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Most people take it for granted when they see partially clad men and women of all ages running down residential streets at all hours of the day, but it wasn’t always that way.
The boom really started in 1977, coinciding with the publishing of Jim Fixx’s extraordinarily popular book, The Complete Book of Running. Yes, the Peachtree Road Race, the Boston Marathon and other such events had been staged for years before but received scant attention. And even then, males far outnumbered females in road races.
People who had heretofore never run more than a few hundred yards at the beach were suddenly using such words as “intervals”, “splits” and “fartlek” (a Finnish term for a training method). They patiently told friends that they “ran,” not “jogged.” Jogging was slower than a nine-minute-mile pace!
Suddenly, runners could race virtually every weekend without driving more that 25 miles from their homes.
It is still possible to compete in a 5K or 10K 35 or so times a year without venturing far from home. But, to the surprise of the “old timers,” the times in many of the races are not as fast as they were in the 1970s and 1980s. For example, where a 17:45 would mean no better than a 10th place finish a quarter century ago, it will win some medium-sized races today.
Yet, most of the “almost compulsive runners” of yesterday or today still keep in mind that Gatorade is not communion wine and a favorite running route is not necessarily holy ground. Perspective!
Looking back or forward, runners realize it is a wonderful way to exercise, stay slim, ward off old age a bit and make friends.
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