The history of rabbits is an old one. I haven't had the chance to look into the matter, but I can give you one historical example. In the early 1940's Sweden was the powerhouse of running (not surprising, since almost all other countries were at war. Germany, France, Finland the UK and many others after the 1939 season and the US after the 1941 season. Still the Swedes advanced the sport. Runners like Gunder Hägg (16 World records 1941-45, including 10 in the 1942 season), Arne Andersson and Henry Kälarne raised the level a lot. Since Gunder Hägg competed for my home club, Gefle IF, I have been able to study how he (and other runners) set up races. The rules didn't allow rabbits, but there were ways around this. Often good young runners were used to make pace in the early stages. They then dropped back, but finished the race. (Sometimes you could even let one early leader drop out completely an still get the record recognized, if the starting field was considered large and competitive) One example: On Sep. 4, 1942, Gunder Hägg lowered his own (and Arne Andersson's) WR in the Mile from 4:06.2 to 4:04.6. Leading the first 440 y in quick 56.0 was a 22-year old runner from Gunder's club Gefle IF. That runner, Henry Eriksson, dropped back and finished the race in 4:35.0. For a young runner like Henry Eriksson, this was both a help for his more famous club mate, and practicing to go at a fast pace. Henry Eriksson told me that he often got the order. "Make pace for 600 and then finish". Later that would be "make pace for 1000 and then finish". In late 1945 he was told to make pace for French star Marcel Hansenne at a race in Gävle. "Make pace for 1000 and then do whatever you want to". Henry won the race in 3:49.8, which placed him as World No. 10 for the year. In 1946 he won the silver at the Europeans and then in 1948 - he won the Olympic gold in London. He meant that this schooling was very important in making him a champion. To dare to run faster than you normally would, to test your limits and at the same time loose some respect for the established runners. The history of rabbits certainly is oldar than this. I suppose that somebody can fill you in. Otherwise I might come back to haunt you... (But since I'll be in the US between June 18 and July 2, I'll be out of touch with the list for a while) Have a good summer Mats Åkerlind Gävle, Sweden
