This was a game I used to play during
recess in
elementary school. It was one of those
banned games along with
smear the queer and
red rover that were outlawed for being too rough.
To play everyone lined up on one side of a field. One person was picked as the "gladiator" and stood in the middle. Everyone then ran across the field to the other side as fast as they could while the gladiator tried to trip as many people as possible. People who fell became gladiators themselves and the process was repeated until there was only one runner left.
It was a pretty brutal game.