurs at present credited with running roo yards in 10 seconds, I would point out that 95 per cent. of men capable of so doing would at the very least run 120 yards in IIi seconds. Unless an athlete, who was in the habit of frequently competing in sprint races, on some occasion proved able to cover the longer distance at this rate of speed, I should con– sider that either the time-keeping was at fault, or the wind had proved favourable. If we take as an example a man running roo yards in rot seconds: no man leaves the mark absolutely at the report of the pistol-there must be a loss of nearly ith of a second between movement and the flash-then only a good beginner would cover four yards in his first second, at 2 probably eleven, and 20 yards in 3 seconds. That leaves him 7-! seconds for the remaining eighty yards, which would show that towards the latter part of the race he must be cover– ing more than ten yards per second. Therefore a man five yards faster over the whole distance will necessarily be finishing at a still greater speed. Roughly speaking, whatever number of yards a man can get "inside" II seconds at roo yards, he will increase by 2! in the extra twenty. A few exceptions, but I think very few, will be found to this rule. Bradley, to whom a roo yards race was sufficiently far, and would have been harder to beat at a century than at any other distance, yet proved equal to running 120 yards in rr-!ths. Men who find roo yards beyond their tether are not sufficiently numerous to be seriously taken