Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-23
HARDER TO RUN
MILE THAN 44O
Meredith Says Short Races Are
Not So Strenuous as
Long Ones
CUT IN TIME OF $50
BY JAMES e. c"TED") MEREDITH

World Greatest Middle Distance Runner.
One of the favorite questions for de {.
bate about followers of track athletics
is. "What is the hardest distance to
rum"
Often I have heard this question de-
hated and usually there was a quarter
miller at hand who insisted that the
40 is the hardest because it is a sprint
all the way. Twenty years ago that
would have been the right answer, but
in this age of track development I be-
lieve that the farther the distance the
harder the race.
Two decades ago the quarter mile
was being run in almost as good time
on the average as it is today. The rea-
son for this was that the 440 always
has been the most popular of any of the
distances, and this furnished the com
petition. It's the field always that
makes u race hard or easy.
Back around 1900 the quarter was
run much faster comparatively than any
of the other events. AS an illustration
at these times made in the Olympic
championships in 1896 and 1900:
1929 1895 XXX: :is e !.5 !j3 $:di $5r a-5 ia ia
| MaXcy Long was running around 40
seconds consistently twenty years ago.
and the Intercollegiate quarter was being
won in under 80 seconds, while . min :
utes and > seconds was good enough to
win the halfmile college title. Com
pare these with the times of today. For
| tyninc seconds in the quarter virtually
assures a runner of a place in the quar-
/ tor. while n 2:0J half miller is scarcely
good enough for any college track squad.
/ Interscholastic half mile champion
ships are won under > minutes and only
occasionally would 2:O5 schoolboy
/ $50 runner get into the scoring.
NIilers Were Slow
The same facts apply to the mile aud
two mile. At the start of the twcn
! ticth century IL 1 80 miller was an ex .
/ CcptiOn, now four four quarters in that
time is considered a shade worse than
mediocre. An intercollegiate mile
usually is won around 4 20 and often
in much faster time.
n two mile race in ten minutes was
remarkable time in 1900. but compare
that with the times of this age when
Joey Ray is running 0:16 indoors. \
9.1G two miles mems two races of one
mile in as fast time as the four quarters
were run twenty years back. For in :
stance the first mile of n 9:16 race
would have to be run in about / 80 and
the second in 4 :46.
In the last ten wears track races
other than the quarter developed to
such an extent that the times were
forced down. This was caused by the
fact that the trainers in colleges began
looking to races other than the 40 for
points in the meets and coached their
men especially for the longer events.
4iO Field Large
One thing that has done a lot to
make the 44O popular is the annual
relay carnival at the University OF
Pennsylvania. Schoolboys going out for
their high school track teams in the cast
had one goal in view. That was tC
run in the Penn relays and naturally
they picked the quarter mile so that
they could make the mile relay team.
This has kept the competition keen and
the field large.
Th" longer distances back in track
history were not hard on the runners
They would loaf through most of the
rae" and pull Il sprint in the last few
hundred yards. Now there is no chance
to loaf in any race. Athletes in every
event are getting to know their OWL
ability and strength. They keep on the
heels of the leaders all the way. There
is no letup from the start to finish ant
when this is the case the farther yor
go the harder il is.