Spaces between finishers

[nathanpezeshki8]

I am just beginning, and there are two contrasting explanations for the usage of "at least two spaces between the runners"

Please check out attached photos.

[ohthatpatrick]

Nice catch!

While either one could potentially make sense to someone if he/she used it consistently, I think the one most of us use for
"there are at least two spaces in between M and P" would be
M _ _ + P
P _ _ + M

Some of us would just write that once and draw "interchangeable" arrows to indicate M and P's positions aren't fixed.

Others would just write
M/P _ _ + P/M

But the essence of your question was "should we put two blanks or one". I think we should put two. When I see 2+, I think "at least 2".