Bredin on Running & Training

QUARTER-MILING. 27 longer the Iffley Road ground straight was in com– parison with that of Stamford Bridge probably lost me a level quarter at Oxford some years ago. A race at 500 yards will be beyond the sprinter's tether, the additional sixty yards requiring so much extra staying power, though I believe it frequently is better suited to the striding class of quarter-mile runners than that of 440 yards. This distance is not very often placed on a programme of athletic sports, but amateur records at 500 yards have all been held by striding quarter-milers. Exceptions arise to every case; for Downer, on the Barrow track, an admittedly slow one under the best circumstances, ran the distance in one yard worse than fifty-nine seconds, on Boxing Day of '98, when the ground was very soft and heavy from con– tinued rain. Allowances for wind and weather are as a rule unsatisfactory, but I think there can be little reason to doubt that at any rate a full second might be safely deducted from this time, in estimating the value of the performance, owing to the unfavourable condi– tions under which it was accomplished. A somewhat remarkable race over the distance of a quarter was decided many years ago by two middle– aged sportsmen(?) from Sheffield, who agreed to walk two furlongs for a staked bet of £roo. One of the principals bribed the referee to take no notice as to how he covered the ground, and having therefore no fear of disqualification if his method of progression was somewhat mixed, evidently felt so emboldened by this ruse that, at the report of the pistol, he started running at full speed. These tactics his adversary was not slo'v in imitating, and lying close behind until