March 29, 2013

Book savors running’s local flavor

Believe it or not, distance running has not always been a popular activity, unless you were a caveman trying to hunt animals.

So who do we have to thank for the immense popularity of running as a sport in the United States, and especially the Boulder Valley?

Author Cameron Stracher, a runner who resides in Westport, Connecticut, has boiled it down to three men in his new book “Kings of the Road: How Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers and Alberto Salazar Made Running Go Boom.”

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Shorter won America’s first gold medal in the Olympic marathon in 64 years when he won the race in Munich in 1972. Nearer home, he was instrumental in creating the Bolder Boulder running race.

Stracher describes Shorter, who trained and still lives in Boulder, as a Yale graduate and medical school student who ran in his spare time while pursuing a traditional career path. But eventually he gave up med school so he could train more.

Stracher paints Rodgers as a chain-smoking motorcycle-loving 20-something who spent his free time hanging out in Boston bars. Then someone stole his motorcycle. Then he was fired from his job. Feeling adrift, he threw himself into running.

And Salazar, Stracher explains, started breaking records at age 16. His father, a Cuban exile, was unhappy with life in America. To please him, Alberto ran and ran. At 22 he predicted that he would finish his debut marathon in less than 2 hours and 10 minutes — and succeeded.

The book shows how these runners flourished at a time when injury treatment was limited and financial compensation was almost nonexistent.

Believe it or not, distance running has not always been a popular activity, unless you were a caveman trying to hunt animals.

So who do we have to thank for the immense popularity of running as a sport in the United States, and especially the Boulder Valley?

Author Cameron Stracher, a runner who resides in Westport, Connecticut, has boiled it down to three men in his new book “Kings of the Road: How Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers and Alberto Salazar Made Running Go Boom.”

Shorter won America’s first gold medal in the Olympic marathon in 64 years when he won the race in…

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