Sentence:  When in liquor he would make foolish wagers. On one of these too frequent occasions he was boasting of his <WSD>prowess</WSD> as a pedestrian and athlete, and the outcome was a match against nature. For a stake of one sovereign he undertook to run all the way to Coventry and back, a distance of something more than forty miles. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Skillfulness and manual ability; adroitness or dexterity.