Running Recollections and How to Train. Being an Autobiography of A. R. Downer, Champion Sprinter of the World.

Moderate rubbing to boards, fading to spine. Small 1/4" loss of cloth at head and tail of spine. Some foxing.; No date [c1900]. [8], 150 pages + [10] pages advertisements + small erratum slip facing page 102. Frontispiece + 19 full page illustrations within the pagination. Red cloth boards with black lettering and illustration on spine and front board. Page dimensions: 179 x 121mm. Title continues: "[.] And Short Biographical Sketches of E. C. Bredin (with his ideas on training) , Len Hurst, Fred Bacon, George Blenner-Hasset Tincler, with Method of Training in the Early Part of the Present Century, and Notes on Training for Boys. " The chapter on "Training in the Early Part of the Present Century" refers to training in the early part of the 19th Century, i. E. Around 1807-1811. The advertisements include an advertisement for the first edition [1899] of Baden-Powell's "Aids to Scouting" which refers to the corrected proofs being "the Last Despatches that Got Through the Boer Lines from Mafeking". Other advertisements are for Sandow's "Strength: And How to Obtain It" and "Sandow's Own Combined Developer". Contents: School Days; How I took to Running; Training Ten Years Ago; My First Year in the Scottish Championships; My First Meeting with Charlie Bradley; My First Meeting with Bradley from Scratch; I am Matched with E. C. Bredin; Purity of Amateurism; Amateur and Professional Training Contrasted; Amateur Races in General; I turned Professional; My First Match with Mills; I Run Cross at Edinburgh; First Handicap at Powderhall; The Newcastle Sweepstakes; I meet Bredin at a Quarter; A Holiday at Professional Meetings; The Greatest Race I Ever Ran; My First Defeat in a Money Match; An Enforced Rest; Matches against Hutchins, Keane, and Bredin; Charles Harper Vanquished; On Training: Advice to Young Runners; Notes on my Trainers; Edgar Chichester Bredin; Training Notes by E. C. Bredin; Len Hurst; Training Notes by Len Hurst; Fred E. Bacon; George Blenner-Hasset Tincler; Method of Training in the Early Part of the Present Century; Method of Training, etc. (Continued) ; Training Notes for Boys.…