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Kings of the road : how Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, and Alberto Salazar made running go boom / Cameron Stracher.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.Description: xv, 224 p. : ill. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 054777396X
  • 9780547773964
Subject(s):
Contents:
Duo in the sun (1978) -- Birth of the boom (1972) -- A man. A plan. A road race (1973) -- "Will Rogers" and the car he drove in with (1974) -- Cuba libre (1965-1975) -- The good die young (May 30, 1975) -- Boston Billy (1974-1975) -- Showdown at noon (1975) -- Cheaters prosper (1976) -- Three for the road (1976) -- New York, New York (1976) -- The ligaments that bind (1977) -- Show me the money (1977) -- Death's door (1978) -- Foreign footsteps (1979) -- A brave new world (1980) -- The king is dead. Long live the king (1981) -- Boom's end (1982).
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 796.424 S894 Available 33111007140284
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Winner of the 2015 Armory Foundation Book Award from the Track & Field Writers of America

For fans of The Perfect Mile and Born to Run , a riveting, three-pronged narrative about the golden era of running in America--the 1970s--as seen through running greats, Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, and Alberto Salazar



It was 1978. Jimmy Carter was President; gas prices were soaring; and Americans were hunkering down to weather the economic crisis. But in bookstores Jim Fixx's The Complete Book of Running was a bestseller. Frank Shorter's gold medal in the 1972 Olympic marathon had put distance running in the mind of a public enamored of baseball and football. Suddenly, the odd activity of "jogging" became "running," and America was in love.



That summer, a junior from the University of Oregon named Alberto Salazar went head to head with Olympic champion Frank Shorter and Boston Marathon champion Bill Rodgers at the Falmouth Road Race, losing in the last mile to Rodgers's record-setting 32:21, nearly dying in the process, and setting the stage for a great rivalry. In Shorter, Rodgers, and Salazar, running had its conflict and drama like boxing had Ali and Foreman, like basketball had Russell and Chamberlain. Each man builton what the other achieved, and each pushed the other to succeed. Their successes, in turn, fueled a nation of coach potatoes to put down the remote and lace up their sneakers.



Kings of the Road tells the story of running during that golden period from 1972 to 1981 when Shorter, Rodgers, and Salazar captured the imagination of the American public as they passed their figurative baton from one to the other. These three men were American running during those years, while the sport enjoyed a popularity never equaled. As America now experiences a similar running boom, Kings of the Road is a stirring, inspiring narrative of three men pushing themselves toward greatness and taking their country along for the ride.



Includes index.

Duo in the sun (1978) -- Birth of the boom (1972) -- A man. A plan. A road race (1973) -- "Will Rogers" and the car he drove in with (1974) -- Cuba libre (1965-1975) -- The good die young (May 30, 1975) -- Boston Billy (1974-1975) -- Showdown at noon (1975) -- Cheaters prosper (1976) -- Three for the road (1976) -- New York, New York (1976) -- The ligaments that bind (1977) -- Show me the money (1977) -- Death's door (1978) -- Foreign footsteps (1979) -- A brave new world (1980) -- The king is dead. Long live the king (1981) -- Boom's end (1982).

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