I’m working on an old-fashioned collection of text about running. Sooner or later, it’ll be publicly available in some format, but in these modern times, it’s hard to say at this point what that format will be.
Anyhow, I’d like your help. Below are a list of questions/topics that I’d like you to write about if you’re interested. You can pick any of them that interest you, or reply to all of them if you feel like it.
Post it as a comment or send it to writeray@y42k.com.
Answers can be as long or as short as you want. You can reply to some of the topics now, some later, though hopefully I’ll be done in a few months. Feel free to send along things you may have already written. Anything from a sentence up to about 300-400 words would be great!
The best thing you can do is make it _personal_. There are plenty of running books, articles, or web sites out there, but very few (if any) have YOUR story. For example, while the Boston Marathon is a great race, and fleece is a critical part of any New England runner’s wardrobe, I’m more interested in hearing about how and why Boston (or Doyle’s or the Gobble, or whatever) was YOUR greatest race experience, or how your fleece jacket kept you warm while dodging snowplows in that great storm of ’05.
Serious, funny, odd, whatever. It’ll be interesting because it’s about you.
Don’t worry about making it perfect. I just want your story. I’ll clean it up or edit for length if necessary.
Don’t worry that you’re not that fast, or you’re not a “serious runner.” Who cares?
Make sure to include your name in your reply, in case I don’t recognize your email address. If I use what you send me, you’ll get the credit, wherever it ends up.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Suggested topics
- Why did you start running?
- How did you start running? What did you do first?
- Why do you keep running?
- When you don’t feel like running, what do you do to get out the door?
- Got any good race stories?
- Do you have any training tips? Rules-of-thumb for how to do something? What one tips do you think everyone should know?
- Any difficult injuries? How did they affect your running?
- What’s your favorite piece of gear?
- What do you like about the running lifestyle? The people, the competition, friends?…
- Who are the most interesting/significant (to you) people you’ve met? Famous or not – husbands or wives count too!
- What are your goals for the future?
I started running in 6th grade. Why? To see if I could beat the bus home at lunchtime. I lived less than a mile from school, 11 blocks to be exact, and so was ineligible to take the school bus to and fro for lunch. Each lunchtime it would pick up the kids who lived just beyond my house, to bring them home for lunch.
The second the lunch bell rang, i was out the door like a flash, tearing down Larchmont Avenue to the Sound like nobody’s business. Some days it was close and I beat the bus by maybe a nose, but most days I beat that sucka clean! And here I am, 40 years later, still running!