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Show I! SAYS ANYBODY CI BECOME II SPITED Los Angeles Expert Discusses I Necessary Qualifications ''y for Covering GrouncL I Anybody with average physical abil- i ity can be b distance runnor, providing p&tienee and perseverance goes with i ft, says Owen Bind in tho Los Angeles 3 Tlraes. The lost two-named qualities I have everything to do with the male- I ing, or the unmaking, of the distance 1 rtainer. Tho tall, xanpy man probably has more natural ability in this line, 4 but thcro have been hundrodB of lit. 1 tie men at the top of the diBtenco divl- 1 fiton in athletics. 1 .Tohnnv Haves, St. Ives and our own I Charlie 'SwiRRct o TJ.8. C, and Bill frfS S Annin of Oxy, are what might bo I 8 termed little mon. On the other hand, S I Tom Longboat, Albert. Bay, Bill Him- i rod and Sonpy" Stergis iwere men of fflMT the tall, stringy typo. Hans Koleh- ;H ' mainen, who set the sport world on fire il ; in the last Olympic games, would bo ESM taken for almost anything but a long- tit j distance record breaker but nnvertne- rm; less, ho cantered home m front in ov-orv ov-orv race in which ho started, although ! they say that ho looked more like a f j r-nbject for the hospital than an Olym- I i I pic athlete. . , ,. . I There are two classes of long-distance II frtinncrs. First, wo have the milors, f I tbo balf-mUers and the two-railers, -but m coming aftor this division thero are tbo flll men who can run from five miles to nil tho foil Marathon. W The first division requires more form Hfil od more speed, while the second rev B quires more or less spirit and heart, ul- fla though the form is ncccssnry in that it Um makes tho gruelling work of ninning ffiffl tho long grinds easier than otherwise. r ml As these two divisions are practically L3 dfstinct, wo will take up the first and ilm confine the rcronindcr of this article to IjffH instruction for half -milors and milers fjfJI and tho tiro-milcrs thrown in for good will measure w Necessary Qualifications. '"I As T have stated boforc, build has 1 tjut littfo to do with the making of a classy distanco runner, it being heart. I ganicness and fonu that cut the largest I figures in this department of tho game. 8 A sprinter is a man who cun stand uu under ahnrp, sudden calls on his ncrroua oucrgy, bo must have rather good development in the legs and arms, this is necessary to run nnything from 10U vards to -140 yards, but after you leave the 4 4 0-yard dash, an entirely new field comes into piny - Beginning with the half-mile we run to' stamina, courage and case in cover- i ing the ground. . , The nmu who is just a little too slow b run u food quarter may turn out to be a crack." half-milcr or a fast mtler, but when we come to tho two-mile, we find again a difference,, this event rc- ; ; quiring more lusting nerve than tho other two events named. ' In tho half-mile, uow that the .distance .dis-tance is being run in such fast tunc, ' ' jiioro depends on the start and, of roursc, a great deal depends on the finish, fin-ish, so in advising contestants regarding regard-ing event selection, I would say that to " be a half-milcr you must have fair speed, ability to stand up uudcr a sustained sus-tained strain "of violent character and then bo able to clap on a good sprint at the' finish. 1'or these rcasous, form lins a great deal to do with running the half-mile, so naturally tho proper jogging jog-ging form is necessary. Perfect bulauce is essential to good lialf-mtlc running and until the per- former lcams how to carry himself in I he juti form, this cannot be attained. To learn the jog form, the following stops are necessary: Keep all the swinging parts of the . Jjody in straight lines, that is, the 1cr3 and" arms. Do not roll the trunk from "'ilo.to tmlc, it is lost motion and will "luit into tbo -breathing case. As for the placement of the feet, this implies to any and all running form, hut especially to tho distanco men. Yon will notice in the drawings draw-ings that the right and wrong methods of placing the feet on tho ground are dchiqoatcd. To too in or out loses valuable val-uable iuches on each stride. For in-ntancc, in-ntancc, place your foot on the ground iu a straight line, then turn the too out and after this draw a line between the two positions and you will find that at least two- nud a half iuchcH ! are gained by the straignt-too motnou, which means five inches on a stride; and in a half milo or a mile there are a good many stride., so it docs not take long for this five iuches to run into yards. Having learned to place the feet correctly, cor-rectly, look to tho body angle. As J have staid before, a running stride cr form is no more than another form of the walk.4 To get the correct body .slant put both feet together, then allow yourself to fall fomard, just witching . v'ourself as you are about to lose- your ''balance: you will naturally put your foot out to sayo yourself; then stop as boon as this involuntary steo is talc-rn. talc-rn. and your body will umimIIv bo iu the proper body angle. " . ' Do not look at your feet, when doing Ihis, as it gives the head the wrong tijt. but look nliea.J about waisi hiqh, fighting down the course about fifty-yards. fifty-yards. Position of Legs. sYour forwnrd leg should be slightly .b?nt at the knec; but the back leg must be ptruight with the ttoe just touching the ground as the foot is leav-ing leav-ing for the next forward movement. Fractiee taking these step!" until you feel free and fay, then tako them" in progression, and your jog form will be developed. "Having once obtained a jog form work with it until you feel that it is about the best thing you do, and after this you ran fall into the stride work; . but htriding is another phase of track development and will bo covered later. After learninc to handle himself in Iho jog, the linlf-miler must work for ' rtpced and finish; but this is going, to : ' , take long weeks of ardent work, and t cannot be explaiued in cold type, 'j -The mile and two-mile events am practically in a cUts by themselves, 'j f?iim'ce It to ay at this time that one i J does not need so much peed for these I I ovrnts as for the half mil, rather da 1 pending on stamina and form for ox- 9 ccllcnce. Of course, it takes a certain rag amount of finishing speed to win any v I mile or two-milo Tace, but tho point is that the strain on. the nerve and muscle , fiber is rather more sustained and not S so subject to sudden demands for bursts t of trnngth. ft A mtler or two-milc rnnner should ' cultivate the perfect joe form, then fi t'T or a 'ontf rangv stride that cover mT ' I rrouitd without tirini: the back and iif 'a . shoulder rankles. Of course, th leg m. ' I and arm tendons will become tired, but B ji j If; the back and shoulders aro carried easily the legs and arms will not suffer bo much. To get this, run straight, with a good body angle, and keep "in. one line on the" track. Before taking up distance work I would advise any aspirant to think it over, as it is going' to take time nud lots of it. |