Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

SPRINTING 21 forward on to the hands; this point is of the utmost importance in the proper disposition of the weight and poise of the body. Next, the knees are raised from the ground so that the line of the right shin-bone is at ~n angle of between five and ten degrees to the ground, to which the back is parallel; the weight now rests on the fingers and the ball of the left foot, which is the fulcrum; the right leg is reserved for a strong push off from the back hole when the pistol is fired. As the pistol is fired, the weight is released by raising the hands from the ground, so that if no other movement was made the athlete would fall flat on his face. To prevent this and to accelerate the forward movement, the left arm is ·flung to the front and the right arm back, and at the same time the right foot pushes off strongly from the back hole with a direct thrust, and passes through to the front ready to take up its position after the left leg has completed its work (fig. s). The first stride having been taken, the runner still continues to move for the next few strides at an angle of about 45° to the ground -line, working strongly with the arms to balance the body and force it along. This is termed "getting into the running." One of the most common faults with runners is to jerk the body upwards at the start, whereby their pace is greatly retarded ; it is far better to work the body into the true running position slowly than to jerk it up forcibly at the start. The principal part of the running must of course come from the legs, which are aided by the proper use of the arms in balance; in other words, the arms must never be allowed to do so much work that they will drag the legs along.