The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1883-06-20
The Science of Running.

st. Nicholas says very few boys know
how to run. "Ho, no !" say dozen of
our boys. "Just bring on the boy that
can run faster than / can |" But, stop a
moment. l don't mean that most boys
can't run fast-I mean they can't run far.
don't believe there is one boy in fifty, of
those who may read this, who can run
quarter of mile at good smart pace
without having to blow like porpose by
the time he has made his distance. And
how many boys are there who can run,
fast or slow, full mile without stopping
1t hardly speaks well for our race, does
it, that almost any animal in creation
that pretends to run at all can outrun any
of us Take the smallest terrier-dog you
can find, that is sound and not a puppy,
and race with him. He'll beat you badly.
He'll run third faster than you can, and
ten times as far, and this with legs not
more than six inches long. l have a
hound so active that be always runs at
least seventy-five miles when / stay day
in the woods with him for he certainly
runs more than seven miles an hour, and
if am gone ten hours, you see he must
travel about seventy-fve miles distance
And then, good hound will sometimes
follow fox for two days and nights with
out stopping, going more than three hun
dred and fifty miles, and he will do it
without eating or sleeping. Then, you
may have heard how some of the runners
in the South African tribes will run for
long istances-hundreds of miles-car-
rying dispatches, and making very few
stops. | make these comparisons to
show that our boys who cannot run mile
without being badly winded, are very poor
runners. But believe l can tell the boys
something that will help them to run bet
ter. l was pretty old boy when l first
found it out, but the first time | tried
it, ran mile and quarter at one dash,
and | was not weary nor blown. And
now am going to give you the secret ::
Breathe through your nose had been
thinking what poor runners we are, and
wondering why the animals can run so
far, and it came to me that perhaps this
might account for the difference, that
they always take air through the nose,
while we usually begin to puff through
our mouth before we have gone many
rods. Some animals, such as the dog and
the fox, do open their mouths and pant
while running, but they do this to cool
themselves, and not because they cannot
get air enough through their noses.
found once, through sad experience
with pet dog, that dogs must die, if
their nostrils become stopped. They will
breathe through the mouth only while it
is forcibly held open if left to themselves,
they always breathe through the nose.
So, possibly, we are intended to take all
our breath through the mouth. There are
many other reasons why we ought to
make our noses furnish all the air to our
lungs. One is, the nose is filled with a
little forest of hair, which is always kept
moist, like all the inner surfaces of the
nose, and particles of dust that would
otherwise rush into the lungs and make
trouble, are caught and kept out by this
little hairy network. Then the passage;
of the nose are longer, and smaller, anG
more crooked than that of the mouth, sc
that, as it passes through them, the air be
comes warm. But these are only few
reasons why the nose ought not to bt
switched off and left idle, as so many noses
are, while their owners go putting through
their mouths. All trainers of men fol
racing and rowing, and all other athletic
contests, understand this, and teach thei
pupils accordingly. If the boys will try
this plan, they will soon see what differ
ence it will make in their endurance
After you have run a few rods holding
your mouth tightly closed, there will com
time when it seems as though you coulC
not get air enough though the nose alone
but don't give up; keep right on, and in
few moments you will overcome this.
little practice of this method will 60 ia
to make you the best runner in the neigh
borhood.