Why? The Science of Athletics

252 WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS this case is really based upon race-walking, the contention being that the placing down of the heel at the end of a stride produces greater stride length and firmer poise. The films made at Breslau showed, clearly, that Nurmi FIG. 8I and Ri tola both placed the heel down in the way described. Wide, on the other hand, quite obviously first made con– tact with the track with the sole of his foot. Between Wide, Nurmi and Ritola at their best there was but little to choose, and the point must remain debatable as to whether Wide would have been supreme had he used the heel-contact style favoured by the two famous Finns. Great runners nave characteristic mannerisms which are as individual as their own handwriting, and to attempt to convert a Wide to the style of a Nurmi would be a highly hazardous experiment. Fig. 81 is an actual graphic record of the action of Paavo Nurmi in setting up a Running Graphically Recorded .world's 1500 metres record. of 3 mins. 53 3/5 secs. As will be seen from Fig. 51, Plate I 3, really first-class runners do not alter the carriage of the body abnve the hips in running, while Fig. 81 shows clearly, in the case of Nurmi, the close relationship between the carriage of the head and the pelvis, while the pelvic curve portrays a flexibility of hip– action which is the very poetry of running. The Breslau experiments proved equally clearly that the untrained athlete invariably runs badly. Such action is shown in Fig. 8o, the graph be~_traying a short-striding, jerky and irregular mode of progression with the head bobbing up and down. Running of this type is bound to prove exhausting to the runner. The reader should compare the fine regularity of the geometrical curves