Track Athletics in Detail (extract)

T H E H U R D L E S THERE are two distances for hurdle races which have become recognized by the Intercollegiate Associations and the larger athletic clubs as the standards for this event. The shorter distance is 120 yards, the race beingrun over ten hurdles, three feet six inches high, placed ten yards apart, the first and last obstacles being respectively fifteen yards from the starting and the finishing lines. The longer distance is 220 yards, the ten hurdles in this case being two feet six inches high, twenty yards apart, and the first and last respectively twenty yards distant from the start and finish. These two events are usually spoken of as the " high hurdles" and the " low hurdles," the dis­ tances being invariably understood as given above. Hurdling requires skill, strength, spring,nerve, and a cool head; and to become a fast hurdler you must devote several years of hard and faithful practice in this particular event. The training for a beginner should be begunin the gymnasium inthe winter, with light calisthenics, rising on the toes, rising on the heels, raising the legs, and practising