Table of contents for September 2013 in Runner's World

LOCATION Cape Elizabeth, Maine PHOTOGRAPH BY Woods Wheatcroft RUNNER Suzanne Hemmy Waldrup THE EXPERIENCE Following the natural curves of the shoreline, this 2.2-mile trail in Crescent Beach State Park, eight miles south of Portland, weaves through deciduous forests, peaceful sandy beaches, and rustling grasses that are home to monarch butterflies in autumn. “It’s a classic, timeless New England coastal scene that looks painterly,” Waldrup says. FOR DIRECTIONS, RESOURCE INFORMATION, AND DOWNLOADABLE WALLPAPER IMAGES, VISIT RUNNERSWORLD.COM/RAVERUN.…

ONCE UPON A TIME, a race staffer’s job entailed setting up the starting corral, handing out bib numbers, and ensuring that there were sufficient porta-potties. But with the rising popularity of partrace, part-spectacle productions, a whole new special set of skills is often required to get the job done. People with unique talents and backgrounds are now joining the race-organization ranks, helping to orchestrate quirky, adventurous, or perkdriven events that put the “non” in nontraditional racing. 1. THE OBSTACLE ARCHITECT Terry McMahon hates overhearing the word “easy” at the Warrior Dash obstacle race series, where he watches runners navigate challenges he designed. After graduating with a master’s degree in architecture in 2010, the 26-year-old marathoner spent a year designing commercial landscapes and upscale homes in Chicago before combining his knowledge…

Galen Rupp, 27, Portland, Oregon The Olympic 10,000-meter silver medalist will go for gold at the World Championships in August 1] No Joke Mo [Farah] and I joked about going one-two in the 10,000-meter Olympic final in 2012. We didn’t think we’d do it. 2] I Knew I Was Famous When… Kim Kardashian Tweeted about our Olympic race. 3] Star Struck It’s still weird seeing kids get excited to see me, for people to want an autograph. 4] Perfect Date? I’ve had people ask me to go to prom. 5] Masked Man I’m allergic to grass pollen and sometimes run in an allergy mask. I’ve been told I look like Hannibal Lecter in it. 6] Sugar Rush My wife always gets me a box of Mike and Ike before I…

TRAINING FOR A MARATHON (or halfmarathon) seldom goes exactly according to plan. Setbacks occur—work or family obligations take precedence; illness or injury derails workouts. Generally speaking, if you miss a week of training, you can jump back into your plan as long as you were consistent and diligent with your workouts for at least four to six weeks before the break. But if your downtime stretches from 10 days to two weeks (or more), you have to re-evaluate your comeback strategy. The first move? Try not to panic. “Take a deep breath,” says Matt Forsman, a San Francisco–based running coach. “Whatever you do, don’t try to cram in the runs you’ve missed. This may increase your risk of injury and may hurt your efforts.” Instead, consider what caused your layoff…

FACT OR FICTION? It’s a bad idea to sprint for the finish. FACT It’s tempting to get caught up in the hoopla of the final yards, especially when others are dashing past you. But try to resist: Many injuries are produced by sprinting—especially at the end of the race, when your muscles are tired and susceptible to strain. Instead, if you’re feeling strong, gradually pick up the pace over the race’s final mile and hold it to the finish. QUICK FIX Postrace soreness THE FIX Strategic walk breaks Take walk breaks of 30 to 60 seconds every one to three minutes throughout your race to reduce soreness. For the first two days postrace, walk 30 to 60 minutes to recover. Then, run/walk 30 minutes every other day for the rest…

THE WEEKLY FARTLEK for elite and aspiring-elite runners in the Kenyan training hotbed of Iten starts fast and stays fast. Hundreds of runners try to stay with the leaders—they go as hard as they can, and when they can no longer keep pace, they drop out in droves. It’s a puzzling concept for visiting Americans who have long been taught to calibrate their pace to ensure that they finish their sessions. But for Kenyans, this crash-and-burn style of training pushes them to test their limits. Careful pacing lets you spread your energy evenly so you can complete your planned workout. But it imposes preset limits: How fast you start is determined ahead of time in your head rather than by how good you may feel at the moment. The Kenyan…

TURN UP THE HEAT --> Preheat grill on high for 10 minutes, and then lower to medium heat for cooking. SIZE MATTERS --> Make patties 1 inch thick or less or the outside may char before the inside is cooked. KEEP ’EM SLICK --> Brush patties (not the grill) with oil to keep them from sticking. MAKE AN IMPRESSION --> Press thumb in center to form a ¼-inch depression. The meat will expand during cooking, creating a flat burger. HANDLE WITH CARE --> Flip burgers only once. Never press down on them, as this forces out flavorful juices. PLAY IT SAFE --> Red meat is done when internal temp is 160°F. Cook fish to 145°F and poultry and veggie burgers to 165°F. USE BETTER BUNS --> For more nutrients, get…

Summer Corn Salad When in season, corn is so tender it doesn’t even require cooking—just slice it off the cob and toss it in this dish. The vegetable is a rich source of carbs, fiber, and antioxidants. “I love creating a fresh salad with the day’s harvest from the market,” says Wells. “I like to pair it with a young, balanced white wine, like Sablet blanc.” 2 ½ ounces smoked bacon, rind removed, cut into ¼-inch cubes (¾ cup) 2 ears fresh corn, shucked 4 ripe multicolored heirloom tomatoes, cored, quartered, and chopped 1 large ripe avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and cubed 2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (½ cup) 2 small scallions, white part only, trimmed, peeled, and cut into thin rings ½ cup plain low-fat yogurt 2 tablespoons fresh…

SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF --> What you wear, what you eat, how much you sleep—these things matter. Keep a log so you can recognize patterns (e.g., peanut butter on toast works; banana doesn’t sit well). If you’re experienced, it’s easy to get cocky and stop paying attention to these extras, which will lead to bad workouts. EXPLORE MORE --> Always running the exact same route can make long runs seem extra long. It’s okay to stick with what’s familiar, but shake things up every now and then. Wear a GPS watch and take detours on your route; run your regular route in reverse; check out mapmyrun.com to see where locals are running. BE SPECIFIC --> The whole point of the long run is to get you ready for the rigors…

MY JUNIOR YEAR of high school, a top-20 two-mile time in the U.S. earned me an invitation to an all-expenses-paid camp at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego. It was a huge honor, and the purpose was two-fold. First was to expose Olympic hopefuls to the resources and research that contribute to world-class performances. And second, to subject us to a number of tests to determine our true potential and find the diamond among us: the future Mary Decker. This camp wasn’t Romaniangymnast serious, but it was pretty serious, and as the second-fastest runner going in, I couldn’t wait to see how I stacked up against the nation’s best 16-year-olds. Scientific confirmation of my greatness awaited me. The only challenge would be hiding the data so the other girls…

Know what’s ahead. A mile is 5,280 feet, or about 1609 meters. This means that four laps around a standard 400-meter track—1600 meters—is a tad shorter than a true mile. Running on the outside lane gets you close. Do a time trial. Before race day, run a practice mile on a track. (Ideally, do this at least twice—six weeks before and two weeks before.) This will help you gauge a realistic goal pace—one that will leave you with energy to power through the final quarter-mile, but not so much that you’ll finish feeling like you didn’t put it all out there. Build speed. Short, fast intervals (400-to 800-meter repeats) one to two times per week will teach your legs to turn over more quickly and build your anaerobic capacity. Warm…

Runners love advice. Reading it, heeding it, sharing it. But in the middle of a tough workout, you forget how exactly a lactate-threshold run affects mitochondria. What sticks instead is short, pithy, maybe reflective, often funny. In the old days, you might’ve called it an aphorism. Today, it’s a tweet. So we asked our Twitter followers, what sticks with you? This “fast advice” comes from experts, coaches, and readers. Perfect for RT. @runnersworld: Training secrets: Spill them, please. Run for minutes instead of miles. If you’re feeling great, you may go 6 miles in 50 minutes; if you’re not, you may go 4.5. @GregMcMillan, Greg McMillan, head coach of McMillan Running and author of You (Only Faster), Flagstaff, AZ Never make decisions while going up a hill. @run26point2cc, reader Christina…

FILLED WITH FEATURES and popping with bold colors, this year’s crop of sports bras offers more depth and range than ever before. Adjustability is now the rule, not the exception (goodbye, plain old T-backs), and design elements like padding, mesh inserts, and hidden structure are ubiquitous. We recruited 55 women, with band sizes from 32 to 42 and cup sizes from A to FF, to test 41 new models on roads and trails. Here are the bras they liked best. BEST FORA/B ADIDAS SUPERNOVA RACER BRA adidas.com / $40 “This bra felt like an old favorite,” says one 34B tester of the Supernova Racer Bra, which includes substantial straps, a low profile, and modestly padded cups. Mesh between the breasts and on the back straps keeps you cool as things…

EVAN JAGER, 24, of Portland, Oregon, won his second straight U.S. title in the 3000-meter steeplechase in June, setting the stage for the World Championships in Moscow (August 10–18). Already the American record holder (8:06.81), he hopes to improve on his sixth-place finish in the London Olympics steeple final. Q Do you expect a fast steeple final in Moscow or a slow, tactical race like in London [8:18 winning time]? A I don’t think it will be as slow as London. The Kenyans should have four athletes in the final and could try some team tactics—starting fast and dropping everyone. But I would be very open to a fast race. Q You’ve improved a lot, quickly. How much faster can you go? A Eventually I would love to go sub-eight.…

IN RACING you need your car, and in running you need your legs and heart. In both, you’re on the edge of pushing too hard. You can only go so fast. I DID A sprint triathlon last July. It was fun to work toward that. Then I wanted to train for my first halfmarathon and see how fast I could go. The Daytona Beach Half [in February] fit my schedule, and I ran a 1:28. I’VE ALWAYS done speed drills, intervals, and three to four miles at a time, but for the half I had to step up to 30 miles a week. I’m happier now and have more energy. THE DAYTONA HALF starts on a pit road and ends on the speedway. I liked it because I could see…

THERE ARE MANY, many rules and tips for how to run, race, eat, and even rest in this issue, and countless others on our Web site and, as “Run and Retweet” (page 72) proves, on social media. It’s all solid advice, much of it scientifically proven. But what about the personal quirks and hard-won secrets we develop along the way that make our running lives more fun, more quintessentially ours? They aren’t tips, exactly, and they certainly aren’t backed by science. They’re more like habits, things we do naturally, maybe without even noticing. My colleague Mark Remy always leans his shoes against the wall in the locker room after lunch runs, heels up at a 45-degree angle. I recently asked him why. Does it help them dry faster? He laughed…

FORCE PLAY A man sprints one mile in 129-degree Death Valley while wearing a full Darth Vadar costume. He clocks a 6:36 in an attempt to set a world record for hottest run. ACTING COACH Kevin Costner reportedly will star as a cross-country coach in the film McFarland, based on the true story of a championship-winning team. POLITICAL RACE On Veep, Julia Louis-Dreyfus slows down in a 10-K to not outpace an amputee vet, but then speeds up to avoid being beaten by a guy in a banana suit. TASTE MAKER Ben & Jerry’s lets city dwellers determine ice cream components. Runners going north on a Washington, D.C., path “vote” for marshmallow, southbounders for peppermint. FILIBLOCKBUSTER After Texas State Senator Wendy Davis does an 11+ hour filibuster in Mizuno Wave…

Set world records in your 90s ORVILLE ROGERS, 95, of Dallas, set six world records at the USA Masters Indoor Championships in March. He now owns the fastest times for men ages 95 to 99 in the 3000 meters, mile, 800 meters, 400 meters, 200 meters, and 60-meter dash. The former airline pilot took up running at age 50 and ran his last of five marathons in 3:39 when he was 75.—GAIL KISLEVITZ “I can’t find any training plans for 95-yearolds, so I make up my own. I lift weights and run three times a week at a track, doing 25 minutes of intervals.” Log 70,000 lifetime miles CHARLES SCHEIBE, 58, has recorded every mile he’s logged since he started running in 1971. That tally totals 70,000 (and counting), including…

NEXT RACE Two weeks out Recover with walks and stretching (left) for three days after the first race. Then, run easy. Take at least four days off. On race day, listen to your body. You’ll know if it’s your day. NEXT RACE Three weeks out Walk, stretch, and run short for a week. Two weeks out from race day, try to hold race pace for six to eight miles. For the last two weeks, follow through with your typical taper. NEXT RACE Four-plus weeks out Recover for a week, then build mileage and intensity over the following week. If you feel good, do a long run of eight to 10 miles two weeks from race day. Taper as usual.…

ARE YOU TRAINING for a half-marathon this fall? In the two weeks before the race, known as the taper, you will reduce the volume and intensity of workouts so you get to the starting line feeling ready to run. After so much training, some runners find it hard to scale back; others find it hard to get off the couch. But doing too much (or too little) during this critical period can compromise the recovery you need to complement all your hard work. Here’s how to strike the right balance between running and resting. TWO WEEKS OUT FROM RACE DAY This stretch is preceded by your final long effort (10 to 14 miles) on Sunday. Keep weekday workouts to 30 minutes. It’s fine to do some easy cross-training on nonrunning…

Q What can I do other than running to prepare for an obstacle race? A The challenges encountered in these events—such as rope climbs, low crawls, monkey bars, and carrying heavy objects—demand extra core and upper-body strength. You don’t need a gym membership to build muscle; use your own body weight to get strong at home with planks, push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and lunges. Ramp up any strength routine by turning it into a metabolic circuit where you limit (or eliminate) the rest between exercises. —MELISSA RODRIGUEZ is a personal trainer who specializes in training runners for obstacle races (myexercisecoach.net). Q What’s the minimum I can do to not lose fitness during a one-week vacation? A Three short runs should be enough to maintain your aerobic fitness and muscle strength. Make…

HEALTH POWERHOUSE Fruits by definition, avocados provide more than 20 key nutrients, including B vitamins, vitamin E, and brain-boosting choline. They also contain copper and zinc and antioxidant pigments that fight inflammation. All this nutritional might does come at a cost: One avocado packs about 230 calories and 21 grams of monounsaturated fats. HEART PROTECTOR Some runners avoid avocados because of the fat content, but according to several studies, the fruit helps lower levels of artery-clogging LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and increase levels of HDL (“good” cholesterol). The monounsaturated fats, vitamin E, and polyphenols all seem to work together to boost heart health. WAIST TRIMMER Researchers have found that those who routinely eat avocados have a smaller waist size and lower body mass index than abstainers. Avocado eaters also have a…

Good for You One cup of cooked eggplant has just 35 calories and provides two grams of fiber. Eggplant also contains nearly two dozen other nutrients, including heart-healthy fatty acids and the trace minerals manganese and copper—both important for proper muscle function. Its purple color comes from anthocyanins, antioxidants that may help prevent cancer. Get the Best Globe is the most common eggplant, but farmers’ markets often carry a Japanese variety (which is long and thin) as well as striped, white, and baby varieties. Choose an eggplant that feels firm and heavy for its size. The skin should be glossy and the stem fresh and green. Store whole eggplant at room temperature or in the fridge and use within a few days. Kitchen Simple Before baking or roasting, use a…

A POWERFUL FINISH-LINE KICK is a runner’s secret weapon: Being able to turn on the afterburners in the final stretch helps you out-pace a competitor, nab a personal record, or just look heroic in your finish-line photo. But a kick is difficult to summon when you’re low on physical and mental energy. The key to transforming an exhausted shuffle into a charging sprint is to increase your muscles’ ability to contract forcefully even when they’re fatigued, says Steve Magness, a cross-country coach at the University of Houston and the creator of scienceofrunning.com. Doing the following exercises immediately after a run—even a speedwork session—will train your muscles (and your mind) to push hard when tired, so you’ll have the ability to dig in and finish strong. —Kit Fox Watch a video…

WHY on earth had someone installed moving sidewalks on the streets of New York City? It made no sense, but nothing else could explain why I was soaring down Fifth Avenue, gliding past my rivals like they were the ones carrying heavy baggage instead of me. Then again, life had offered me a mulligan and with it, the chance to drop my burdens at the starting line and run like there was no tomorrow—or yesterday. I was not in a marathon, with miles to go before I slept. I was in an all-out sprint against an unforgiving clock, dodging potholes, overcoming resistance, and trusting my strength. I also happened to be in the middle of running a footrace. Runner’s High A mulligan is what golfers call a stroke that goes…

Liberty Mile Pittsburgh, August 9, 2013 Flat and fast downtown mile and host of the 2013 USA Masters 1 Mile Championship. libertymile.org Minnesota Mile 1 Duluth, September 8, 2013 A popular race in the 1980s, resurrected in 2006, starting on the beach of Lake Superior. grandmasmarathon.com Fifth Avenue Mile New York, September 22, 2013 The country’s largest mile event takes 5,000 runners—including world-class athletes—on a straight shot down Fifth Avenue. nyrr.org The Brew Mile Des Moines, September 28, 2013 Participants are encouraged to don Oktoberfest German lederhosen and dirndl dresses for a chance to win free beer. thebrewmile.com The Nearly Naked Mile 2 Iowa City, Iowa, March 8, 2014 University of Iowa student organizers encourage runners to shed their layers to collect clothes for charity. iowalum.com/STAT/events/nnm Cupcake Classic Backwards Mile…

BRAIN TRAINING Gladwell fits in a track workout at New York City’s East River Park amid a demanding writing and speaking schedule. >Malcolm Gladwell thinks a lot about running. He has written about the topic for The New Yorker, most recently analyzing the will that drove marathon champion Alberto Salazar to great heights. He attends marquee running events to study the finest practitioners. The effort it takes to run great distances has always fascinated him. ¶ Gladwell grew up in Ontario, Canada, and ran competitively in high school, developing a fleeting 1500-meter rivalry with Dave Reid, who went on to become the Canadian record holder. Gladwell briefly ran at Toronto’s Trinity College but drifted away from the sport as he turned his attention toward journalism. He kept up a casual…

HELLO, YELLOW Bright leaves attract colorful characters to run and to watch the Golden Leaf Half-Marathon. THE CALVES. They were the first features I noticed on the runners around me as I warmed up at the start of the Golden Leaf Half-Marathon in Snowmass, Colorado. My fellow participants had bigger calves than I usually saw at urban road races, and they were attached to strong legs and bodies that appeared ready for anything. These people were mountainfit, with no need for knee braces or Kinesio tape to hold their bodies together. I, on the other hand, was lining up for my first trail race. I’d run a handful of road marathons and halfs, preferring speed and smoothness over rocks and ruggedness, but I’d heard enough about the beauty of this…

WHILE THE SUN rises between rugged volcanic peaks, lush tropical vistas and the cobalt waters of the Pacific Ocean provide a welcome distraction from this challenging course that climbs more than 4,000 feet. The out-and-back route starts on the southern end of the Garden Isle in Poipu, working its way past Taiko drummers and hula dancers and through a tunnel of 101-year-old eucalyptus trees at mile six. Though average race-day temps hover around 80°F, runners usually experience “Hawaiian blessings,” or occasional bouts of light rain. After mile 22 a gradual descent carries runners toward an island reception with crashing waves at the beachside finish. All participants receive a bottle opener medal and a spot at the finishers’ party on the Sheraton Kauai Resort’s oceanfront lawn, where locally grown fruit and…

MOVING TRIBUTE While reading the special Boston issue devoted to the marathon bombings (July), one minute I was in tears, the next I felt hopeful and proud to consider myself a runner. There’s an underlying sense of peace and positivity throughout the pages. This had to be one of the most challenging issues to put together. Thanks for the emotional ride. Well done! —TERI KAY FARRELL RUMANCIK Jacksonville, Florida As a longtime runner with 14 Boston Marathons under my belt (including 2013), every month I anxiously await my edition of Runner’s World. However, after glancing through the July issue, I’ve decided to put it away for a while. I’ll pull it out and read it next winter. There will be no greater motivation to train for my 15th Boston during…

DEAR MILES, Fast runners who finish a 5-K and then run the course backward say they’re cheering the rest of us on. I feel like they’re flaunting how much faster they are. Can I trip them? —STEVE G., Gridley, Illinois First things first, Steve. A racecourse is for racing—not cooling down. If they’re simply near the course, however, they are free to run. I try to give people—even fast ones—the benefit of the doubt. So if they say they’re showing support, I’ll take their word for it. Now if a fast runner is clearly showboating, and not cheering one little bit, that’s another story. Especially if he looks smug and/or has changed clothes and/or is drinking a beer. May you trip such a runner? No! But if you blow a…

4 WAYS TO EXTEND YOUR LONG RUN 1. Ease up Slowing down conserves energy for extra miles. A rule of thumb: Tack on 90 seconds to two minutes per mile to your normal pace. 2. Build gradually To avoid injury, increase your long run by one to one-and-a-half miles each week. 3. Fuel the tank Runs longer than an hour call for midrun carbs (for energy) and electrolytes (to keep your body functioning optimally). Start fueling 30 minutes into your run and refuel again every 15 minutes. 4. Take breaks It’s not cheating! Walking for a minute or two after 10 minutes of running shifts the use of your muscles, which increases the distance you can go before you get tired. You’ll still reap the endurance benefits of running nonstop.…

WILL LEER, 28, of Minnetonka, Minnesota, won both the one mile and 3000 meters at the USA Indoor Track Championships in Albuquerque in March. 1. Keep It Quick “I add four 20-second strides at the end of easy runs. I start at mile race pace and get faster. This makes a fast pace feel more manageable on race day.” 2. Take It Up “I do six to 10 one-minute hill charges once a week on climbs that get gradually steeper. They build leg strength and force me to focus on proper form as I fatigue.” 3. Make It Fun “At the gym, I’ll find people doing similar exercises and suggest a lighthearted competition, like a push-up contest or holding a plank. This ramps up my workout.” —BOB COOPER…

KEEP IT FAST Runners in Iten always have someone faster to chase, but you can replicate the effort even if you’re training alone. Start an interval workout at a pace more ambitious than you can normally sustain—up to five percent faster—and pick a threshold that’s two percent slower than your target as your stop signal. Do as many repeats as possible at your target pace, and once you slow to your stop-signal threshold, stop. If you’re doing intervals of 400 meters or less and miss your goal due to a pacing error rather than fatigue, you can take one more crack. Otherwise, one strike and you’re out. (If you try to stagger through progressively slower intervals, you’ll dig yourself into a recovery hole that will take too long to emerge…

THE SOUND OF BURGERS sizzling at a barbecue is synonymous with late summer postrace fun. Unfortunately, fatty, cheesy beef patties are far from the ideal recovery fuel. But you can create nutritious and tasty burgers using healthier ingredients like salmon or sweet potato. “Burgers made with items like fish or beans offer higher amounts of omega-3 fats and fiber that are beneficial to runners,” says marathoner and sports dietitian Pamela Nisevich Bede, M.S., R.D. These five flavor-packed burgers won’t leave you craving the cow. MEDITERRANEAN TURKEY BURGERS Turkey burgers often end up dry and tasteless. The key is to add moisture-and flavor-packed mix-ins, like the following Mediterranean-inspired ingredients. Roasted red pepper adds vitamin C, an antioxidant important for a runner’s immune system, says Nisevich Bede, “especially people in heavy training…

5 MINUTES Creamy Avocado Dressing In a blender, combine ripe avocado, a handful cilantro, ½ teaspoon cumin, ¼ cup white-wine vinegar, ½ cup plain kefir, and juice from half a lemon. Use to dress greens or cold pasta salad. 10 MINUTES “Chocovado”-Dipped Strawberries Blend 2 ripe avocados with ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, ½ cup honey, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Use as a dip for fresh strawberries, or spread on your favorite multigrain muffin or scone. 15 MINUTES Liz’s Famous Guacamole Mash 2 avocados. Stir in ½ cup diced red onion, 1 large chopped red tomato, 1 clove minced garlic, juice from 1 lime, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro, and salt and pepper. Use as a dip or spread. 20 MINUTES Chicken-Avocado Soup Cook 1 sliced onion,…

RUNNERS OFTEN HAVE a love/hate relationship with the long run. We love the sense of accomplishment we feel when it’s over; we hate the anticipation of actually getting out there. Yet it must be done: The long run is the keystone of any training program—5-K to marathon. “The long run builds endurance and strength and teaches you how to deal with fatigue,” says Maria Simone, a USA Triathlon–certified coach and owner of No Limits Endurance Coaching in Absecon, New Jersey. Indeed, extending the distance you normally cover triggers several lasting changes in your body, says 2:24 marathoner and running coach Kevin Beck. Capillaries in your muscle fibers increase in number, which enables more energizing oxygen to reach your muscles. Your mitochondria, the aerobic powerhouses of your cells, also grow in…

I HAVE A LANYARD hanging on the wall next to my desk that I received after giving a keynote speech following the release of my first book. The tag on the lanyard reads, “Marc Parent, Published Author.” I hung it up years ago because it was funny to me in the same way as a tag for an architect that might say, “Architect, Of Buildings You Can Actually Walk Into” or a lawyer’s that reads, “Attorney, Who Argues Cases in Real Courtrooms and Not Just in Front of Mirrors,” or, “Pianist, Who Plays Numerous Pieces You Might Actually Like to Hear.” Several published books later, the lanyard still hangs on the wall not because it’s funny anymore but because I still have days when I need definitive evidence that I’m…

AROUND 300 B.C. Roman armies marching across Europe use the unit of distance mille passuum (Latin for “one thousand paces”), which measured 5,000 Roman feet. 1593 An English Act of Parliament confirms a standard length for the foot, and redefines the mile as 5,280 feet, during Queen Elizabeth I’s rule. 1855 In London, Britain’s Charles Westhall runs first recorded professional world record mile: 4:28. JUNE 24, 1921 Britain’s Elizabeth Atkinson records first women’s world record run in Manchester: 6:13. MAY 6, 1954 The four-minute barrier is broken, in 3:59.4, by Britain’s Roger Bannister. MAY 29, 1954 Britain’s Diane Leather becomes first woman to break five minutes in the mile, in 4:59.6. AUGUST 7, 1954 In a duel dubbed “the Mile of the Century,” Bannister edges out rival John Landy of…

EVEN IN A SPORT noted for independence and simplicity, there are rules that runners quickly learn—often in these pages! Don’t run every day. Cross-train, lift weights, stretch. Target one or two major races per year. Eat protein, slim down. These are rules for a reason: They work for most people most of the time. Often, scientific evidence backs them up. But as with almost any other endeavor in society that doesn’t involve criminal activity, running rules can sometimes be broken—or at least bent—without the world coming to an end. Indeed, many exercise scientists don’t even like using the word “rules” when it comes to what runners should and shouldn’t do. “They’re really guidelines,” says exercise scientist Jeff Potteiger, Ph.D., of Grand Valley State University outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan. They’re…

RW Shoe Finder FINDING THE RIGHT PAIR of shoes is a highly subjective exercise, but we’ve simplified the task by reviewing 22 top new models. To find the best pair for you, answer the questions in this flowchart. Your choices will lead to a set of options tailored to meet your needs and preferences. For even more reviews, see runnersworld.com/shoefinder. Asics Gel-Flux $100 Joining the Cumulus and Nimbus in Asics’s lineup of cushioned training shoes, the Flux is the most budgetfriendly of the three. What that means: fewer luxury touches, mostly. The Flux has a more spartan feel when you first step into the shoe, but still delivers a well-cushioned ride, reminiscent of its big brothers. “Asics knows cushioning, and this is a comfortable shoe without being marshmallowy,” says Chris…

BIG COTTONWOOD MARATHON September 14 Salt Lake City, Utah The route (right) takes runners through 17 miles of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Enjoy views of the changing leaves on the surrounding cliffs—and an average race-day temperature in the mid-60s. bigcottonwoodmarathon.com APPLE HARVEST 5-K October 5 Dover, New Hampshire The Apple Harvest Festival, the largest fall festival on the New England coast, hosts this 5-K on colorful, tree-lined streets. dovernh.org GRAND RAPIDS MARATHON October 20 Grand Rapids, Michigan About 18 miles of this race takes place in the 1,500-acre, wooded Millennium Park. The foliage hits its peak close to race day each year. grandrapidsmarathon.com — HANNAH MCGOLDRICK…

SEPTEMBER 1 Louis Tewanima Footrace Second Mesa, Arizona 450 RUNNERS WHY RUN IT? To trace history Held in honor of the first and only Hopi Olympian, the 5-K and 10-K races traverse narrow trails (above) used for centuries by the Hopi people to gather wood and herbs. Runners get a bird’s-eye view of the San Francisco Peaks. tewanimafootrace.org 14 Navy–Air Force Half-Marathon and Navy 5-Miler Washington, D.C. 6,000 RUNNERS WHY RUN IT? To tour the nation’s capital Start and finish beneath the shadow of the Washington Monument, skirt the Potomac River, and swing by the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials on this winding, flat course. Look for Arlington National Cemetery when you cross Memorial Bridge. navyairforcehalfmarathon.com 21 Wascally Wabbit Half-Mawothon and Relay Fresno, California 700 RUNNERS WHY RUN IT? To perfect…