Bredin on Running & Training

HALF-MILE, MILE, AND DISTANCE RUNNING. 39 the quarter under fifty-one seconds. It stands to reason that the faster a man is at the latter distance, the fresher he will be after completing it when continuing for half a mile, in comparison to any other athlete who is less gifted with speed, in addition to the fact that the slower runner must undertake the somewhat unthankful task of pacemaking, in which he may act as a shield on windy days to those following behind him. If we can to any appreciable extent compare the relative value of races over fixed distances that men frequently engage in, then that of one mile is of all others the most important. The uninitiated sports– man, on hearing that a certain man has the reputation of being a fine athlete, is apt to inquire at once, "How fast can he run a mile?" The public systematically seem to repeat the question through the columns of sporting newspapers, as to who holds, and what time represents, the mile record-more frequently, I believe, than all their inquiries concerning other records added together. The miler, possessing a certain amount of speed and excessive stamina, can usually stay any distance, for which reason I do not think there is any necessity to consider a one-mile race apart from those that are included in the title of" distance running," except as regards a few remarks with reference to the amount of work most likely to prove beneficial to the miler in acquiring extra staying power; and perhaps the present moment would be as good an opportunity as any other for me to add that with the conclusion of this subject my review of athletics ends. Such events in the championship programme as hurdling, jumping, etc., I could only write about