Bredin on Running & Training

BRITISH AND AMERICAN TRAINING. 79 no professionalism in the land of the stars and stripes– or would the hypercritical reader prefer me to write no "amateurism" ?-and they occupy an equally good social position as the majority of their proteges do. They are well paid, as no doubt they thoroughly deserve to be, and altogether their lot may be regarded as a happy one -at any rate, as long as success attends their efforts. Before comparing the American methods of training with those adopted at home, it might be advisable to write a few words on the subject of climate and its effect on the runner. Some little time ago I received a letter from a famous American runner (whom I have never had the pleasure of meeting) on athletics generally. Therein he strongly urged that there was no appreciable difference between his climate and ours in this respect. However, if his contention is correct, we must conclude that it is owing to some curions combination of chances that no first– class long-distance runners are produced in America. At the present moment twenty minutes for four miles has not been beaten, and 52! minutes for ten miles still remains to be accomplished. Now, we have had a number of amateur athletes who could and have run the shorter of these distances well inside twenty minutes, and a professional recently closely approached fifty– one minutes for ten miles, in a race against the one hour's record. S. Thomas, in two out of his four successes in the ten miles amateur championship, com– pleted the distance inside 51 min. 40 sees. (As our tracks are measured twelve inches from the inner side, and those in America eighteen, on an ordinarily shaped course of four laps to the mile the British athlete will,