LONG DISTANCE RUNNING

Nick and Tom and { are fergunaje enough to have had some good boys.
The reason we have bad goed boys is net because they receive good goaching, but
because we have boys who want to run. Thet ts the firet requisite. You have get
to find boys who really want to run, aad like and love te run, When these beys
are little fellows, ofttimes they get a foundetion that should be credited to the
parents and environmest end will make some coach famous, Boys who get eut
and run, and run in their playing, until they are tired and then rest awhile, and
_ then rum and rest and run egain arc building an excellent background for running
im high school and collegs, And we have the little boy who refuses te be licked,
except temporarily. That competitive spirit continues ag he grows older aad
reaches the high school and college age. In my werk with boys, the most tater-
esting @hing te me has been the devclopment of them. I -ffnd_real satisfaction in
guiding a boy who has an ambition to de something and really enjoys it. There is
no satisfaction in coaching boys who want te compete when they are not ready for
competition. ,

I like to think of the development of these boys on a sound basis se that +
the boy is acquiring a foundation of health, which involves strength, vitality and
endurance, and which wiil enable him te go through competition en hig natural
vitality and have the power te recuperate quickly from his effort. Well prepared
contestants often feel better in the second racc than they do in the firet, and after
they have run two races they are not worn out. The results of my experience con-
vince me that it is an entirely individual problem. I try to learn as much ag I can
about the boy, his background and home life aad opportunity for play. It helps to
learn what his hobbies are and why he came te college. We must safely guide him.

Work should be given in casy stages. Alternate running and walking is a -
sound bapis te build up crese-county running. It invelves every kind of form used
in runming and I have found it more succesef(ul in developing strength, vitality and
endurance than to just keep pouring the work to the boy on the track. He has more
interest in his werk, Up and down hill werk is very important as a background
for @istanee running, You cannot everiesk this monotony that comes from eue-
tained effert, If you have @ scenic cougse, that breaks the monetony, it will en-
courage greater effert, Fer instance, Tom Jones has a very fine cross-county
course sround the shores of 2 lake. 18 is not monotonous. Niek's course i¢ not so
good in that respect as Tom's course, Our course is up and down hill, We change
courses. We have three or four that we run go that I do not ict a boy feel thet there
is the grind of that same old course day after day and I find that he has more inter-
est in hig work, This preliminary work of building up by means of cress-ceunty
gces through the walking and running stages, and you reduce the walking and in-

crease the reaning.

You have your upgrade work which of cpurse ie slow but the principle !
vse an wphill werk is making the © oy realize that a hill er an upgrede ia a chal)
Longe to him. Whea he comes te an upgrade, instead of beginning to give up on it
and slowing down, we have the boy accept the hill as a challenge, just like the hill
were another impertent competitor, and a serious one, He must pay attention to
his foym in ruaning uphill ead when he reaches the top of the bill or the grade or
whatever it happens te be im degree he dees not slow up. He comes to the level and
his form changes, then be trices te go out and run a gesd pace. Eventually he will

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