The Washington times., 1909-05-12

Tomorrow evening at O'Clock Tom
Burke will be here for his second talk
with Washington men entered In the
Intercity Marathon
Burke was here last evening. So were
many OF the Marathon entrants-at va
fious times. Through a typographical
error in the first announcement OF his
coming. the time for the meeting was
Tor O'Clock and also for Z. This pro-
ceeding was calculated to puzzle our
very best Marathon runners, and il did.
They struggled in anywhere from 5
O'Clock to :. Not enough Of them hit
upon the same item to have a formal
meeting, but those Who came got d
chance to meet and talk with Burke.
Runners Ask Many Questions.
They were ready with all manner Of
questions.
Whenever run a few miles 1 get q
pain in my slider asked one
Burke told him: 1T merely means
that you are not yet in form. AS you
train the pain Will grow less as the dis
tance increases and by week before
The race, IL you are i'll proper physical
condition, it win disappear. I suspect
this answer will apply TO a lot Of en-
trants unless they already know the
pain Is harmless"
Should train In tennis shoes" asked
another.
Never" was Burke's emphatic an
sger- Get leather shoes by all means
This is not a boost for the sporting
goods stores 1t is imperative. Those
sneakers. as We call them. slip around
on the feet and are likely to bruise the
loot as well as make the ankle tired
Leather shoes stay where they belong
and should At tight enough TO prevent
Still another example: Suppose I
don't know the condition of nv heart
is Il safe TO train and wait until a little
while before going into the race before
We undergo an examination"
Physical Examination Imperative.
1T is not" declared Burke. Each
man should be examined by a competent
physician now. It will not do any harm
even II he does not 20 into the race.
IL Is a good Idea to know II he has any
weak points Then he can go in train
Ing TO strengthen these points and not
so at the thing blindly, when, in nine
csses out Of ten. he win do himself in
calculable harm"
Incidentally the Y. NJ c As star
OF physicians Is at the disposal OF
r..
in the physical department, and he win
arrange an appointment with one of
the associations examiners.
Burke Is worth meeting. whether x,or
are going to do a Marathon or not.
His record on the athletic field has
been published In The Times. More
than that. he has acquired a wide repu-
tation through the North as a com
petenr athletic official He has prob
ably oniciated al more Marathon races
INN any other man, with very few
exceptions. He has been present az
every large athletic meet held In the
North IN recent years. He Is an expert
writer OF sports, For these reasons
anyone interested IN athletics should
meet him. and no young man or nov
can afford 10 miss hts series Of daily
letters now running on the sport page
OF The Times.
Burke Is enthusiastic over The Times
News event He threw some new side
lights on the affair.
Distance Just Right.
TO my knowledge it is the FIRST inter-
city event Of this nature ever conduct
ed. Civic pride wiz play major part
IN the race.
"One thing / like about The Times
News race is the distance For the
climate here II is just right. The
length of these races should vary to
meet local conditions Your race Is
none the less a Marathon because it is
little less than the Marathon dis
tsnce now considered the standard
26 miles and 3S5 yards
''This talk about Marathons not being
Aiarathons because they are not quite
this distance is all pOppycock. II shows
that these orthodox athletes do not
know what they are talking about
distance ftf
dent. AS matter Of fact the origins J
Marathon course az run IN the Classic
races. and as recognized in the revival
OF the Olympic games. was 2is5 miles
This IS the distance run at Athens, at
Paris, and at st. Louis At London
70 please some dignitary who could MT
be az the finish. the race was started
a. windsor castle. Running from the
castle 20 Shepherds Bush and once
around the track happened 10 be IS
miles and 3s5 yards.
Change In Distance.
"Dorando's collapse and Hayes vic
tory naturally directed lot OF atten-
tlon 20 the event when Hayes returned
so this country. When the match races
we're planned between him and Dorando
& was very naturally arranged that the
distance should be the same over which
the contestants ran in England That is
the origin OF the so-caIled Marathon
distance
Burke also had something to say re-
sarding criticisms aimed at the Mara
thOn craze"
1T is little wonder" said he. that
a number Of professionals collapsed in
t1at race on Saturday ia New York. In
flte nrst place, the men were not train
ed properly Dorando admitted that
after the race. In the second place,
many OF them had been running races
kE 81
spring. Under that strain Il was only
patpTal that they should collapse. Why