Running Recollections and How to Train

55 run, staleuess very soon sets in, and that, probably, before one is in anything like condition. Hence the introduction of the punch-ball into mysystem of training , of course, 1 would try no experiments of this sort without first consulting Duckworth. Upon my suggestion that weshould try ball- punching as a means of obtaining staj'ing power, that worthy replied, " the very thing," and it was. I soon experienced no difficulty in getting the distance at some­ thing like a respectable pace. I had a lot of friends stayingin Ormskirk at that time, and the whole business was like a jolly picnic. True, there were times when the others went off for a jauntto Liverpool or Manchester, and I would wish for a moment that I were not in training. This veryseldom happened, however, for I liked my work, and it was very rarely that I experienced any desire to return to the flesh-pots of Egypt. One fact in connection with this preparation astounded both Jimmy Duckworth andmyself. 1 gut to sprint very fast. As a rule, trainingfor distances over 300 yards tends to reduce a man's speed, while it develops his staying power. My stride, too, increased in length—not that this is of any material advantage,but I only mention it as a fact that may prove interesting. I know a rather funny anecdote about the length of a man's stride, which runs as follows :A certain collier was backed to run a match with another grimy gentleman. He was sent to undergo a preparation, and, as u ual, hadto run a trial on the watch. His time showed that hehad little or no chance against his adversary, and his backers decided to let him run unbacked. Upon learning their decision, our collier shouted : "To blazes wi' watch, measure stride." This was done, and his party found, to their great glee, that he was striding two or three inches further each stride than