Running through the Decades Series 2 of 4: The Running Craze from the 70s and 80s

Ever longed for a time machine to transport you back to the height of the running boom in the 70s and 80s? Well, lace up your retro sneakers and get ready because we're about to embark on a marathon-like journey through these iconic decades. 

From the rise of marathon running to the revolution in running gear, we're reliving every step. We'll even take a pit stop at the legendary "The Complete Book of Running," a monumental publication that sent shockwaves through the world of fitness, making aerobics and jogging a household name.

Set your pace as we explore the cultural impact and lifestyle changes that saw running surge in popularity during these times. Pioneers like Joan Benoit-Samuelson, Frank Shorter, Bill Rogers, and Greta Waitze went from breaking a sweat on the tracks to becoming household names, their influence still echoing in the running industry today. 

But it wasn't just the athletes that shaped this era - we'll uncover how advancements in running gear, the establishment of city marathons, and the Olympic fever played a massive part in this fitness revolution. 

As the finish line comes into view, we'll slow down to appreciate the social elements that painted the backdrop of this exciting time. 

Remember the unmistakable sound of Queen or the emergence of captivating video games? How about the aerobics craze or the surprising food trends that had everyone raiding their kitchens? 

It's all part of the journey. 

So, whether you're a seasoned runner or someone who just enjoys a good slice of history, let's hit the ground running together on this nostalgia-packed journey through the running boom of the 70s and 80s.

Chapters

• 0:02 Running Boom of the 70s-80s
• 9:24 Running and Hobbies in the 70s
• 15:52 Running's Impact and Evolution in the 80s
• 22:24 80s Music, Hobbies, and Food
• 26:03 Exploring Music and Memories Across Decades

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hey friends, coach Shelby and Coach Christine, and we are excited to have you join us for Time for Brunch, quick Fights Edition, where you can grab your movement with a side of smiles and take them on the run midday in the afternoon or a late night snack attack. As you have seen, we love running clearly, so it isn't surprising that we're having another boom in the running world. We're seeing records being broken, barriers being crushed and, of course, an evolution that comes with the changing of the time and tides. So if you're anything like us, you've wondered what was popular, how'd we get here and what we know. How we got here. We put on our shoes and you know, one foot in front of the other, we get that concept.

Speaker 1: 0:47

But we're gonna see in our four part series a deep dive into the history of running. But obviously, don't worry, we're going to be sharing some fun facts. Drop some knowledge maybe, have a few fun battles in between and we'll skip all the boring stuff that high school covered. But while last week we did a brief history from the BCE times and the 50s and 60s, we saw Catherine Switzer take down the man and led to the running boom for women. But we're gonna go ahead and we're gonna tackle the 70s and the 80s in today's episode, which I feel like default. Coach Christine, the 80s are gonna be your favorite.

Speaker 2: 1:26

I mean, we'll talk about that. Let's first tackle what you feel as your favorite those 70s. But before we get into that, I want to send a message to Mr Armstrong, my junior high history teacher. I did not think any of your things were boring, just Coach Elby did, evidently. But neither here nor there. Neither here nor there, we will skip the boring stuff, because you guys have plenty of places to find that. We're gonna talk about what we love here, which is, of course, all things running and a little bit of food, a lot of food, but before we get into that. So when we get into the 70s this is maybe why it's your favorite. I don't know if you knew this this is where we could actually start to call it the official advent of the running boom.

Speaker 1: 2:08

That's not why it's my favorite, but I'll take it. Yeah, let's Tell me more, but I will.

Speaker 2: 2:13

So basically, there was a really great book that came out during the 70s. It was the complete book of running. It ended up being published in 1977, but prior to that there were a few different publications about the wonderful aspect of aerobics that had come out in the late 60s and that helped to really kind of turn the ties where people were like, hmm, maybe I'm sitting too much as I commute in and out of the office or you know all the common day problems that we have today and they decided to take up what was termed jogging and I had that in air quotes and Lily did air quotes. I know some of our runners hate that phrase.

Speaker 1: 2:50

Me, but you do, I don't. I'm not a big fan of the jogging, I don't care, it doesn't.

Speaker 2: 2:56

That's fine, don't?

Speaker 1: 2:56

care about my feelings. It's okay, I'll just cry myself back to the 70s.

Speaker 2: 3:00

I don't care if anybody calls me a jogger is what I meant. Like that's just. That's the least of my concerns. My friends, as long again as I am able to get an invitation to dinner I am good to go, but that's neither here nor there. So we saw the advent of it's lower cost. It's got lower barriers to getting laced up and I'm very cautious of saying that. I don't want to say that it's free or cheap or low cost or that there are no barriers, because we now know that's not the case. But it was a lower barrier entry, lower cost, probably at that time too, to get into it. So we really started to see where people got laced up and got out there.

Speaker 1: 3:32

Yeah, they all left behind those vibrating belt machines from the fifties that were super popular and decided to actually move forward and they saw the growing awareness for, you know, being healthy, having that physical health, taking fitness into account. So there was actually a book that was published in the sixties, 1968, by Dr Kenneth H Cooper called Aerobics, and it played a significant role in popularizing jogging, health benefits and you know, all of that jazz, all of that important things that we now know.

Speaker 2: 4:05

Yeah, so what we also saw that was super duper great about that time is that we also saw that a lot more cities started to host 5Ks, 10ks all those differences more marathon races, that they saw it as an opportunity for people to set personal fitness goals and compete in a friendly fashion. We also started to see that kind of the Olympics, and the success of American distance runners in the international field really inspired folks to get laced up and get out there. So I'm not going to pretend to tackle the Olympics when I know these are your people, my friends. So tell me more about who was influencing me. Who's posters would you have had at your wall? That was like inspiring you to get laced up.

Speaker 1: 4:48

Well, I'm going to start first and foremost because again, we saw a lot more women coming into the running circle. So one phenomenon athlete was Joan Benoit-Samuelsson, I mean again Right there with Catherine Switzer, one of the pillars of a women's running specifically. And you know there were some men to. Frank Shorter and Bill Rogers were also part of the predominant athletes of that time. But let's back to Joan Benoit Samuelson, because she still is such a pillar in the running world To where I don't see Bill or Frank. There I am coach.

Speaker 1: 5:28

I know I'm going to be mean, I'm sorry.

Speaker 2: 5:30

I'm going to time out.

Speaker 2: 5:33

It's okay, frank, come back out of time out, we want you here with us. But we also saw Greta Waits from that time as well. So lots of incredible people. Maybe not Olympics at that point, she was doing more of like the NYC marathon wins because, you know, like that's not nothing to sneeze at for sure, but absolutely amazing.

Speaker 2: 5:52

We got to really, as you mentioned, see women turn the tide at that point and really for us, get us seat, make it possible for younger girls to approach this. So I think this is a time where when I think of the running phase and craze and boom, we started to see more couples running together in their like suburban worlds. We started to see more people actually getting together for running clubs. It became more social. It became more of a community aspect, more of a pillar of how to integrate all the aspects of neighborhoodness and also that aspect of getting out for some physicality. So really exciting to see that as well. We also get to see that this is where some of like the technology starts to change, specifically with our running gear and shoes.

Speaker 1: 6:37

Definitely took a little bit of a step up and more running specific apparel was made. It became more comfortable and accessible to take up in a recreational activity, and part of that too, I do think, was helped out by the fact that media coverage of running events were becoming more prominent, and in the 70s, the New York City Marathon, as well as other major races, were starting to be covered by the media sources. And again, monkey, see, monkey, do we see something?

Speaker 1: 7:08

We want to be part of it and it just breeds that interest in not only a sport but in a whole culture.

Speaker 2: 7:15

And there's a lot of cool little tidbits to be had about the New York City Marathon over on that world marathon majors. Quick bites If you guys are new to us here, go check that out. And of course, as we're recording this, we know that we have lots of people gearing up for New York City Marathon, so we're excited to cheer you on as well While we are rocking and rolling in the 70s or I guess not rocking or rolling, not cruising, because that was the 50s and 60s. We'll get more to that later on.

Speaker 2: 7:42

But we also had, of course, with that official big New York City attention, we have all these incredible folks that are pioneering it. We have also a little bit more attention on fueling and hydration. So with that there was limited access. Still, it wasn't the plethora of options that we have today, but definitely a huge step up from the 50s where people are maybe having a little bit of water, maybe having a little bit of like watered down fruit juice. And we start to actually see at the races where there were water stations or there were at least the possibility of people knowing that they had to be self-sufficient to plan for their hydration and fueling.

Speaker 1: 8:26

Right, and while this isn't running specific, we can't talk about the 70s without talking about the passage of Title IX in 1972, helping promote gender equality in sports and again leading to more opportunities for women to be part of distance running. I'm going to say that this is probably why it's one of my favorite decades, because that woman power definitely was coming in, was peaking into the little arena that was once only a boys club.

Speaker 2: 8:57

So I want to talk about that because we mentioned the average finishing time is for the previous decades. Let's get into that. So, as we mentioned previously at episode one of this series, where we tackle the 50s and 60s, we didn't really have a lot of data that we could pinpoint as to what were the average finishing times for women. But here in the good old 70s, we get to have quite a bit more data on that for female perspective. So I'm excited about it From the elite standpoint. We're still seeing the marathoners coming in around two hours and 15 minutes. We know that record was set just in the previous decade, but they're still coming in around that time. We see competitive, amateur male runners finishing between two hours and 30 minutes to three hours, and then we have recreational male runners with a wide range of finishing times. We still see that to this day, of course, but completing marathons kind of closer to four hours and maybe even a little longer with women we run the world. Yes, you go, my friend, I can't take this from you.

Speaker 1: 9:57

You go. So, with elite female marathoners coming into play, their typical finishing time was around two hours and 40 minutes, sometimes slightly faster. The competitive amateur runners were at about 315 to 345. Some were comfortably in that range and us recreational runners went again in about that four hours or a little bit over. So again, comparable with some differences. But don't worry, we speed up a little bit.

Speaker 2: 10:32

Yeah, we do. We get to see that quite a bit of a change Again. It's very exciting to see that as we continue to roll through all of these decades. So, a little bit of running gear. We did not include that specifically in the previous episodes because there wasn't a again. People would just get dressed, go out for a run. Now we're actually seeing where you can go and get specific clothing for running shoes, running or specific clothing for your running gear. And, of course, we're breaking out the headbands and the sweatbands for managing all that extra sweat. We're getting into a little bit of moisture wicking not quite as much as maybe today, but we're making strides. Ha ha, fun intended.

Speaker 2: 11:12

Yes, but they did have those good old cotton shirts which I mean I still have a few race shirts that are cotton, shirts that come my way still. I mean, I get it.

Speaker 1: 11:21

We won't judge. It was a different time. They're good for some things, but maybe you could use the cotton t-shirt as you bust a move to some of the greatest songs in the 70s, which the Osmonds I know everybody loves the Osmonds, glen Campbell, the Clash, temptations, wild Cherry. I mean, play that funky music was. Don't even tell me you don't know that song. I do know that song. Oh, I bet you she's given me a book folks.

Speaker 2: 11:51

I love that song it is. It's a good song. Yeah, it is. I'm with you. I'm, I'm driven to all these. I'm definitely I'm standing in line. I'm not standing in line to see them, but I'm definitely down for.

Speaker 2: 12:04

ABBA. I mean, all I care about is getting glammed up and going to Studio 54, but okay, we'll keep going there. We keep going there, which is exactly one of the most popular hobbies that kind of had the advent at this time. It was disco dancing. The disco craze was in full swing during the 70s and people flocked to disco techs. I even love the fact that they call the disco techs.

Speaker 1: 12:26

I mean again, talk about the hip movements. It was all about the mobility, we just didn't know it.

Speaker 2: 12:31

Yeah, ooh, I think that we should add some disco dancing to our cross training. You're welcome Final surge athletes. With that said, there are a few other hobbies too that maybe started to make an appearance that weren't quite so popular. They weren't mainstream prior decades. We started to see skateboarding. It has a popularity at surge during the 70s. We see a lot of young people taking it up and building homemade skate ramps and I can see we're running and skateboarding would have some mutual cross training benefits. It just would be fearful of anybody getting hurt before a race, but okay, homemade ramps don't really speak to me, it's really gnarly.

Speaker 1: 13:09

But here, if you were skateboarding and going to disco, you were the bee's knees.

Speaker 2: 13:15

So I think I am the bee's knees and we actually see this as a resurgence of some of the lexicon that we used from earlier decades. So while we didn't touch on the 20s, the bee's knees was hearkened back from the 20s and brought into a more popular time of the 70s, While you had all that disco tech outfit going on. You may have been a little, a little funky in a good way, yeah right, I still say you're the bee's knees and far out.

Speaker 1: 13:39

And another popular one was right on Right on, I'm totally down.

Speaker 2: 13:43

Oh, I should substitute my love it to right on, I'm going to try, we'll see.

Speaker 1: 13:47

Ooh that's totally not going to stick, but I like your enthusiasm.

Speaker 2: 13:53

Cause you're supposed to believe in me when I don't believe in myself?

Speaker 1: 13:56

I'm sorry, but I have to wonder while we're going to the disco, while we're getting down with our bad selves, what are we snacking?

Speaker 2: 14:04

on Girl. I'm definitely having black forest cake, there is no doubt about it.

Speaker 1: 14:09

I've never had it, but I will tell you.

Speaker 2: 14:11

There is nothing.

Speaker 1: 14:13

There's not a cheese ball that I've ran into that I have not like. I love cheese balls.

Speaker 2: 14:20

I love to giggle at you saying cheese balls, but I do love me some cheese too. I just don't necessarily need it molded into a ball form. But hey, you know it was what we were having in the 70s. We're also having some Danish go rounds. Did those make it? I don't feel like I've seen a Danish go round ever. I have no idea.

Speaker 1: 14:39

But the next one, the list deviled eggs. I am famous for my deviled eggs. I make such good deviled eggs, even though I don't eat eggs anymore. They are always requested when I go to gatherings.

Speaker 2: 14:53

I mean, I'm going to request that for the next time we meet in person. Like, literally, I love me some deviled eggs which made their way across the Atlantic from Spain and across Europe, which actually goes to show that at this time we're starting to see a little bit more I wouldn't say a full, rampant globalization like we do in today's day and age, but at that time we're starting to see a lot more of those other cultures being brought into our everyday here, life here in the US, including our running. So that's what I love to see is how it can be such food and running. To me, like the best way is like cross boundaries and languages.

Speaker 1: 15:26

Well, I say, if we're going to go ahead and get down, we're going to get a little funky and move this beat right on to your favorite decade. I mean the decade that the world became a whole.

Speaker 2: 15:38

Christine, yes, I think so. There was a little piece of the world missing until 1980 came along, and that's exactly when I graced the pages. I'm sure my mom feels very differently about that whole experience, but neither here nor there.

Speaker 2: 15:52

This is where we start to see like an absolute dominance of distance running and we're seeing like OK, it is super popular, everybody is getting into it because all the cool kids are doing it. So we see like the running boom, but on steroids. And of course, this is where we see that not only is it having media placement, but we're starting to see that there's actually companies, big companies, that are starting to sponsor it. There's financial incentives for athletes to compete in Excel, talking again back to those previous decades where so many of those athletes that were dedicated to the sport, they were making pennies, if even and here we're actually see where they're they're able to maybe actually supplement their lifestyles to a certain degree because of those sponsorships.

Speaker 2: 16:35

We're seeing advancements in training. This is where, like, science really comes into play and, of course, makes us all better and stronger and a little daft punk. There there is more international competitions that we get to have more eyes on and, as I mentioned, with that globalization previously, and we start to get into again more of like the elites, like we have a plethora of elites. So, coach, tell me more about those elites from that time.

Speaker 1: 17:00

So, yeah, it definitely produced a crop of exceptional distance runners Sebastian, steve Ovid, carl Lewis, mary Decker Slandley, ingrid Christensen, anna Ken Joan, benoit Samuelson all set in numerous records and mean doing amazing things with the distance, which obviously they were having a leg up, they were being paid, they were getting different training. There was more research going into it and, let's be honest, everybody on the back end saw the money that could be made from this sport and when money is to be made, you're going to be seeing a whole lot more of it, and that's where, again, the media coverage really came into play Television broadcasts and seeing again these amazing people doing amazing things, setting these records. It just makes more sense for there to be training facilities and you start seeing it globally more and more becoming a thing To Qing and it's all about that.

Speaker 2: 18:02

Exactly that kind of drives, that fuel, for the elites at least and again that kind of does make its way through into popular, every single day life. But there's also where we get to see less of a focus of coaching expertise that had previously been dedicated to track and field starting to actually come more into play for those long distances. So love to see that where they're getting nurtured and they're getting some really good resources at their dispensals. So this is what gave way to the marathon craze of the 80s and that's what also created the growth of some of our personal favorite aspects of running. And that's charity marathons, where people actually wanted to combine their mileage and their everyday runs and these races with giving back to organizations and raising awareness for charitable causes.

Speaker 1: 18:49

And talking about history making the 80s specifically 1984, was when Joan Benoit Samuelson actually won the first ever Olympics marathon, which was actually on US soil, in Los Angeles.

Speaker 2: 19:05

Incredible, so exciting, seriously Right, it truly is. So we're also seeing that this time, because there are more eyes, dollars behind it, we're starting to see there's actual fueling and hydration strategies. I mean, we're learning so much more still, even to this day, and it changes and evolves. But we're actually starting to see people consuming bananas. They have little bananas. Oranges are getting sports drinks in there, getting some basic source of carbohydrates. They're getting water at aid stations at the races, which again, sometimes there were previous races where you had to be a bit more self sufficient. Sports drinks weren't still quite common there. That may not again when we talk about global races that's not always the case in global races either but still, electrolyte replacement products. Nutrition science was starting to really advance during this period. So we're putting a lot, we're learning a lot, we're booming a lot. So let's talk about some clothes. Coach, what am I wearing back into my 80s? Little inspired running outfit?

Speaker 1: 20:06

I mean, I think we've all seen the stereotypical 80s runs to, where everything is a little different, but they definitely went ahead and embraced. Lightweight, breathable singlets became a big thing, as well as t-shirts, and we saw shoes getting a little bit cushionier. Women's attire obviously got a step up. We saw sports bras become more wildly available, colorful tank tops again, shorts, tights, all of that. And the socks we're not just those plain white socks that you saw everywhere. They were getting a little bit more into the modern models.

Speaker 1: 20:45

They were starting to have a little bit different blends, different materials again, making sure that you can't just go out and be healthy, you gotta capitalize on all the gear that you can have with it.

Speaker 2: 20:55

I'm rocking some neon. I'm gonna get my side pony going on. I am ready for my 80s themed run. My friend, I can't get my knot, I can't wait. But what is more important is that I can't wait to hear what kind of songs I'm gonna cue on up into my cassette player.

Speaker 2: 21:08

But before we get into that, we could not necessarily talk about this without getting into average marathon finishing times. Because, my friends, this is when we start to see a bigger shift. And I think externally, when you first hear these numbers it doesn't sound like that big of a shift, but when you've actually tried to run a PR and you realize that it's seconds long and it makes a huge difference. So we see the elite starting to the elite, male marathon runners are starting to finish in two hours and 10 minutes, two again like a buffer of two hours and 20 minutes, so about shaving off about five minutes from the previous decade. Competitive amateur males are doing about two, 30 to three hours, so maybe not as big of a difference as the elites, but still stepping it back a little bit. And then the recreational male runners, again about four hours, which again is still similar. Yep.

Speaker 1: 21:58

Well, and then the elite female runners, again having more access, more availability. We see them going to about two and a half hours to two, 40. Competitive amateur female runners are about three, 15 to three, 45. And of course we have the recreational runners bringing up at about that four minutes, which seems to be kind of the comfort spot for a lot of the stats coming in. But let's not, let's not even try to pretend that those finish line parties were all set to Eye of the Tiger.

Speaker 2: 22:35

I mean they better be in my world when I'm heading back to the area. I'm going to rock aside Pony. I really want Eye of the Tiger at that finish line. But tell me, if, just in case, they're not playing Eye of the Tiger, what else should I queue up into my Walkman?

Speaker 1: 22:50

They're literally too many to even begin to. We have Queen, we have Billy Joel, we have Paul McCartney, michael Jackson, aero Smith, eddie Rabbit, stevie Wonder, cool and the Gang. There are so many, bob Seager.

Speaker 2: 23:06

I feel like I lost you. You did lose me Like I got nobody's running to Bob Seager.

Speaker 1: 23:11

But just in general we have the Eagles, casey and the Sunshine Band Doobie Brothers.

Speaker 2: 23:16

Wait, why are we not talking about one of my nearest and dearest favorite things that came out of the 80s, which is rap music? And hello, congratulations, rap music. Happy birthday. We love celebrating 40 years of you having you in our lives. So yeah, rap music was gonna definitely go down in my Walkman. But again, we're seeing a lot of things coming out of the 80s. We're seeing a lot of diversity in our music, diversity in our options, and we're also seeing a little bit of some extra aerobics crazes in our hobbies. So people aren't just lacing up to go for a run, they're also getting in some jazz or size.

Speaker 1: 23:50

Oh my gosh, I'm a little neon tight. We're both doing like a little job.

Speaker 2: 23:56

I wanted to belt too, Well, we can, and that'll come in handy when we head on over for our roller skating party, because, again, roller skating became really popular in the 80s. And I gosh, do you remember going to the roller skating rink for all those parties? Because I definitely did.

Speaker 1: 24:12

Christine, I'm still not born yet.

Speaker 2: 24:14

OK, do they still have roller skating rinks when you came, when you hatched my friends? Because if not, I feel sad for you?

Speaker 1: 24:22

I don't think so, Wayvay.

Speaker 2: 24:25

OK. Well, friends, it's OK because something that they had back in the 80s and they still have to this day Granted gosh, talk about differences Video gaming came to be a forefront. So any of you folks that are doing a little bit of throwback Thursdays and breaking out your ataris, maybe some Donkey Kong or some Miss Pac-Man or one of my favorites, joust that was quite popular of a hobby back in the 80s. But I want to hear about this Food, my friend, because one of the sayings was where's the beef? And that's exactly what I want to know. What was I eat? What were the foods that we could expect from the 80s?

Speaker 1: 25:00

We were having some sloppy joes. Which fun fact the commercial for manwich is actually a staple quote in my house because my dad always quotes it. A sandwich is a sandwich, but a manwich is a meal. That literally has been like our family motto for as long as I can remember and I'm sorry to tell you, fondue was still really popular, as well as my husband's favorite dish, beef stroganoff.

Speaker 2: 25:27

What? Okay, beef stroganoff I get, sloppy joes I get for the record. Super convenient and actually a pretty great staple for a post run, not maybe a post run meal, but to include that in your diet because it is super easy to make very protein heavy. But again, why are you guys wanting to go to fondue restaurants and paying good money to cook your food?

Speaker 1: 25:46

Because it's delicious, and they even started branching with quiche Lorraine in the 80s too.

Speaker 2: 25:51

Okay, well, branching of course important, but I still want my quiche actually cooked for me. I don't want to have to say make it if I'm paying good money for it. But all of these dishes are delicious, I'm not taking that away. Do you just want your MTV? I do just want my MTV. So I will say that I was of the great generation of video, music video length attention span. So thank you. Three to four minutes and maybe some of the 90s where they got into those epic long music videos about eight or 10 minutes long. But I loved MTV. I think it was such a fun time for music. I thought it was totally tubular friend.

Speaker 1: 26:28

Well, if you're listening and saying what's the damage, Then we promise there is no damage. We're just going through all the decades and giving them all the corn dog love that you can say.

Speaker 2: 26:42

So, friends, we want to thank you again for joining us with this series of running through the decades where we've explored an episode one the 50s and 60s and, a little bit beforehand, this episode 70s and 80s. We're going to bring it on back next Wednesday for that midweek quick bites, where it's going to be the 90s. Coach Shelby's doing a little bit of a celebratory dance there because she gets to join us and all of us out here, and we're going to then go on to the 2000s as well, cause we can't. We start to see some really great strides and changes of science and those records start to kind of fall. Can't wait to share them with you all. But beyond that, you can also join us at our long brunch that drops on Friday. Friends, we can't wait to see you because, regardless of when, even what decade or where, we're going to keep serving up more miles with totally tubular smiles.

Speaker 1: 27:35

Hey, Wherever sure.