Elementary, my dear runners…

Sir Isaac — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:55:39 +0000

Blogger/Runner Joe Garland stumbled across a snippet from “The Hound of the Baskervilles” where running form (in this case sprinting) gets a bit of a shout out! Who knew that the good detective was up on his running form! Joe writes:

Watching a version of “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, I saw an interesting exchange.

From the story, Holmes reviews a note about the deceased Sir Charles Baskerville. Sayeth the note:

One fact which has not been explained is the statement of Barrymore that his master’s footprints altered their character from the time that he passed the moor-gate, and that he appeared from thence onward to have been walking upon his toes.

He shortly has this exchange with Watson:

“What [Holmes asked] do you make of it?”

“It is very bewildering.”

“It has certainly a character of its own. There are points of distinction about it. That change in the footprints, for example. What do you make of that?”

“Mortimer said that the man had walked on tiptoe down that portion of the alley.”

“He only repeated what some fool had said at the inquest Why should a man walk on tiptoe down the alley?”

“What then?”

“He was running, Watson — running desperately, running for his life, running until he burst his heart-and fell dead upon his face.”

“Running from what?”

“There lies our problem. There are indications that the man was crazed with fear before ever he began to run.”

Pretty cool, huh? As an interesting side note, and one that has been pointed out before here on The Running Front, Robert Downey, Jr., who played the legendary Holmes in the most recent of his cinematic adventures, is a Newton wearer himself!

The Running Front » Just for Fun

Elementary, my dear runners…