Hallowell, Harvard-Cambridge Track Star, Finds American Training Methods More Efficient Than British Though Irksome

N. P. Hallowell '32, who took his middle-distance running abilities to Oxford for the past year and has just brought them back with a vengeance to compete for Oxford-Cambridge in the international track meet held on Saturday afternoon, finds the strict American training regime more efficient than the English methods, though perhaps more irksome.

"To the Englishman preparation for a race is dependent only on common sense of each runner. To the American, the preparation depends not on the common sense of the individual but on the common sense of a hard and fast set of rules. Almost in military fashion the American is forced to follow this code under penalty of losing his place on the team; so true to the laws of human nature, rather than thinking of the end for which the laws are made he has a habit of thinking of them as an infringement on his freedom." Hallowell said in an interview with a CRIMSON reporter.

"This attitude is largely responsible for the familiar restlessness of many American athletes before the season is half-finished But the tradition has grown up that one must abide by these rules, thus in general they are followed; and the athlete finds himself, much to his delight, in the best of health and quite ready to produce his best when the time comes. In contrast the Englishman, instead of suddenly finding himself in condition is much more conscious of how it all comes about, because instead of having rules made for him, it is essential that he make his own. I do not want to make it appear that the American athlete has no idea of why he is training. But thew are relived of the responsibility of deciding for themselves what is the right thing to do.

Hallowell then turned back to the subject of the English student's training, and branded as false the idea that English trackmen train on cigarettes and beer. "They do train on what they think is best for them and if this means a glass of beer once in a while they will have it. Sooner or later the English athlete will voluntarily impose upon himself the 'no smoking, no drinking, no late hours' code under which Americans train."