The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-25
WHY AMERICAN ATHLETES
 DEFEAT BRITISH OPPONENTS
By JOHN J. HAYES Winner of 1908 Olympic Marathon

faults This teaching of style is very es- sential, and is productive of wonderful results. A novice has a tendency to slip into a number of faults which retardd his development to such an extent that he never accomplishes anything in ath fetics.
 To cite an example: Jimmy Sullivan, or ''4:22" fame, was running for about three years for the St. Bartholomew club with out the advice of a coach. During this time he was long mark man, and was nver capable of better than minutes and 40 seconds, In 1907 Jim joined the Irish-American. Tn the three months he was training under the watchful eye of Ernie Hjertherg he acquired the ability to run mile in minutes and 22 seconds, which up to that time was the fastest mile ever run by native born Ameri- can. To cut off IS seconds from the near champions time is certainly the exempli- fication of good coaching and Is an ex- ample of the benefits of specialization.
 Thirdly, the installing of training tables by the big athletic clubs and colleges has been productive of very good results. The men have regular hours for meals. and are taught to give themselves proper time TOT the dgesting of food before donning their track suits to train. In the big clubs, one like the Irish-Amerlcan A. C., the athletes who are employed in the city can come direct from business to the track at Celtic park, and, after a work out supper is enjoyed, and then, after a couple hours of lounging. the men go to bed. This method has been productive of wonderful results, and is an incentive to a prospective athlete.
 It is through the neglect of the fore going principles that England has ceased to be regarded by the athletic authorities as formidable in distance events. In England professional coaches and train ing tables are tabooed by the amateur rules, but they will in time adopt the methods which the Americans and Ca nadians have proved to be so helpful in developing championship material l The benefits of Bonhag's observation and application of English long distance method have produced such sterling per formers as John Paul Jones of Cornell. the one mile record holder; Louis Scott, Tom Collins. Abel T[ivat, Melvin Shep- pard and Tell Berna, the Comedians 1 This improvement has resulted in short ening the times in the mile. five mile,
 ten mile and cross country distances. l Prior to 1906 the man who ran a mile under 4:30 was an exception. At present
 we have about six men who can consist 1 ently run mile in four minutes and 20 | seconds
 This is a bigger improvement than ap- pears by the simple statement. It means that in four yeare the |le event has changed from an event in which a com petitor could jog over the three-fourths
 of the way and winding up with a sprint make a creditable performance This event at the present day requires a con testant to be on his toes on the mark for from the crack of the pistol 1t is one
 continual sprint till the tape is broken.
 I look for the future of American Olympic teams to be very rosy. The spe-
 cialzing is bound to produce a race of
 athletes in the future of which we will
 be proud, The proper handling of the
 school boy or younger athlete cannot but help eliminate the large amount of bad
 effects resulting from youths indulgine
 in strenuous athletics without the super
 vision of competent instructors.