Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

SPRINTING 17 build are good, but his feet-through lack of proper care-have become anatomically and mechanically deficient, why then he is not getting the best of which he is capable out of himself. It may be that a sprinter is slow out of the holes, and loses a yard or two at the start. This is due to lack of proper thrusting powers in the leg and resiliency in the foot, and in all probability the latter is due to the arches of the foot not being developed to the fullest extent. In long-distance running it may happen that the athlete finishes perfectly fresh, and has the necessary will and condition for a tremendous burst of speed in the home straight, when it is necessary for him to sprint in a final effort, and yet finds himself totally unable to get his muscles to obey his brain when the crucial moment arrives, in spite of his strength. This inability to finish tends to indicate some anatomical defect in the lower limbs which can be overcome by proper care and advice. By this means the distance the athlete usually allows for. his final effort is increased in length, and he can sustain himself right through to the bitter end with full command of his extremities, which will respond to his call in the final effort. That a long-distance runner may finish up with a tremendous burst of speed no one will deny who saw Hutson, the Army runner, win the AAA Four Miles Championship in 1913, when he did the last qu~rter­ mile in 6o seconds. There is also the case of a runner who was known to be a slow finisher, or perhaps one would be more correct in saying a short finisher, the total length of his final sprint home being little if anything more than one hundred yards. This man took proper advice, 2