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RUNNING

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 854 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RUNNING , the most See also:

primitive See also:form of athletic exercise considered as a See also:sport. Athletic apparatus of every See also:kind has been improved in See also:modern times, but the spiked running-See also:shoe may be said to represent the See also:sole See also:advantage enjoyed by the modern runner over his Olympic prototype. As an athletic sport running has been in See also:vogue from the earliest times, and the See also:simple See also:foot-See also:race (3p6,uos), run straight away from starting-, point to See also:goal, or once over the course of the See also:stadion (a little over 200 yds.), formed an event in the See also:Greek pentathlon, or quintuple See also:games (see GAMES, CLASSICAL). It was diversified with the race once over the course and return, and the &c'wXos, a See also:long run many times (often as many as twelve, i.e. about 2; m.) up and down the stadion. There was also the hphµos 61rXCTCZV, a See also:short race for warriors, who wore full See also:armour and carried See also:sword and See also:shield, which has been imitated by the modern military race in full marching See also:order. Except in the warriors' race the Greek runners were naked, See also:save occasionally for a pair of See also:light shoes. No records of the times made by the runners in the Greek races have been handed down. It may be inferred that the contests were very severe, since the See also:ancient Olympic See also:chronicles preserve the memory of several runners, of whom Ladas was the most conspicuous, who See also:fell dead at the completion of the long course, and were buried in See also:state with their brows encircled by the See also:victor's chaplet. In ancient See also:Italy running was practised in See also:circus exhibitions, as described by See also:Virgil (Aen. v. 286 seq.). In the See also:middle ages the best runners were oftenest found among the couriers maintained by potentates and municipalities, those of Tartary, See also:England, See also:Scotland, Italy and the Basque See also:country having enjoyed the greatest reputation, while the Peichs, or See also:Persian couriers of the See also:Turkish sultans, oftenran from See also:Constantinople to See also:Adrianople and back, a distance of about 220 m., in two days and nights. Many couriers carried See also:silver beads in their mouths to obviate thirst.

Couriers (syce) who run before the carriages of their masters are still in use in the See also:

East. In the districts of See also:India not traversed by See also:railways, dak runners are still employed to carry the mails from See also:village to village, many wearing bells about their necks to frighten away the tigers. The runners of the See also:American See also:Indians were famous, and extraordinary tales are told of their swiftness and endurance. In all parts of See also:Great See also:Britain, running at short distances, as well as steeplechases and See also:cross-country runs, has been popular for many centuries, each See also:district and See also:period having its champions, some of whom achieved See also:national reputation. Durting the Puritan See also:rule and that of See also:Charles II. athletic See also:sports all but died out in England, only to be revived with renewed vigour in the See also:early See also:part of the 19th See also:century, when the public See also:schools and See also:universities began to pay more See also:attention to them. A significant event in the See also:history of running was the institution of the famous " Crick Run" (cross-country) at See also:Rugby in 1837. The See also:establishment of the See also:Cambridge University sports (1857), the See also:Oxford sports (186o), and the See also:British championship meetings (1866) placed athletics upon a formal and recognized basis. Records made thereafter received the See also:stamp of authenticity, those made in former years being doubtful on See also:account of lax measurements and timing. In the See also:United States and See also:Canada See also:authentic records date from the institution of the American Championships in 1876. The National Association of See also:Amateur Athletes of See also:America was formed in 1880. Running at the See also:present See also:day is divided into sprinting (distances up to one-See also:quarter of a mile), middle-distance running (from one-quarter of a mile to l000 yds.) and long-distance running (over logo yds.). Sprinting consists of running over short distances with a full and continuous burst of See also:speed, the See also:chief distances being roo yds., 220 yds. and quarter-mile.

, Distances up to and including 220 yds. are in America called dashes. The course for sprinting races, when run in the open See also:

air, is marked off in lanes for the individual runners by means of cords stretched upon short See also:iron rods. Starting in sprints has now become very See also:expert. The old method of dropping a handkerchief was the worst possible way to give the starting See also:signal, since the muscles react most slowly to impressions of sight, less so to those of See also:touch, and most quickly to those of See also:sound, a difference of y of a second in reaction amounting to over one foot in a run of 10o yds. All modern foot-races are therefore started by the See also:pistol; the runners wait for the signal in a crouching attitude, with the fingers of both hands resting on the ground on each See also:side of the See also:body, from which position they See also:spring upwards and forwards at the sound of the pistol. The crouching start was found to be much quicker in getting off the See also:mark than the upright attitude formerly adopted, and by 1892 had been adopted by all first-class sprinters in America, and a See also:year or two later in Great Britain. Another advantage is that the runner is steadier on the mark, and since its See also:adoption the prescribed See also:penalty of being placed one yard behind the mark for starting before the pistol-shot has been very seldom enforced, and the risky experiment of " beating the pistol," i.e. letting the body' fall forward in the See also:hope that the shot would come before the feet had to be moved, has practically disappeared. The improvement in training and the adoption of the crouching start have resulted in the continued reduction of sprinting records. " Even See also:time," or 10 secs., is still considered a See also:fine performance for the See also:hundred yards, but has been repeatedly beaten both in England and America. A. F. Duffey, who, like C.

A. See also:

Bradley and J. W. See also:Morton, won the See also:English See also:champion-See also:ship in four successive years, shares with D. J. See also:Kelly the See also:record, 94 secs., for 10o yds.; and J. W. Morton, a See also:Scot, as well as J. H. Hempton and W. T. See also:Macpherson of New See also:Zealand, are credited with' q secs.

The excellence of American runners in the sprints is probably accounted for partly by temperament influenced by See also:

climate; but the American practice of running short races of from 50 to 75 yds. during the numerous indoor meetings held in See also:winter-time offers excellent training in starting and getting rapidly into full stride. The best time for the eighth mile (220 yds.), a distance often run in America, is 211 secs., made in 1896 on a straightaway track by B. J. Wefers. The quarter-mile (440 yds.) is almost always run on a curved track, and hence a See also:quick start is important, for should the runner who has the advantage of the inside position allow himself to be outrun in the distance to the first turn, one of his opponents is likely to cut in and deprive him of it, while on the other See also:hand a runner on the outside must actually outrun the inside See also:man in order to be on even terms after the turn. The See also:element of See also:strategy, unknown in straight sprints, thus enters into the quarter. Speed is, of course, the chief requisite for a quarter-miler, but a certain amount of staying See also:power is also necessary. The See also:standard time for the quarter is 50 secs., which means an See also:average speed of 11.3 secs. for each too yds. See also:round the course. That of M.W. Long of See also:Columbia University, who made the record, 47 secs., in 1900, was on that occasion 1o•68 secs. for each hundred yards. The See also:system of " relay races,” usually run by four men each going a quarter of the distance, is a popular variety. The favourite distance is a mile, each man running a quarter at See also:top speed.

This method of racing was introduced in the United States about the year 1890 on the See also:

model of the See also:Massachusetts firemen's "See also:bean-pot" races, and has since become very popular there. The old method was for the men running the second quarter of the course to wait on the mark for the first relay men to arrive, and then, snatching small flags from their hands, to continue the race, handing over the flags to the third relay upon completing their quarter. The flags, being cumbersome, were afterwards abandoned, and the new runners are now required only to touch the persons of the preceding contestants. The r m. record, 3 See also:min. 211 secs., was made in 1898 by B. J. Wefers, M. W. Long, T. E. See also:Burke and H. S.

See also:

Lyons of the New See also:York Athletic See also:Club. Middle-Distance Running.—The chief middle distances are 600 yds., 66o yds., 88o yds. (See also:half-mile) and r000 yds., but of these the half-mile is the only one commonly recognized in championship sports. Endurance is more important at these distances, though speed is essential, and the element of strategy increases. An element unknown to sprinting enters into middle-and long-distance runs, namely that of See also:pace-making; even when the real race is between two individuals at least one other runner on each side takes part in the contest, in order to " make the pace " for his See also:principal. Emilio Lunghi (U.S.A.) holds the half-mile See also:world's record of r min. 523 secs., made in 1909. J. F. K. Cross of Oxford University ran the half-mile at Oxford in 1888 in I min. 54s secs.

The record for 1000 yds., 2 min. 13 secs., was made by L. E. See also:

Myers (U.S.A.). The distance of three-quarters of a mile is seldom run now at large meetings. Long-Distance Running.—This includes all See also:flat races of r m. or more, as well as steeplechasing, See also:hare-and-hounds, and other forms of cross-country running. Great Britain has always been the See also:home of long-distance running, different forms of cross-country racing having been popular all over the See also:kingdom for centuries. In England at the championship See also:meeting the distance events on the flat are the r m.; 4 M. and ro m. races, and in the inter-university sports the 1 m. and 3 M. ; in America the distances are I m., 2 M. and 5 m.; but any and all of these distances are often included in important British and American programmes. Hard daily training is necessary for a distance runner. See also:Good pace-making and strategy in See also:general are of great importance. The runner must learn to " run to the See also:watch,” i.e. to See also:cover the different portions of the distance in a certain time, in order to be placed most advantageously for the finish.

The mile race requires speed as well as stamina. Most champion milers are capable of doing the half under 2 min. The record for the mile, made in 1886 at Lillie See also:

Bridge by W. G. See also:George, as a professional, is 4 min., 121 secs.; the amateur record is 4 min.153 secs., made by T. P. Conneff in America, J. Binks, holding the British amateur record with 4 min. 163 secs., made at See also:Stamford Bridge in 1902. The longer-distance races require more stamina than speed, and a careful husbanding of strength. The following table gives the records (up to 1908) for the distance runs on the flat, longer than r m.: Distance. Name.

Time. Date. See also:

Place. 2 See also:miles A. Shrubb h. m. s. 1904 See also:Glasgow 9 9€ 3 „ A. Shrubb 14 17 I 1903 Stamford Bridge 4 A. Shrubb 19 231 1904 Glasgow 5 „ A. Shrubb 24 33f 1904 Stamford Bridge 10 „ A. Shrubb 50 401 1904 Glasgow 15 „ F. See also:Appleby 120 4g 1902 Stamford Bridge 20 „ G. Crossland 151 54 1894 Stamford Bridge 30 „ J.

A. Squires 3 17 361 1885 Balham 4o „ J. E. See also:

Dixon 4 46 54 1884 See also:Birmingham 5o „ J. E. Dixon 6 r8 261 1885 Balham. In addition to the records for the above-mentioned distances, Shrubb held in 1908 the records for 6, 7, 8, 9 and r r m., and also for the greatest distance covered in 1 h., namely, II m. 1316 yds. He won the 4 M. and the 10 m. British championship 19o1–4 inclusive, and the I m. championship 1903 and 1904; also the See also:French I m. and 3 M. championship 1902–4 inclusive. Shrubb was moreover a first-See also:rate cross-country runner also; he won the British 10 m. cross-country championship 1901–4 inclusive, and the See also:international 8 m. cross-country championship 1902–4. In 1863 a full-blooded See also:Seneca See also:Indian, L.

Bennet, known as " Deerfoot,” ran 12 M. in I h. 2 M. 21 secs. Real cross-country running is a fast jog over See also:

hill and See also:dale. It may take the form of a race from the gymnasium or club-See also:house across the See also:fields to a given spot and back again, passing certain See also:objects or buildings; of a practice run behind the See also:coach preparatory to a long-distance race on the track; or of a See also:paper-See also:chase, or hare-and-hounds, the " See also:hares,” two or three in number, starting a few minutes before the " hounds,” and leaving a trail of scraps of paper dropped from bags, which must be followed by the " hounds.” In Great Britain the standard distance is I0 m., but in America it is somewhat less, the distance for the intercollegiate championship race being 64 m. Steeplechasing was originally only a cross-country run over a course plentifully provided with natural obstacles, such as See also:brooks, ditches, fences and hedges; but at the present day the See also:steeplechase takes place in the inner enclosure of an athletic See also:field and the obstacles are artificial. They are placed about 70 or 8o yds. apart, and consist of hurdles, a See also:stone See also:wall about 3 ft. high and 2 or 3 ft. broad, and a See also:water-jump, a ditch about 6 ft. broad filled with water and guarded by a wall or fence 'covered with thick See also:furze or other thick shrubbery. See also:Steeple-chase courses differ widely, but the usual distance both in Great Britain and America is 2 M. The time necessary to cover this distance varies according to the difficulties of the course, but a few seconds under r r min. is considered very fast time. Team-racing is a favourite form of distance running, each team consisting of 10 men and the distance usually 4 m., the standard of the modern Olympic Games. Different systems of scoring are in vogue, but the usual one allows the winner ten points, the second to arrive nine, and so on, the tenth arrival scoring one. The team aggregating the highest number of points wins.

Among modern distance events the See also:

Marathon Run of about 40 kilometres (24 M. 1500 yds.) is the most important. It was introduced in the first revived Olympic Games at See also:Athens in 1896 (see ATHLETIC SPORTS) in memory of the famous Greek runner who was said to have brought the See also:news of the See also:battle of Marathon in Athens, dropping dead when his task was finished.

End of Article: RUNNING

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