modifier question

[sana.mumtaz]

hello instructors .. i was going through the MGMT SC ed 2007 ... i saw the following sentence in the modifier chapter

The running back ran towards the end zone, faster and harder than he had ever run before

isn't is preferable to put the modifier faster and harder as close to ran as possible?

the following sentence does not sound right, for some reason, but could you please explain what is the grammatical problem with it?

The running back ran faster and harder towards the end zone, than he had ever run before

thank u in advance!

[samir.najeeb]

hiiii,
good question sana .... im also waiting for the answer to this question

instructors, could you please have a look?

[tim]

With noun modifiers, you need to touch the noun. With verb modifiers, close is nice but not necessary, and we certainly don't push a modifier next to a verb if it will make the sentence awkward..