Bredin on Running & Training

QUARTER-MILING. rg yards might be considered the limit to which the word "sprint" can apply. But as to each individual the furthest distance he is able to race over will be beyond that at which Nature allows him to compete most successfully, it follows that various runners will each have a different opinion on this subject. Personally I would rather run 440 yards than 300, and either distance several times in the same afternoon than once race I ,ooo yards. Speaking generally, there are two classes of athletes who compete in quarter-mile races-sprinters and middle-distance men. The former frequently find it difficult to stay well beyond 300 yards, this being so in their case not because the pace kills, but owing to the strain caused by prolonged exertion. The latter class consists of men capable of running moderately well in sprint events, but lasting up to and often beyond half a mile. Their chance of success depends on covering the distance at a uniform rate of speed, relying on their staying power. For want of a better term, I will in future refer to them as the " striding" in opposition to the " sprinting " quarter-milers. To refer, then, to the sprinter desirous of competing in two-furlong races, he need make little alteration in his usual methods of practising, running twice a day if he so chooses; but this I think is inadvisable for any other than the shortest distances. Although he may be conscious of the fact that a sufficient amount of running has been gone through prior to the mid-day meal, it will not always be easy to confine the after– noon's practice to a few canters, especially if he is commencing to feel fit and other men are practising on c 2