I’m currently listening to a Bowerman And The Men of Oregon, a book on the life of Bill Bowerman. He just happened to be one of the greatest track and field coaches America has ever seen. Oh, and he may have also been the co-founder of the little company we’ve grown to love, NIKE.
The book is awesome, everyone should read it (or listen to it).
While a lot of the book has left me with my mouth opened in awe, there was one thing in particular that blew my mind:
Every day people running.
Being a runner myself, I’ve never thought much about it. I lace up my shoes, put on a sports bra, and hit the pavement or trails while listening to my favorite books and music (though the bra comes on first, then the shoes).
It’s something that just seems normal in our society, as if people have been running forever.
But that isn’t the case, and in all actuality running is a very new activity in our society and one I’m honored to be able to participate in.
The birth of running, has opened so many doors in terms of fitness for “normal” people that we should really be appreciative of this past time whether you love running or hate it.
If you like to workout, you should at least have respect for running.
Who Ran Before Road Runners?
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We’ve all heard the story about how the marathon was born:
Running, and not just trying to capture things or get away from predators and enemies, has been a sport since the first Olympics in 776 BC. And that’s pretty much what it remained until the mid 1960s….
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It was a sport for athletes, like football, baseball and volleyball. Few people untrained in the discipline would hit the roads as a way to get out bundled up energy or to improve their overall health.
The elite trained while everyday folk, you and me, would watch and clap. Perhaps even thinking, “Gosh, I wish I could run!”
And women? Um, no.
There was no Jane Fonda, no Barre Class, and of course no boot camps going on. At this time, Arnold wasn’t even around to promote body building (and weight training).
Fitness as we know it, didn’t exist. And those that did workout, were thought of as bizarre.
How Every Day Folk Started Running
Here’s what I learned in the book (and then verified via research)…
In early 1962, Bill Bowerman’s 4 x 4 relay team captured the world record (with 16.08.9 minutes) which had previously belonged to New Zealand. New Zealand of course wanted to prove their ranking as top dogs so invited the men over for a series of traveling races.
Bowerman at the time was in his 50s and a bit “soft”. The New Zealand coach invited him out for a run, but what Bill saw was more. He was introduced to what may have been the world’s first jogging club.
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Men, women and children were out to run at nice comfortable paces which Arthur Lydiard (the New Zealand coach) called “jogging” in an effort to improve each person’s mind, body and most importantly overall health (heart disease was on the rise).
Lydiard called his group, Auckland Joggers’ Club (a few running with Lydiard above).
Bowerman was awe struck at the site and blown away by his own lack of fitness. Over the 6 weeks that he was in the country, he jogged most days and lost around 10 pounds.
Americans Meet Jogging
Great, so New Zealanders were starting to add exercise into their lives, but what about us?
Well…
When Bill returned to Oregon, reporters wanted to know how the race tour went. Instead of going on and on about his athletes, he was more interested in discussing the running club he had experienced and used the journalists to invite anyone interested to a run club at Howard Field the following Sunday.
A few showed, then the next week a few more and within just weeks thousands were coming by the track to run and learn from the long distance Ducks.
I would have loved to have seen that! And I’m sorry, but the whole story just blows my mind.
With the boom in Oregon, Bill Bowerman wanted to expand jogging in the US, so with the help of a cardiologist, he published the highly acclaimed book, Jogging.
We talk about how running is blowing up today, but it makes sense! It’s still a very new activity and of course more and more people are just getting the bug to do it.
Just to put it out there how rare it was to run or jog in the 60s…
Once Bowerman introduced jogging to Oregon, more people would go out on their own. A person running past sunset was subject to police investigation and a drive to the precinct to make sure a robbery hadn’t occurred!Is that not insane? And hilarious?
I was telling my mom all of this Sunday with such passion and excitement that I knew I had to share it here.
Running is something we take for granted, but we are truly blessed to live in the time we do where we have the freedom to move without being judged or thought crazy.
I for one, could not imagine a life without fitness, and running was the start of all that. It was the beginning of every day people, you and me, having the ability to sweat, move, test our limits, get stronger and strive to be the fittest we can be without trying to achieve Olympic stardom.
Had it not been for the 1960s running bug, would we have all the different fitness options we have today?
Would I have a boot camp business to run? Would my hands have ever grabbed a kettlebell? Who knows, but it’s definitely something to appreciate and think about.
Even those fitness lovers who hate running, it might be time to acknowledge it for the fitness doors that have opened since.
Thanks Bill… and as Nike would say, Just Do It!
Favorite Running Workout: Heads Or Tails
To close up today, how about a little old running workout?
What You Need:
- A 1/4 of a mile in distance. If you have a track, perfect (it’s 1 lap around)!
- You will also need a coin!
Oh yes, this is going to be fun!
Like it? Make sure to share! 