Golden Girls
August of 2017 was a significant month on the Australian running calendar for two very different reasons. On the sixth, we lost one of our senior Golden Girls, four-time Olympic gold medallist, Betty Cuthbert, following her protracted struggle with Multiple Sclerosis. Then, two days later, our most recently crowned Golden Girl, Sally Pearson, reclaimed her title as the pre-eminent 100 metres hurdler in the world. I use the term crowned because these two women, over the years and in their turn, have taken the elevator up to an almost regal status.
This begs the question: why do we revere our successful sprinting women? One reason is that we each have a personal relationship with the act of running itself. Theoretically, we are all born to do it.
THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS OVER THE 400 METRES IS THAT I RUN THE FIRST 200 METRES AS FAST AS I CAN. THEN FOR THE SECOND 200 METRES, WITH GOD’S HELP, I RUN FASTER.
Eric Liddell
Our reasons for running
In the movie Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges played a country singer named Bad Blake, a drifter who is credited with penning the lines, ‘funny how falling feels like flying…for a little while.’ This quote has the ring of truth to it that soars further than the film’s scope. We can all imagine that the act of flying is the ultimate moment of unfettered bliss, even if it is a fleeting experience.
A definition of running is that it as a form of terrestrial locomotion allowing animals to move rapidly on foot, characterised by an aerial phase, in which all feet are above the ground. That aerial phase is intriguing – it is Bad Blake’s ‘flying’ moment.
Running is the end game in our human ‘terrestrial locomotion’ game of chess. There are commonly recognised stages that human
