[Illustration: Fig. 50. Panathenaic amphora. Sixth century. (_Mon. d. I._ I. xxii. 7 b.)]
In the stade-race each runner ran straight to the post opposite his starting point. The manner of running the other races is more difficult to determine. The centre socket in one of the lines at Olympia is larger than the rest, and Dr. Dörpfeld is of opinion that in the diaulos and dolichos the other posts were removed and only the central one was left, round which all competitors raced. In the diaulos such a system would have put those who started on the outside at a serious disadvantage compared with those who started in the centre, a disadvantage accentuated by the confusion and crowding at the turn. It seems therefore probable that the runners raced each to his own post, and turning round it to the left raced back along the parallel track. In the longer races the objection is less important, and the representations of the dolichos on vases seem to show that all the runners raced round and round the central posts at either end. On an early Panathenaic vase (Fig. 50) four runners are shown running to the left towards a rough post. The foremost runner has just reached the post, his left foot just passing it, but he has not yet turned. The style of running shows that the post denotes the turn and not the finish.[496]
[Illustration: Fig. 51. Panathenaic amphora, in British Museum, B. 609. Archonship of Niceratus, 333 B.C.]
The difference in style between the sprinter and the long-distance runner is clearly marked on Panathenaic vases. The style of the latter is excellent; his arms are held close in to the sides, yet swinging freely without any stiffness; his body is slightly inclined forward, with chest advanced and head erect; and he moves with a long sweeping stride, running on the ball of the foot, but without raising the heel unduly (Fig. 51). At the finish he, too, like the sprinter, swung his arms violently in making his spurt, using them as wings, says Philostratus.[497] This idea of the winged runner seems to have influenced the early representation of the stade runner, which at first sight appears almost grotesque. He seems to be advancing by a series of leaps and bounds with arms and fingers spreadeagled (Fig. 52).