Why? The Science of Athletics

256 WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS In using the term "best speed" it is necessary to under– stand clearly what we are aiming at in each particular connection. That is to say, is the "best" to be in the saving of time, or the saving of energy"? The sprinter, obviously, wants to save time, whereas the object of the distance -runner should be the conservation of his energy. The difference between sprinting and distance running is, I think, really a difference in gear ratio, and that gear– ratio, for each individual runner, represents the speed at which it suits him best to move his legs for the attainment of his particular object. From this we must draw the conclusion that there is, in actual fact, a "best-speed" at which a runner must progress if he wishes to cover a given distance in a given time with the least waste of energy. Mention has been made already of Pro- Energy in fessor Kennelly's proposition that world's Relation to distance running records might most easily Constant Speed be broken by the aid of a mechanical pace- maker, set to travel at the constant speed which would enable the runner keeping up with it to complete his journey just a little inside the time repre– senting the existing record. There are reasons why we should accept this principle as fundamentally sound, where record-breaking is in question. The amount of energy that is expended in a speed burst during a race is not compensated for by running more slowly at other stages of the contest, and to run at varying speeds is far more exhausting than tG run at a constant speed, as Nurmi discovered. If a man is paced in such a way that the speed is bound to remaih constant he cannot waste energy by running too fast at some stages of the distance and too slow at others. In theory, it is not a difficult matter to ascertain how to run a certain distance in the required time, provided that distance is to be run at a constant speed. If you know the distance and the time to be taken it is simple enough to find the speed in feet per second at which one ·- must run, and in practice i.e. without the aid of a mechani-