“There’s something so universal about the sensation, the way running unites our two most primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we’re scared, we run when were ecstatic, we run away from our problems and we run for a good time.
And when things look worst, we run the most. Three times, America has seen distance-running skyrocket, and it’s always in the midst of a national crisis. The first boom came during the Great Depression, when more than two hundred runners set the trend by racing forty miles a day across the country in the Great American Footrace. Running then went dormant, only to catch fire again in the early ‘70’s, when we were struggling to recover from Vietnam, the Cold War, race riots, a criminal president, and the murder of three beloved leaders. And the third distance boom? One year after the September 11 attacks, trail-running suddenly became the fastest growing outdoor sport 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 raptors approaching.”
