Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

MIDDLE DISTANCES 33 run in heats, it is as well to ascertain how many are to qualify for the final, and to make sure of getting into the ;specified numbers. It is not always neces– sary to go "all out" in a qualifying heat; it is far better to save oneself for the final. If in running the race you have made the pace a " cracker " over the first quarter, it may be that you will have worn your field down to such an extent that by judiciously saving yourself a hundred yards or so you will be able to make the pace so hot in the final sprint that your opponents will not have enough left to challenge you. More judgement is needed when the first man begins to sprint at the end; let him go out and make the pace for you, but press him as soon as ever he begins to flag, and then go on your– self to win in the last eighty or ninety yards. If the half-miler is of the plodding brigade, who like to keep an even pace throughout with a short burst of speed at the end, he is strongly advised to get the lead as soon as possible and keep it, setting a pace entirely to suit himself, but staving off and keeping back the other competitors as long as possible, so that his energy is reserved for the final sprint. The final sprint can easily be improved in even the most consistently bad finisher,· as will be seen from the parts of this book dealing with the medical and mechanical side of athletics. In both the medium-distance races it is of vital importance that every muscle should perform the amount of work properly allotted to it;. for instance, the arms and trunk must take their part in the pro– pulsion of the body, and not leave the whole of the work to the legs and feet. Every part should work loosely and easily; the knees must not be raised so 3