Racers are leaving the track and ...
Hitting the road
The jogging craze is here to
stay. Everyone from the toddling
infant to the wizened great
grandmother is taking to the
streets in new shorts and run
ning shoes.
One tremendously popular
offshoot from this jogging man
ia is road racing.
"I don't think it (road racing)
is just growing; I think it’s
actually exploding,” says Dr.
William McChesney, father of
distance star Bill McChesney.
"I’ve run all the Butte to Buttes
since the day they started, and I
think there were 300 people in
the first one. Last year there
were 6,000."
Road races like the Butte to
Butte run held each July by the
Oregon Track Club have
become commonplace in the
Eugene area. The reasons
people run in them are nume
rous.
“The thing I like best about
road racing is the camaraderie
that you find,” says McChesney,
who has been involved in road
running for about eight years.
"I think it’s that feeling that
the running community seems
to have. Everybody is con
cerned about everybody else,
yet they really don’t care how
fast the other person runs."
McChesney’s wife, Marsha,
explains that "to me it’s social,
as well as the physical fitness
part of it. We’ve met an awful lot
of really nice, interesting
people."
Paul Blint, a graduate geo
graphy student at the University
who has been running road
races for over 10 years, finds
running to be excellent therapy.
"It’s just a good feeling to be
physical and not mental all the
time," Blint says. "It helps me to
keep in shape and keep the
weight down."
Blint also enjoys the competi
tive aspect. "One of my motiva
tions, in racing, is beating as
many people as I can. I don't go
around bragging about it, but
it’s self-satisfying in that
respect.”
Others, like Marsha
McChesney, find satisfaction
from within.
"I really compete against
myself more that other people,
trying to better my times," she
says. Her style apparently
works, as she holds the Ame
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rican record in the 3,000 meters
for her age group (51). It wasn’t
always that easy, however.
“When I first started, I
couldn't go around the whole
block,” she said. “That’s the
thing for a lot of women my age,
they think Gee, I can’t do it.' But
you've got to start somewhere.
William McChesney offers
some words of advice to those
just beginning to run.
"I'd buy a darn good pair of
shoes, with good support to
them," McChesney says. “I had
shin splints and bad ankles and
Achilles (problems), all from a
bad pair of shoes.
"The second thing I’d say is
just to go slow. I think most
people that get into it buy a new
pair of shoes and go out and try
to be Lasse Viren. You can’t do
that. In fact, I’ve found that it
takes about two to three years of
distance running background
before you’re really comfortable
even being competitive in a road
race. It just seems like it takes
the body that long to attune to it,
no matter who you are.”
Another important considera
tion for beginners is that some
people simply aren’t suited to be
runners.
"If your personality fits it, fine.
But if it doesn’t, something like
swimming or riding your bike or
Continued on Page 7B
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