On The Track, september 2013 september,2013 | Page 3

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efore there were stopwatches, races, tracks, and shoes, men and women ran for one reason; to SURVIVE!!! An old story says that "every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest antelope, or it will starve. So it doesn't matter if you are a lion or an antelope, when the sun comes up in the morning, you'd better be running!" Men and women had to run to hunt their food and to run from animals. From the beginning we were all made to run. There are few things more natural than running through a field or through trees either chasing or being chased. The only measure of success in running was whether the hunted reached safety before being caught by the hunter. Running as a sport evolved from this competition to survive. The best hunter was often the fastest runner. In ancient Egypt the King had to run the same long distance every three years just as fast as he did before in order to keep his crown.