He must stay cool and collected so as to do exactly the right thing at the right time.

A little slip in the way of judgment was likely to lose him the race, for he now learned as he gained the main road, that there were not only one but two competitors ahead of him.
Yes, the fleet-footed Whipple had somehow managed to spin along over the ground, and was now not far behind Nick Lang.

Possibly the fellow from Allandale had also secretly examined the course and discovered a cut-off on his own account, through means of which he anticipated gaining a great advantage over all the other runners in the Marathon.
Hugh now set out to make steady gains.

He must be within a certain distance of those two fellows by the time the last stretch was reached, or else all his hope of overtaking and passing them would be lost.
He found that his powers of endurance and speed had not been misjudged, for they responded nobly when called upon for a further spurt.

Now, he was greatly lessening the distance separating him from Whipple; who, in turn, seemed able to hold his own with Nick.
The latter began to show the first signs of distress when they were at the beginning of the last two miles.