WHEN RUNNING WAS YOUNG AND SO WERE WE by Jack D. Welch

Having grown up with running during the running boom years, reading When Running Was Young and So Were We: the collected works of a sportswriter from the golden age of American running was a look back into the golden years of running and the people and events that shaped the sport and competitions of the 1970s to 1990s. Many of the articles seemed distantly familiar to me, as they should as they were written by Jack Welch for Running Magazine and Track and Field News and reprinted here. I started reading this book earlier in the year and enjoyed in particular reading about the world class athletes and races. The writing can feel dated, as if you picked up an old running magazine (which I have plenty of) and read through the articles. At times it is fun to read about events that are still crystal clear and well known historically, at other times you may be reading about a runner on the verge of greatness, who never quite made that step towards becoming a well known name years later.

I finally finished the book on some long plane rides last weekend. I found that I skimmed some of the later articles if they didn't interest me. Some of the articles highlight athletes such as Dick Beardsley, Jon Sinclair, Greg Meyer, Mark Nenow, Mark Curp, John Gregorek. Ed Eyestone, and Steve Spence. Other athletes include Chris Fox (his Syracuse XC team just won the men's NCAA Championships-I watched the race in the Philadelphia Airport between flights), Bob Kennedy, Alberto Salazar, Steve Prefontaine, Keith Brantly, Gerry Lingren, and Marc Davis. Female greats include Patti Catalono (now Patti Dillon), Lynn Jennings, Joan Benoit, Ingrid Kristiansen, and Mary Decker,

The section on running coaches may need a second read for those wondering about Chris Fox's coaching success as their are two articles on his coach Greg Shank. There are other coaches written about as well. The book also highlights many races. One annoying thing is for many of the more forgotten races, we are told the winners right up front, leaving out the mystery of who won the race as you read the recap. There are plenty of reports on the Boston Marathon, the New York City Marathon, the Chicago Marathon, and the Honolulu Marathon, among other races. The Hood to Coast relay race highlighting a Nike superstar team managed by Alberto Salazar refers to him as a "maniac" and "paranoid" traits that he carries over to his coaching today.

If you are new to running and unfamiliar with these champions, races, and period of time, When Running Was Young and So Were We would be a good piece of reading. If you ran during these years, you would enjoy a trip down memory lane.

Roadrunner: Massachusetts State Song?

Across the border in Massachesetts, there is an underswell of support to make Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lover's song "Roadrunner" the official state song. They have some heavy opposition with another 1972 classic by Aerosmith in "Dream on". One reason why "Roadrunner" would make a great song for Massachusetts would be its heritage as the place for road racing in America. What? Well there is the Boston Marathon, America's greatest marathon and  the Falmouth Road Race, America's greatest road race. Also, think about Billy Rodgers and Johnny Kelley and a host of other great marathoners, track stars, and distance runners who got there start running on the roads of Massachusetts. I saw this video version of "Roadrunner" a couple of years ago which uses some classic video of some of the great road races from the early 1980s in Boston. I think these are from the 1980/1981 Freedom Trail race, the Boston Milk Run, and the `981 Bonne Bell 10K National Championships for women. I don't see video of the Falmouth Road Race even though it is mentioned on the video upload.



You can see a great dual between Alison Roe and eventual winner Jan Merrill at the Bonne Bell race, Rod Dixon beating Bruce Bickford and Greg Meyer at the 1981 Freedom Trail and George Malley winning the 1982 event. You can also catch glimpses of Bill Rodgers, Patti Catalano, Randy Thomas, Larry Olson, and even a bearded Tom Derderian among all the road racing fanatics of the early 1980s. I don't recall who the blonde headed Athletics Attic guy is who is winning one race. Does anyone know? John Flora, maybe?

This is quite a motivational video and while watching all the clips from these races, you can certainly say that every runner in these races was truly motoring!