Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 1977)
City still jogging capital of the world By LORA CUYKENDALL Of the Emerald "Jogging is a way of running.” At least that's what the experts say, but in Eugene, jogging is a way of life. Claiming more joggers per square mile than any other city — rumor has it there are some 15,000 joggers in the city’s 30 square miles — Eugene was the site for the introduction of the most common form of the sport early in the 1960s. Although people have been running to keep in shape for years, New Zealand Olympic track coach Arthur Lydiard is credited with de veloping the idea of group jogging. He designed a version of jogging almost 20 years ago which was aimed at keeping his runners physically fit even after they stop ped running competitively. Lyd iard combined running condi tioning with the stimulus of com panionship. Although group jogging and jogging clubs were popular in New Zealand, they were virtually un heard of in the United States until a Eugene resident visited the country and came back preaching the good news. Bill Bowerman, a track coach at the University, vis ited New Zealand in 1963 and studied Lydiard’s jogging pro gram. He mainly saw it as a way to help himself combat the extra in ches that had come with middle age. When Bowerman returned from New Zealand, a local reporter asked him if he had learned any thing new. Bowerman told him about Lydiard’s jogging program, pointed to his waist (which was two inches thinner than when he left the United States) and got up on a soap box he has never gotten off. Bowerman is still one of the leading national proponents of jogging as a way to physical fit ness. Bowerman was not alone in his enthusiasm for the new-found sport. He discovered an answer ing interest in Ralph Christensen, director of Sacred Heart Hospital, and Waldo Harris, a cardiologist and internist at the University of Oregon Medical School. Together they devised a jogging program that would help out-of-shape adults improve their physical con dition through carefully graduated exercise schedules. "We used the Caesarean method of 100 at a time," says Bowerman. “We’d get groups of 100 people and ten leaders and take them through a three-month program.” The program, which proved to be useful for all age groups and fitness levels, was successful and Bowerman was literally swamped with mail and telephone calls from people all over the nation who wanted to learn more about the program. As popularity grew, Harris, Bowerman and Jim Shea, from the University’s public relations of fice, designed a 127-page book describing the medical benefits of jogging as well as offering several individually tailored jogging prog rams. “Jogging” sold a million copies. From its small beginning, jog ging has grown to enjoy a national and world-wide popularity. It has been featured as the cover story of most leading magazines and has spawned an industry geared to providing joggers with every thing they could possibly want. Shoes come in every style and material imaginable — from leather to nylon to suede — and designer jogging T-shirts and brightly colored sweats are fast moving items. Nowhere is the sport and its merchandising catch ing on like it is in Eugene. In keeping with its role as the jogging capital of the world, Eugene offers a full range of run ning areas. For people who like a soft surface, the 4.2 miles of wood-chip trail known as Pre s Trail in Alton Baker Park provide pleasant jogging. The paths are marked for distance and special exercise stations dot the trails. According to the Lane County Parks Department, the trail re ceived an estimated 60,000 uses last year. Beginning November 1st, jog gers on Pre s Trail will be able to run at night and in the early morn ing as well. The Prefontaine Foundation, which is the organiza tion primarily responsible for build ing and improving the trail, began a fund-raising drive July 5 to raise money to light portions of the trail. Roscoe Divine, chairer of the drive, says two and one-half miles of the trail will be lighted. Alton Baker Park also has a bike path which is good for jog ging. It runs along the Willamette River and ends at Valley River Center. For the more experienced jog ger, the networks of residential streets leading up and around Hendricks Park near the Univer aerobic exercise, which means it causes the heart and lungs to work harder than they do when you're not jogging. Jogging tor an extended period of time raises the body temperature, increases heart and breathing rates and in duces sweating. It burns up calories and helps to suppress appetite; two reasons why people jyers now the riqht-of-uuoyl Photo by Adnenne Saknger Even the shirts in Eugene proclaim the city 's affection for jogging, as does the fact that Eugene has more joggers per square mile than any city in the United States. Former Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman helped bring the sport to Eugene - adter trying it himself and losing two inches from his waist. sity provide a challenging course. The surface is pavement, so jog gers should have good shoes be fore attempting this route. As jogging becomes more and more popular, an increasing number of physicians have 'be come interested in quantifying the effects of jogging. Although most are ready to admit the sport isn't for everyone, many agree jogging improves the heart, lungs and cir culatory system. Jogging is an following a jogging program usu ally lose weight. Some physicians believe jog ging may play a significant role in combating heart disease. A study undertaken by Peter Wood of the Stanford University Heart Disease Prevention Program found that people who run at least 15 miles a week have lower cholesterol levels than non-runners. He feels that regular jogging helps portions of the blood prevent cholesterol buildup, which in turn helps pre vent heart disease. But not all physicians are as en thusiastic over jogging as Wood. Complaints that the sport is dangerous for people who are out of shape and puts undue strain on muscles in the legs and feet be come more numerous as pop ularity of the sport grows. Most agree, however, that with proper care and scheduling, jogging is not harmful. If the shoe fits, wear it, but if it doesn’t fit design your own. Along with introducing jogging to Eugene, track coach Bowerman also helped introduce the jogging shoe to the city. As a coach, Bow erman found the shoes his run ners were using often weren't adequate. Each runner had his in dividual problems and Bowerman wanted each runner's shoes to help overcome those problems. "I went around to shoe store after shoe store and no one would make the kind of shoes I wanted," says Bowerman. "Finally I de cided to leam to make them my self.'’ After convincing local shoe maker Vic Bogner to teach him, three months later Bower man began making shoes for his squad. His first pair of shoes went to Phil Knight, a member of the track team and son of the pub lisher of the Oregon Journal. Soon after, the other members of the squad also wanted shoes and Bowerman began outfitting the team. It took him about four hours to make a pair of shoes; in 1965 he was making 30 pairs a season, but by 1974 he was making only about five pair. The reason for the decline was because a variety of running shoes were then available com mercially. The reason for the change? Bowerman and Knight recognized a good thing when they saw it and were solidly in the shoe-making business by 1973. From his first involvement with jogging in the early 1960s to see ing its increasing popularity, Bowerman maintains the sport will continue to attract followers "Jogging is more than just a Eugene sport now, he says, "its popularity is world wide. Formerly The Second Hand Bookman We’ve changed the name, but we’re still the same people, the same fine collection of new, used and rare books. ORIENTATION SPECIAL:
