Page:The purple pennant (IA purplepennant00barb).pdf/275

Rh jectedly. "And I don't suppose I'll ever be real good at it."

"Why not? Don't expect to be a ten-flat hundred-yard man yet, though. You're too young and your legs are too short and your lungs aren't big enough. For two or three years the two-twenty will be your best distance. You can't hustle into your stride and move fast enough to compete with older fellows in the hundred. But, if you'll realize that in the two-twenty you can't push all the way, you may make a good performer. You have a pretty fair style, Perry. I like the way you throw your heels without 'dragging,' for one thing. But what I've just said about trying all the way through the two-twenty is so. It can't be done; at least, it can't be done by the average sprinter. Get your stride as soon as you can after you're off the mark, then let your legs carry you a while; I mean by that don't put all your strength into the going; save something for the last thirty yards or so. Then let yourself out! Remember that the hundred-yards is a hustle all the way, but the two-twenty is just a hundred and twenty yards longer and the fellow who tries to win in the first half of the race dies at the finish. Of course, it all comes by trying and learning. Experience brings judgment, and judgment is what a sprinter