This month marks the 111th running of the Boston Marathon, the
oldest race of its kind in the country. No less significant is the fact
that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the picture of a pair of
running shoes that helped turned Boston into a Hall of Fame event and
launched one of the biggest booms in sports history.
Today those shoes are seen as a talisman of sorts, attached, as they were, to the feet of the man who inspired millions to hit the road in search of physical fitness, faster times, and ultimately, a better quality of life. His name was Jim Fixx, and he's Number 9 on my Top 10 Most Influential People in Sports History list.
The Complete Book of Running by James F. Fixx hit the stores in 1977. The book's bright ruby red cover featured the author's long, sinewy legs in full stride sporting a pair of nylon Onitsuka Tiger flats that seemed like slippers. How fitting, for inside was a true Cinderella story. Writing deeply and passionately, Fixx told how running had transformed his life – a now legendary tale of a sedentary, 214-pound man who started jogging, quit a two-pack-a-day smoking habit, dropped 50 pounds training for Boston.
I was 24 years old when the book came out, living in San Diego, and in the best shape of my life. Up until that time I'd had about as much interest in running a 10K as I had in opening a 401K. But as Fixx's book rose to the top of the best-seller list, on its way to selling more than 1 million copies and becoming the best-selling hardcover, non-fiction book ever at the time of its publishing, I caught the bug like thousands of others. It was hard not to in America's Finest City. Between the sun, the sand and the surf, athletic opportunities were limitless. My world revolved around baseball, but pretty soon it was impossible to ignore the joggers around Mission Bay, the personalized RUN2EAT license plate on my good friend's Porsche, and the festive weekend fun-runs.
Pretty soon my New Balances were off and running. One mile became two, two turned into three, three into five, and before I knew it, I was standing at the starting line for my first 10K. I've long since lost track of my time – what I remember most was the satisfaction of running 6.2 miles in less than hour, and how that time, with work, began to drift downward, slowly at first to around 9 minutes a mile then, as my commitment increased, to 8:45 and, finally, 8:00. I would never dip much lower (if you've seen the tree trunks I call legs you'd know why) but it didn't matter. I was stretching my limits in another way.
I got married in 1979 and my wife, bless her heart, loved to run as well. I can still remember those glorious San Diego mornings when we'd take off with our two dogs, Freckles and Jake, and work our way around Morley Field near beautiful Balboa Park for 45 minutes or so before heading off to work. Lord, it felt good.
Today those shoes are seen as a talisman of sorts, attached, as they were, to the feet of the man who inspired millions to hit the road in search of physical fitness, faster times, and ultimately, a better quality of life. His name was Jim Fixx, and he's Number 9 on my Top 10 Most Influential People in Sports History list.
The Complete Book of Running by James F. Fixx hit the stores in 1977. The book's bright ruby red cover featured the author's long, sinewy legs in full stride sporting a pair of nylon Onitsuka Tiger flats that seemed like slippers. How fitting, for inside was a true Cinderella story. Writing deeply and passionately, Fixx told how running had transformed his life – a now legendary tale of a sedentary, 214-pound man who started jogging, quit a two-pack-a-day smoking habit, dropped 50 pounds training for Boston.
I was 24 years old when the book came out, living in San Diego, and in the best shape of my life. Up until that time I'd had about as much interest in running a 10K as I had in opening a 401K. But as Fixx's book rose to the top of the best-seller list, on its way to selling more than 1 million copies and becoming the best-selling hardcover, non-fiction book ever at the time of its publishing, I caught the bug like thousands of others. It was hard not to in America's Finest City. Between the sun, the sand and the surf, athletic opportunities were limitless. My world revolved around baseball, but pretty soon it was impossible to ignore the joggers around Mission Bay, the personalized RUN2EAT license plate on my good friend's Porsche, and the festive weekend fun-runs.
Pretty soon my New Balances were off and running. One mile became two, two turned into three, three into five, and before I knew it, I was standing at the starting line for my first 10K. I've long since lost track of my time – what I remember most was the satisfaction of running 6.2 miles in less than hour, and how that time, with work, began to drift downward, slowly at first to around 9 minutes a mile then, as my commitment increased, to 8:45 and, finally, 8:00. I would never dip much lower (if you've seen the tree trunks I call legs you'd know why) but it didn't matter. I was stretching my limits in another way.
I got married in 1979 and my wife, bless her heart, loved to run as well. I can still remember those glorious San Diego mornings when we'd take off with our two dogs, Freckles and Jake, and work our way around Morley Field near beautiful Balboa Park for 45 minutes or so before heading off to work. Lord, it felt good.
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