University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1912-11-22

IL "hhh6ACSo " "OAh, oolu
T. E. Jones. trainer of the Tiger
teams. "A man who wants to be-
come a cross-country runner must be
willing to train" And with that he
told all that was required to become
proficient in that sport.
Cross-country runners come in all
sizes and shapes, said Mr. Jones.
Most of them, however, are Of a rangy
build.
The method of training them is
similar to the methods employed in
other sports which require great en-
durance. THE first day start
them out easy, and run them about
a mile and a half" said the coach,
apparently deeming that distance
mere trifie. By the third day the
men will run half a mile more. At
the end of the week they will run
three miles. And at three miles they
| will remain until their muscles be-
come strong, and their hearts devel-
Oped. A coach can tell when this has
taken place, either by feeling the run
ners, or by merely looking at them.
Heart, lungs and muscles are the
! three points to be worked on in train
ing the runners. And it is not hard
muscles that we want, either. When
muscles are hard they are not in good
condition. Good muscles are soft
and responsive. Not flabby, but soft.
THE long-distance runner must
run relaxed He must not tighten as
the stringent does. He must breathe
freely while running. The sprinter,
the man who runs so. 100 and 22O
yard dashes. does not breathe during
his race. He runs it all in one
breath. But not so with the cross
country runner.
Il should mention one other es-
sential A runner must have grit.
When all strength seems to have
OOzed out, the runner must still con-
tinue to run. He must run on his
nerve. Many failures of otherwise
good men are due to the absence of
this quality of nerve. Many good
men fail because they worry and have
no confidence in themselves. A rum
ner must have confidence that al
most borders on egOtism.
The length of the stride in the
cross country runner does not mat !
ter. With a sprinter it is very i'm |
portant that the stride be long, |
While coaches try to extend the |
stride and get the most out of it with
the cross-cOuntry man, too much EN- /
phasis is not placed on it, The run
ner must move easily and carry his |
body well forward
Rainy days affect runners. Ther
accompanying cold usually stiffens /
the muscles. All records are made |
on warm days. The road the men run
on does not matter very much. Light .
men, however, can do better on a
hard surface"
Terry. how does it feel to run
five miles ?"
c. w. Terry. who came in third in
the Missouri Valley cross-country run
held here recently, stretched himself,
and drawled:
1T feels kind of tired"
"How do you run the five miIesT
We'll, the first mile you try to run
under five minutes. You take it cas-
ier the second mile. The third you
burn up again. The fourth you
lay off again. You slacken your
pace, but not very much. On the
lay-off miles the runner must fall
into a graceful stride. The last mile
you must do fast Half mile from
the finish you start to do your best.
and the last 300 yards you must /
sprint. And the last 300 yards looks |
like a mile"
What do you think of while you |
are running -
You try to think of nothing. If
you have to occupy your mind with
something, try to thing of the finish |
and the other runners.
Never let man run you to
DEATH" he went on by way of good
counsel, but never let a man get
more than 100 yards in front of you.
try to catch the men in front of
rrhil rIinniru dou,n hill Than