Running and its contribution to our world

When Running Made History by Roger Robinson, Canterbury University Press (Ed), Christchurch, 2018

Sportspeople by their nature tend to be too wound up in the 'now' to spend time considering the impact of their actions and effect on the world at large.

They have goals to reach, preparation to complete and a life to live in order to put themselves in the best place to achieve all they want.

They are busy, pre-occupied and, in many cases, understandably selfish. There is winning to be done, milestones to be knocked off.

The time for reflection is once the quest has been fulfilled.

Only then does the realisation occur that they have been involved in something that has had a profound effect, even on people they have never met.

This phenomenon is not easily understood in a world that lives from televised sporting moment to televised sporting moment, whatever the field of interest may be.

There can be no denying that sport provides inspiration, comfort and pride in a way that few other activities can in the wider community, not only for participants but also for those who follow from the margins.

Think of how England is feeling at the moment not only after winning the Cricket World Cup but also the latest Ashes Test.

Consider how New Zealand felt after the initial America's Cup success of 1995 and then the winning of the trophy again in 2017. That's not to forget the collective relief after the Rugby World Cup win of 2011.

How did Fiji feel after their outstanding Sevens side won the country's first Olympic gold medal in 2016?

There are numerous other examples through time.

Quantifying that contribution to humanity is not usually the participants' job.

But that doesn't make it any less significant.

Academic, writer, historian, athlete Roger Robinson has seen and experienced it all in his chosen athletic pursuit. In a lifetime of devotion to running, even to the cost of two knees, he has been in a unique position to assess just what the running movement has contributed to our world.

From witnessing the genesis of the African emergence on the world stage as Abebe Bikila ran barefoot through Rome to a Marathon gold medal through the women's running revolution to the salving effects of September 11, 2001 achieved by the New York Marathon of that year, or similarly to the people of Boston after the bomb attack on their great event of 2013.

He recounts the growth of his own interest in what became his sport in the aftermath of the Second World War, through a golden era of British running, and an equally memorable era after his migration to New Zealand.

Witnessing the emergence of the jogging movement and the road-running phenomenon in New Zealand and the United States respectively, and of the embracing of the fun-run concepts in cities around the world, Robinson has encapsulated the breadth of just one element of wholesomeness in sport in his book When Running Made History.

A compelling read made the more enjoyable by the occasional personal perspective of an 'almost good' runner. Robinson eloquently puts his case for the value of running in an undeniable manner. The evidence he offers cannot be disputed, although it is too often overlooked.

It shouldn't be and the sooner policymakers and politicians understand that the world might be a better place.

Apart from the obvious benefits for so many from the exercise movement, Robinson has also been part of the Masters movement which in its own way adds further to the benefits his sport, and others, and which have added to community health and well-being.

There is a reason people are living longer and the benefits of exercise have to be right up there with the reduction of disease and development of beneficial drugs.

Robinson says: "I once heard the leading authority on the theory of leisure, John R. Kelly, explain that the most important thing in activities for the old is to avoid 'violation of the continuity of the self'. As we move up in years, Kelly said, we never identify as 'old person', whatever younger people may think they see, but as the same person we have always been, grown somewhat older. Therefore, the best activities we can choose are those that respect that continuity."

Robinson added that in one way his book was his tribute to the insight Kelly had given him that the 78-year-old author was the same thinker as the nine-year-old who watched Emil Zatopek run in 1948.

That comes through clearly throughout the book.

Sport too rarely celebrates what it contributes to the lives of so many. It would be difficult to achieve that given the breadth of sports.

But, nevertheless, the fact remains sport is a significant factor in life and books like When Running Made History are a reminder that it is a positive and welcome part of a world that needs those qualities more than it has surely ever needed them.