The Washington herald., 1911-12-25
Johnny Hayes Expects american
Team to Make Good Showing
~ JOHN ]. HAYES.
winner q 1908 Olympic Marathon.

winner q 1sS Olympic Marathon
Early next June Stockholm, Sweden.
will witness what sport followers pre-
dict will be the greatest Olympic festival
Of modern times. The American Mara
thon team will there endeavor to re-
tain the Iaurels which crowned their
efforts in 1908. The American team in
The Stockholm event will be a power
tul one, and venture to predict that
the American Marathon representation
win be Is per cent stronger than II was
three years ago. The reason for this is
apparent, as the revival which swept
the country following the return Of the
1908 team caused the younger athletes
to take a more decided interest in this
almost neglected event. The benefits de-
rived from this condition Of affairs will
help the proposed Marathon team
hundredfold.
The dawn Of the new year will find
Sweden about ready for the combat that
Is to determine to which nation the
Olympic laurel crown belongs. The &C
ceptance of the presidency OF the Swed-
ish Olympic Council by the popular Crown
Prince of Sweden, who is a good and
true sportsman, is a criterion Of the
enthusiastic manner in which the Swedish
nation is taking up the work Of the 1872
Olympiad.
One of the main reasons why I predict
a strong American team in the Marathon
event Is the fact that we must surely
have profted by the renewed interest
the last three years has seen in this
branch of athletics. The wave of Mara
thonitis that swept over the country fol-
lowing the 1908 Olympic classic brought
about a condition that will yet prove of
immense value to future Olympic Mara
thoners. The event suffered in former
years for just this lack Of attention and
interest until it became almost entirely
overlooked in the point Of prominence,
which, as a classic event, 1t rightly de-
serves.
Plenty of Marathon Runs.
The three years that followed marked
an epoch in this event. for the men con-
tinually competing developed a greater
interest, which in turn introduced a
greater amount of specializing in every
branch Of the sport, with the consequence
that more and better runners were pro-
duced each yea-. The men in this event
are now capable Of covering the distance
IN better physical shape and in faster
time.
The unexpected results were that. from
then up to the present day, the times are
Improving. and record-breaking has be-
come a more frequent occurrence. For
instance, witness Crowley annexing the
amateur records from ten and one-half
20 seventeen miles, and Matt Maloney'S
sterling performances, which he crowned
by the winning the Evening Journal
Marathon and breaking the worlds anna
tSu- Marathon record. The intense heat
which kept the times in Boston A. A.
races slow in 1909 and 1910 was over
come by Clarence De Mar when he was
forced to break the record to win that
event last April, and last, but not least,
Mike Ryan's performance in breaking
the Canadian record running over hard
course. His record of BASIS still stands.
srA- =,
professionals aroused had also a great
deal to do with this improvement, as the
active competition among st. Ives, Do
rando. Crowley, Maloney and Longboat
helped this condition to a remarkable
extent. In every city, town, and village
letes. Thereby interest in the game was
Increased.
Then We have another factor in our
favor. The fact that the American Mara
thon team captured the lions share of
the places in 1903 will encourage our |
present distance men in the belief that !
hey can duplicate the feat.
Sweden Chief Rival.
Now comes a consideration Of the
strength OF our formidable opponents in
this particular event, and Sweden will
undoubtedly be our chief rival in this
respect. Ernest w. Hjertberg, whom we
all know a Marathon trainer par ex-
cellenCe, is coaching the Swedish ath-
letes and this reason alone is enough |
to make US suspect that he has a few
good men under cover. Added to this is
the advantage they will have in running
on familiar roads. We must also realize |
that the Swedes are a healthy, hardy |
race, who produce not only ideal ath- |
letes but men we'll adapted to the rigor- |
Gus Marathon training. They are lack !
ing, however in competitive spirit, which |
-.
American athletic strength. This is oc- |
casioned probably because their principal |
sports-skiing. ice skating, and sledge |
riding-are lacking in that neck-and-neck, |
Notwithstanding spirit which football and |
track sports seem to have engendered |
in the American youth.
England's increased Marathon strength |
will be harder TO overcome than in pre-
vious years In 1908 her men were beaten |
largely through their lack of knowledge |
Of how to train for the event and how /
to run it. They started of at too great |
q speed, and this, coupled with a tend
ency to run on their toes caused them |
to make a pathetic showing. OF twelve
starters the first Englishman to finish
was Clarke, who won thirteenth place,
which fact bordered on the humorous
when one appreciates that the American
team, which was given no credit at all,
with seven starters, won five places in
he first fourteen.
English Adopt Yankee Methods.
Imagine my surprise, while visiting Eng
land this summer, to find their methods
for Marathon training entirely revolu-
honized. They have adopted Yankee
methods entirely, and instead of the
great early speed and running on their
toes found them running all their races
according to a schedule Of six minutes
TO a mile, which, If adhered to. will
allow runner to pass the twenty
mile post In fairly good condition, for
II is from this point onward where the
real test comes. Harry Green, who won
the Polytechnic Harriers' race in London,
beating Mike Ryan, is a typical example
Of the ideal style, as is Barrett, who
won this race in 1909.
HnTGH,S TRAINER SEES MTrNRn