I recently learned that in the early part of the 20th century the runners would dig their own holes to start out of. Sometimes they were even given trowels. h

I recently learned that in the early part of the 20th century the runners would dig their own holes to start out of. Sometimes they were even given trowels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starting_blocks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starting_blocks I wasn't sure if I could believe Wikipedia because it sounded a little crazy, but it's at least in a couple of books, too: https://books.google.com/books?id=Mn7mCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA223&lpg=PA223&dq=track+and+field+100+m+sprint+trowel&source=bl&ots=OQUEzhVt8m&sig=xgIrss_iozXOUu-bEmWMSed2z_E&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjNvqeAkMrOAhXHeCYKHV2-DP0Q6AEISjAH#v=onepage&q=track%20and%20field%20100%20m%20sprint%20trowel&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=Mn7mCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA223&lpg=... https://books.google.com/books?id=k0rCTsicBa8C&pg=PA145&lpg=PA145&dq=track+and+field+100+m+sprint+trowel&source=bl&ots=3tmmsSvwPE&sig=08pgFbSN4R-Qc5gi911U00kH-ho&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjNvqeAkMrOAhXHeCYKHV2-DP0Q6AEIVDAJ#v=onepage&q=track%20and%20field%20100%20m%20sprint%20trowel&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=k0rCTsicBa8C&pg=PA145&lpg=...