And when things look worst, we run the most. Three times, America has seen distance-runningskyrocket, and it’s always in the midst of a national crisis. The first boom came during the GreatDepression, when more than two hundred runners set the trend by racing forty miles a day acrossthe country in the Great American Footrace. Running then went dormant, only to catch fire againin the early ’70s, when we were struggling to recover from Vietnam, the Cold War, race riots, acriminal president, and the murders of three beloved leaders. And the third distance boom? Oneyear after the September 11 attacks, trail-running suddenly became the fastest-growing outdoorsport in the country. Maybe it was a coincidence. Or maybe there’s a trigger in the human psyche,a coded response that activates our first and greatest survival skill when we sense the raptorsapproaching. In terms of stress relief and sensual pleasure, running is what you have in your lifebefore you have sex. The equipment and desire come factory installed; all you have to do is let ’errip and hang on for the ride with her, he would sanction
everything at oncehe answered.
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That’s what I was looking for; not some pricey hunk of plastic to stick in my shoe, not a monthlycycle of painkillers, without tearing myself up. I didn’t love running, but Iwanted to. Which is what brought me to the door of M.D. No. 3: Dr. Irene Davis, an expert inbiomechanics and head of the Running Injury Clinic at the University of Delaware.