The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-03-18
RISING TO A HURDLE.


1t is generally too much trouble for one man
to set them in place for use. This is not so
with other games, for AT athlete is ready to
run or walk as soon as he steps on the path.
He can also high jump with no trouble, for
the jumping uprights are usually in placa
He can try the running broad jump at
pleasure, for that requires no preparation OF
apparatus. But before he eau hurdle, poles
ranging between IS and % feet in length, 4
or inches wide and an inoh thick have
to be placed in uprights, and in the case Of
the 100 yard hurdle race the rule calls for a
distance Of 10 yards between the obstacles
To fix these minor details takes time and
trouble, and although, of course, they are not
thought Of by an enthusiast, they prevent
many from practicing the game who other
wise would and it has been found that ath-
letic grounds with a regular course set aside
for the hurdles generally develop many more
men in this line than arefound in clubs which
provide no especial place for practicing the
game.
Hurdle running is considered by most spec
tators to be as pretty as any form Of racing.
the combined running and leaping of the
athletes, if done well, makes q most attract
i've and graceful performance The main
point of the game is ability to leap the sticks
at full speed with as little interference with
the running stride as possible. The best ath-
letes at the game make the leap nothing but
a long stride, starting from one foot and
landing on the other, gauging the hurdlevery
close, and continuing in their running stride
rs though they had taken no leap. The closer
one can get to the hurdle the better he will
be, providing he has average speed on the
fat. 1t has been proved that an athlete does
not need to be an unusually fast runner TO be
q good hurdle racer, nor does he have to be-
proficient in high or broad jumping. To
''run the sticks" well he must be scientific
and thoroughly at home with them.
The most popular hurdle races in America
are what is called the old time regulation
race, 40 yards, ten flights 3 feet inches
high, and the ordinary race, 220 yards ten
lights feet inches high. In England the
former is practiced almost entirely and that
is probably the reason the term regulation"
is given it. The other, or what is called by
some the low hurdle race, is an American in
vention, and is called facetiously 1.-The school
boys race, " because the obstacles are so low
that no genuine hurdling is supposed to be
necessary to be proficient at it. In this low
race it is generally found that the fastest run
ners are the best performers, provided they
be fairly skillful at hurdliug. The distance
between the obstacles is so great that much
fat running is permitted, and the sticks are
comparatively so low that an athlete does not
need to 60 very far off the ground to clear
them.
With the 100 yard race, ten flights feet
inches high, it is quite different Before one
can clear an obstacle of that height he must
travel some distance in the air, although a
scientific hurdler will reduce the time off the
ground to the minimum a good sprinJer or
running broad jumper in trying the foot 6
inch hurdles for the first time will, if he en-
deavors to go at any speed, clear between 10
aud Il feet beyond each hurdle, while an ex-
pert hurdle runner viii not cover over u or