Show R CE M TANY JV ANY years ago Ellsworth v Vines the star tennis player and not a bad golfer made this remark remark remark re re- mark mark- mark Its surprising how long It takes a B fellow to get into hard competitive condition and and what a short time it takes to get out again And Vines was a hard trainer This happens to be completely true It is one answer to Gunder Haegg's showing in inthe r- r the recent IC r- r 1 games at Madison J S Square qua u a r e Garden dry 1 1 where he practically practical practical- r y ly collapsed In the f w tj mile run Hae Haegg i. i the great Swedish W dr flash and andin andin r fia in S shape h ape h has as run cS yi r the mile in He was timed around Gunder Haegg over an indoor I track with no chance to train soon after he landed This means a lost or missing margin margin margin mar mar- gin close to 29 seconds seconds seconds-or or something something something some some- thing more than yards In the best mile that Haegg ever ran he would have beaten Rafferty's 4 mile by over 90 yards For a mile is barely more than a gallop Looking as far back as Joie Ray a mile niile would have been a common common cornmon com corn mon canter for the old Rafferty has always been a fighting fighting fighting fight fight- ing miler Then we had Nurmi's 4 And Nurmi was one of the great runners of all time From the mile to meters From that I point on down to Arne Andersson's record mile in ha we have seen the records fall via fall via Glen Cunningham Cunningham Cunningham Cunning Cunning- ham Lovelock Haegg and others who hammered the figures down split second by split second But in hi all this natural ability has needed the hardest sort of work plus able trainers and able coaches who have yet to receive the credit they deserved The Greatest Race To me the mile has always been the greatest of all races It combines combines combines com com- bines more in the way of speed and stamina than any other distance The yards yards the the even even the quarter quarter are are largely speed tests Although Although Al Al- though It must be admitted that the yard dash or the quarter is also a killing distance calling for extended speed But the mile js is s something in between the sprints and the longer distance races leading up to the marathon The average normal human being being being be be- ing from city and farm usually talks and thinks in terms of the mile It is a mile to some place place place-or or 5 miles miles or or 10 miles You know just about what that means The mile today is the ideal combination combination combination com com- of speed and stamina stamina-a a arace race that draws and keeps the crowds interest The and the are over in too much of a hurry while the 2 and 3 ni mile e races are too long to watch In this country most of our best running has been turned in from the yard dash to the mile We have had few runners with the patience patience pati patio ence to train for longer distances We have been better bet at the shorter distances with Paddock Wykoff Tolan Tolan To- To lan Ian Jesse Owens and many others Here it was largely a matter of a flash or flash or half halt a stride But the main or major goal In track racing has been to reach the mile in four minutes flat fiat Here Is something that demands both speed and stamina to the ultimate limit The time may come corne when some one will beat heat four minutes But Dut that Is the big target now Arne Andersson has hns brought the mile to just a trifle more than a second from the four minute mark Four minutes will be reached and beaten but hardly through the war period For with all th the ability one may have there is still the matter of condition and hard training through a long period For example Gunder Haegg is still the greatest distance runner inthe in inthe inthe the world over the one two and three mile tests His record is one of the most amazing in all sport Yet out of condition his last showing showing show- show ing big at nt the mile and his best showing at the mile are close to 29 seconds apart We have always believed there are arc no supermen in sport I Records are only made to be broken What they all aU want is the target Sooner or later they bowl this tills target over I It has been said There said There is no substitute for work Also There Also There is no substitute for experience Certainly Cere in a mile run there is no substitute substitute substitute sub sub- for a long hard training period period period pe pe- that brings the legs and the wind working together as ns a team And that goes for a Mercury Tops in in Training I While were we're speaking of condition condition condition condi condi- tion if anyone cares to know about the time all top in physical training it wouldn't be a bad Idea to visit the four navy pre flight pr flight schools at North Carolina Georgia St. St Marys Mary's and Iowa These four major pre- pre sight light headquarters were first set up by Tom Hamilton Hammon carried on by Frank and andare andare andare are now under Killer KillerI Kane In addition to the a academic endemIc and military side they have done an I incredible job of conditioning |