A sports story you might have missed — October 14, 1964 — Tokyo Olympics Thirty-eight men approached the starting line in the Olympic Stadium for the 10,000-meter race. The runners steadied themselves, leaned forward. The air was heavy with anticipation. Time seemed to stand still as the starter called for attention and raised the gun. …

From a runner who drank in all the encouragement offered — It was in the early miles of the Philadelphia Half-Marathon that I saw him. A race fan dressed in a Star Wars stormtrooper mask was holding a sign that read, “May the COURSE be with you.” I loved it. …

Joy takes work. Or maybe they all do. — PRIDE I began running the half-mile on the track team in Jr. High because I wanted to be seen as someone other than a nerd. You have to be pretty far over on the awkward, introverted scale to view distance running as a path to improve your social standing, but that…

Look at it this way instead — So you had a bad workout. Maybe you took a Cardio Class at the gym and couldn’t even do the “modified” (easier) version of the exercises. Or you went out for a run, and voices in your head kept telling you to “Walk! Walk! Walk!” until you did. Or maybe…

Does so much time spent running make us selfish? — I’ve been struggling to write on Medium as much as I once did. When I look at how I spend my days, a big chunk is running. Not just the act of running, but changing my clothes, grabbing my watch, headphones and water, driving to where I run, warming up…

May other runners with imperfect knees find hope in my story — In March, April, May, and June, I was running regularly again. The distances were modest, usually 2 — 3 miles, sometimes with a short walking break. Then, out of the blue, my knee turned into a real jerk. On June 29th, my left knee rebelled. Without warning, the knee hurt from the start of that run. It hurt a little. …

Plus what to do when you encounter a barking dog on your run — I hope these quotes from famous runners inspire you as they do me. I’m printing off this image above to keep beside my laptop. I won’t set any records with my running, but I can achieve something extraordinary with my life if I believe that I can. Bill Rodgers Quotes Don’t feel guilty…

Alps to Ocean, the challenge that motivated my lazy ass — During the pandemic, I rekindled my love of running. My husband and I would ride to the high school or park almost every day and put one foot in front of the other. Mid-summer knee pain made me switch to biking, but I was back to mostly running by fall. …

And How She Shaped This Year’s US Tennis Open Who was the first African American to win Wimbledon? Venus Williams Guess again. Serena Williams Nope. Oh, you didn’t say women, so it was Arthur Ashe. Sorry, still not right. Althea Gibson. Althea Gibson’s Tennis Talent Althea Gibson was born on August 25, 1927, the…

I was surprised how happy Tigers winning the Masters made me. Yes, I had predicted that he’d come back and win another majors on a message board in 2013, so there was that small joy in being right, but my feelings went way beyond that. …