Track Athletics in Detail (extract)

THE MIDDLE DISTANCES 15 the middle distances is that the athlete should be­ come a judge of pace. He must know just how fast he is going. It takes time, of course, to ac­ quire this knowledge, but the good men in the events know just how rapidly they are travelling around the track, and can tell to a fifth of a second what their gait has been for any fraction of the course. That is why these events are the hardest to run. The best way to acquire this knowledge of gait is to get some one to hold a watch on you every time you run. When you have not a train­ er, however, this is not always possible. But there is no reason why you should not hold the watch yourself. And it is well to keep a record of your speed as it increases. Frequent runs of 150 and 300 yards on time will serve to show how your speed is getting along, and, the distances being short, this will ena- Durke Jordan FINISH OF THE QUARTER-MILK RACE, INTERNATIONAL GAMES, 1895