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On Sprint Running and Training

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TRAINING AND RUNNING LONG-DISTANCE SPRINTS.

These sprints, which are generally supposed to cover all distances from 120 up to 350 yards, need a fairly considerable amount of attention, and should be trained for and run strictly according to their actual distance.

The 120 yards, however, needs very little discussion,being practically the same as the 100 yards race. I am inclined to imagine that any 100 yards man has only to lay himself down to his own distance to feel confident of covering the extra twenty with scarcely any extra effort, and, in all probability in better relative time.His steam will suffice to carry him along.

As the distance increases, however, up to 150 yards and longer, the runner must study himself more, and make allowances accordingly. He may, for instance, be able to sprint and stay the whole distance naturally, in which case he can just rest content with the same train-ing as for 100 yards, with due regard to the relatively longer course. But if he is so constituted as to have to make n special effort, he should put in most of his time at sustained bursts of from two-thirds to three-fourths of the full course. In no case must these trial spine be allowed to ease up at the end, nor must the steam worked up to be taken into consideration. That last factor will be needed in the race itself to carry the sprinter over the final third or fourth of the distance up to the tape, and in any event cannot be relied exclu-sively upon for more than 25 or 30 yards.

In fact, in many inatances-and theme will increase in number from 160 yards upwards-the factor which I have described as “ steam “ becomes more and more negligible. Few runners are able to travel 200 yards at top speed throughout, and fewer still over that dis-tance, while when 260 yards is exceeded the number becomes small indeed.

All therefore that. the long-distance @printer can do is to cultivate sufficient stamina to enable him to main-tain his initial burst right along, endeavouring the while to preserve sufficient energy for a final effort if such he needed. He consequently requires to practice assidu-ously, to train constantly (with a wary eye on the possible approach of “ that tired feeling “ known as getting stale), and to adhere to a strict formula of diet.

Follow out the training rules as laid down for long-distance runners, with the exception, of course, of the length of the trial spine and the walks. The latter should be brisker, and interspersed with an occasional sprint, while the spins themselves will vary according to the course trained for and the runner’s peculiarities. Don’t smoke, or else be very moderate in the use of tobacco; don’t drink spirits, and only sparingly of old ale.

Neither must the long-distance sprinter neglect prac-tising the negotiating of a bend (both left and right hand) at top speed. Very few courses have a longer straight run than 120 yards, and this factor must also be taken into consideation. A warning which may be here given to sprint runners generally is that they should’ never attempt passing a man while rounding a curve. He will, or should, be hugging the edge of the track, and may therefore swerve out as he goes round, so that if you try to pass him at that particular moment you will naturally be forced out, and may not only thereby lose ground, but also miss your stride.

The 300 yards has been run in even time, and all the lesser sprints within that, so that the sprinter pure and simple need not despair of covering the whole dis-tance in one burst. No man yet, however, has ever succeeded in doing evens over 300 yards, so it is to be assumed that that course is really the sprint limit

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