When Running Made History (Sports and Entertainment) Paperback – Illustrated, May 17, 2018

Something about the sport of running either attracts or encourages people who think in complete sentences, paragraphs, and ideas, and who tend, given the chance, to put those sentences, paragraphs, and ideas into magical form. I have my favorites, from Norman Harris to Kenny Moore, Amby Burfoot, and Kathrine Switzer. And if you will forgive a bit of childish recollection, take a look at John R. Tunis and his two books about the Iron Duke. In this pantheon, Roger Robinson resolutely stands his place. He writes with grace and imagination and with love-- for his sport and for the people who line up next to him in workout or race, fast, slow, moderate, and in every size and shape, so long as they, too, run for the sheer fun of it. Those millions, he exalts. HIs books always tell a story. If you run, it is your story. Why not pick up his books and see what he is saying about you? You will be pleased indeed.

Roger Robinson has assayed a daunting task in trying to tell the history of distance running during his long lifetime. For anyone who lived through - and ran through (with some success) - all or most of those years (as I did, born in 1937) his well-written accounts of his experiences and observations bring back wonderful memories. But in one area, the major persons in the U.S. running scene in the early years (pre-1980) he is disappointingly weak. Most obviously, he makes only the briefest mention of Bill Rodgers and Joan Benoit Samuelson. He seems unaware that in the late '70s, when the Running Boom really exploded, Rodgers became THE face of the sport in this country. He won four Boston Marathons and for New York marathons, an extraordinary feat that Robinson neglects to mention. Rodgers was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was enormously popular with average runners because of his personality and accessibility. And Benoit Samuelson's Olympic win in 1984, viewed live by millions, was the true catalyst for the huge growth in American women taking to the roads. But Robinson not only fails to give her credit; he virtually ignores her. If those are his biggest oversights/omissions, there are several others that he should also consider, if he ever chooses to update this work. Here are three: Doris Brown Heritage, Browning Ross, and John J. Kelly. Robinson gives proper extended attention to many women runners in the early years but mentions Heritage only once and neglects to note that she won five International Cross Country championship between 1967 and 1972. Yes, the fields were weak, but she was unquestionably the best U.S. distance runner of that era. Far better than most of those Robinson mentions repeatedly. Browning Ross (who won my first road race - a 15 miler in Fishkill NY in 1954) was not only a two time Olympian but also the editor/publisher/author/compiler/distributor of his Long Distance Log. Until Runners World and Running Times supplanted it in the ''70s, Long Distance Log was the only source U.S. distance runners had for road racing results and information. It was indispensable! Finally there is John J. Kelly, whom Robinson mentions once, in passing (and overlooks in his index). Kelly not only won the Boston Marathon in 1957 (with five runner-up finishes), and made two Olympic teams, he won the U.S. National Championship in the marathon 8 straight years: 1956-'63. A phenomenal feat! Twice as many wins as Clarence DeMar, the only other to win even four. Clearly each writer has the opportunity - and right- to select those he chooses to recognize and honor. Often the choices are open to debate (e.g. his very brief mention of Frank Shorter and of two time World Cross Country champion Craig Virgin, as well as his glossing over the impact of Jim Fixx's huge best-seller, The Complete Book of Running). But ignoring Doris Brown Heritage, Browning Ross and John J. Kelly is simply unacceptable. That said, I was delighted with the coverage Robinson gave to Buddy Edelen. I still have the Sports Illustrated article describing Edelen's running years in England as well as the N.Y. Times article about Edelen's remarkable 1964 Olympic Trials win, by 20 minutes, in the brutal heat of the Yonkers Marathon.

Author Roger Robinson has dozens of stories to tell about seminal events in long-distance running because he was there when they happened--either as an elite competitor, a track announcer, or a journalist. This collection of his writings about running events that go beyond running reads effortlessly like all of Roger's books, but also delves into the more profound meaning of what may, at the time, have seemed like an outstanding but not world-shaking performance. Coming to running from three disciplines means Roger is the Forrest Gump of running: there at the important pivotal moments, one time after another after another. May be the most consequential running book of the decade.

This book was extremely well written, historically very accurate, but most important, entertaining. It kept my attention throughout the entire book. Well done Roger Robinson!

Roger Robinson has been there, run that, and reported/announced nearly everything else. Roger Robinson, in own humble estimate, a "near-elite" runner. He's better than that, and his life spans many of the critical events of distance running--the rise of the Africans, the rise of elite women's running, the running boom of the 1970s and 1980s, and the attendant focus on masters' and aging athletes. Told episodically, I preferred the earlier historical stuff to the later episodes which are a bit more conventional reportage and focused on social change, but in aggregate a tremendous memoir and personal history.

I've never read a more enjoyable book about running...it made me want to dust off my shoes and hit the road again...

Great read

Robinson is the Forest Gump of running in that he was present at nearly every monumental distance running event for over 50 years. This is jam packed with people, places, and raw emotion. This is our tribe, our history. Read it.

O livro traz muitas informações interessantes a respeito da história da corrida, relacionadas diretamente com a vasta experiência do autor na área (na figura de corredor, escritor, professor, narrador, etc). O início do livro é, de fato, muito cativante. No entanto, alguns capítulos ao longo do livro acabam se tornando um pouco cansativos e não tão interessantes para o leitor. É um bom livro para quem é apaixonado pelo esporte e demonstra parte da paixão e da vida do autor/atleta.

A broad view of athletics history with some interesting insights. Slightly undermined by occasional banality and crowing.