Harold Keith on Running

“Track and field events get you outdoors, improve health, are not as dangerous or as expensive as other sports, require very little equipment, and can be indulged in any time of the year one wishes. Moreover, running is the basis for nearly every other sport on the calendar and therefore part of the training routine for each.”

“The wise runner, in crowded company, will want to glance around him occasionally to study approaching traffic that may result in his being trapped by methods described above. So while "Don't look back!" and "Don't run wide on curves!" is good general advice, there are times when a runner must disregard them and think for himself.”

“Boys should not be afraid that running will give them a weak heart or shorten their lives. Statistics prove that longevity has favored the athlete. In 1904 John M. Gaines and Arthur Hunter made a study for the New York Life Insurance Company of the eight hundred and eight men who won athletic letters at Yale from 1863 to 1904 and discovered that the athlete was not only a better physical risk than the average insured person of his time, but also a better risk than the general run of college men of the same classes. In 1928 the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's statistical department completed and published a study of the longevity of athletes at ten leading American colleges and universities and found that athletes at outlived insured people (who had passed strict physical examinations) by 6.5 to 8.5 per cent and that after the age of forty-five, track athletes outlived those of any other sport.”

“The world's greatest milers today distribute their pace evenly. For instance, if you are trying for a 4:40 mile, your laps would probably go 69, 72, 71 and 68 seconds. Your opponents will have a tendency to slow up on the third lap, so this may be your opportunity to maintain pace and get a good lead. Although it is well to hug the pole, there are instances when the smart runner will want to go wide, even on a curve. For example, if you are following a runner who slows down on the curve, holding you back while the man leading the race dangerously widens his lead, pass the exhausted man on the curve or you may have too much ground to make up when you reach the next straightaway. Always remember that the runner on the pole can be so closely surrounded or "boxed" by other runners that he can't get out. To avoid this pocket and also to assure yourself of an even start with an opponent on the drive for home, pull out slightly and run at the outside shoulder of the leader around the last half of the curve or around all of it if a cluster of runners threatens to close in and box you.”