History of 20th Century Running in Greater Cincinnati: V. 1 #27 You Know You Have Been Running For Quite Awhile If You Remember... (Part 2)

V. 1 #27 You Know You Have Been Running For Quite Awhile If You Remember... (Part 2)

By Steve Price

you read, or have read, "Long Distance Log".

you expect to get blisters by running in new shoes.

you have taken salt tablets at one time.

you have hitch hiked to races.

you have competed in races where there were less than fifteen (15) runners.

you know all the names of men who have broken four (4) minutes in the mile.

passersby have asked you if you are in training for a fight.

your local Sporting Goods store carries two brands......Adidas and Puma

you know the story of the Dassler brothers (Adidas and Puma founders)

you have run in all leather running shoes.

you have started the season in a pair of wonderfully soft

kangaroo skin spikes. By the end of the season they have stretched so much that you are now wearing two (2) pair of sweat socks.....but you still love them.

Adidas Melbourne worn by George Brose

By Bill Hart

you remember when "tick sheets" were the preferred method of timing cross country and road races.

you remember being given numbered tongue depressors at the end of a race to indicate your finish place.

your first running wristwatch was metal rather than some polymer material.

you remember digital stopwatches whose numerals glowed in the dark and they required 3 double D batteries for power.

your favorite pair of racing socks covered your calves, was white cotton and had two cool color stripes at the top.

you remember the big DMSO controversy.

you had to go to two or three local bookstores to find a single volume on running.

you recall when going to one of the Runner's World sponsored Fun Run at Sharon (Dick Stapleton) or Winton Woods (Martha and Bill Hart hosted) was a way to score a free complimentary copy of their magazine.

you remember the Runner's World Fun Runs always included a half-mile, a mile, and a featured distance run of 2, 4, or 6 miles. These were not races, you ran with friends but they were timed. Everyone was entitled to a certificate of completion provided by the magazine on which you filled out your distance and time. On occasion there were prediction runs for some small prize. You wrote down your predicted finish, left your watch in your car and off everyone went. Winners were usually within two or three seconds of their prediction.

you remember filling out self addressed envelopes at some road races in order to receive results in the mail.

you remember when there were no display clocks at race finish lines, just someone who might scream out a time from their stopwatch as you crossed the line.

you recall the earliest display race clocks that had flip numerals comprised of a series of little yellow paddles that sometimes stuck. The results, on occasion, were finish times that required puzzle-solving skills.

more recently, you remember multi-lane finish line chutes at big races. Pick a lane, any lane.

even earlier, you can recount swing ropes at finish lines that herded you down a specific chute. Perhaps you even had the happy experience of being clothes lined across the neck or face at the finish during a chute switch. Burn.

you recall with fondness the annual fight between Bill Hart and Barry Binkley at the Thanksgiving Day Race finish line concerning how best to set up a multi-lane chute system. Good times.

you remember when no self respecting high school cross country invitational would be held without Don and Carol Connolly present with a mimeograph machine to crank out on the spot race results.