The teenager bounced off his seat as if he had springs on his shoes when I walked into the store.
“What can I help with you with?” he asked with a confidence that belied his age.
I told him I was shopping for a pair of Hoka walking shoes. I didn’t know this brand of shoes existed until last month. My podiatrist, Dr. Paul Sommer, told me to get a pair to protect my feet while walking, running and biking. I’ve been told by podiatrists that I have the heart of a young marathoner but the feet of an elderly accountant.
I summarized this assessment to the teenager, Zach, at Extra Mile Fitness Company in Valparaiso. He seemed like a naturally born and self-assured salesman. He could have probably sold my old shoes back to me. To find a connection that spanned our age difference, Zach empathized with my foot troubles by mentioning he has knee problems.
My mind immediately left the store and raced to the life of Rich Elliott, a 71-year-old former distance runner and coach who was forced to stop running 20 years ago due to torn cartilage in both knees.
More Top Picks Best Dopp Kits For Men
“After running for most of my life, my knees kept telling me no,” Elliott told me earlier that week. “So I’m a cyclist now. I still seem to need my suffer-fests.”
Elliott wasn’t just a casual runner. He was a competitive runner, starting at 13. In 1968, he was the first prep runner in the state of Illinois to run a two-mile race in under nine minutes.
In grade school, Elliott had a go-getter gym instructor who relished having his students do the Presidential Physical Fitness Test, which I remember as childhood torture. Elliott excelled at the 600-yard run. He later attended Proviso West High School in Hillside, where the varsity track teams dominated state tournaments. “They became my idols,” Elliott recalled.
He found his first love on a running track. The romance lasted decades. Elliott later became a Big Eight three-mile champion at the University of Kansas, then a high school English teacher and track coach. He earned Illinois Distance Coach of the Year honors. His last coaching gig was at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, in 2009.
Elliott later pursued a second career in educational publishing as an editor and producer. His early writing was in sports nonfiction, authoring the best-selling 1984 book, “The Competitive Edge: Mental Preparation for Distance Running,” which Track and Field News magazine described as “a modern classic.”
Elliott also published the 2010 anthology, “Runners on Running: The Best Nonfiction of Distance Running,” another award winner. In recent years, he has turned to fiction and his stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines. Elliott’s first collection of fiction, “Duck and Cover: Eleven Short Stories,” came out in 2018.
“Like all fiction writers, I am drawing on my past experiences as I fashion my stories,” said Elliott, who moved from Illinois to Valparaiso in 2013.
There, he authored his new book, “What Mad Pursuit,” a collection of fictional stories about runners and their world. Some stories are dark, some are comical, but each sheds light on the struggles and joys of the running life.
The stories offer a unique exploration of sport and the human condition, including: a first-year runner’s shocking breakthrough which hides her dark secret; an obsessive jogger tries to maintain his streak despite mounting obstacles; and an embittered rebel emerges from seclusion to attack her hated rival over 26 miles.
“‘What Mad Pursuit’ offers a story or many that every runner will relate to no matter what their ability or history in our sport. Rich really gets to the soul of why we want to put wear on our soles, run after run, mile after mile, year after year,” writes Joan Benoit Samuelson, a 1984 Olympic marathon champion, in her endorsement.
“Dozens, maybe even hundreds, of nonfiction books have been published about running, telling us how to train, what to eat, how to become a successful runner. But there is little fiction. Rich Elliott fills that gap with a wickedly amusing collection of short stories,” writes Hal Higdon, author of 34 books on the subject.
Elliott told me he’s been thrilled by the response from fellow runners.
“From the endorsements, you can see that runners find a lot they can relate to and find satisfying. I think the typical reaction is that there are so many scenes that speak to them and that ring very true,” he said.
For example, his story “The Graph of a Boy” is based on the many amazing and deeply influential coaches Elliott encountered over the years as a runner, and later when he was an Illinois high school cross-country and track coach.
“My hope is that non-runners will also enjoy these stories, which have universal themes,” Elliott said.
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
In a perfect world, Elliott will someday meet Zach. He can sell him one of his books. Zach can sell him a pair of shoes. I think they’d hit it off while bemoaning their betraying knees.
The running world can be intimidating to outsiders, I’ve learned. Although I’ve ran dozens of 5K’s, several half marathons and the Chicago Marathon, I still feel like an outsider. Elliott laughed off this outlook. He suggests that anyone at any age can pick up running or jogging as a hobby, a stress reliever or a recreational release.
“The social aspect of running groups can play a key role. Or the enticement of running along beautiful nature trails or simply enjoying being outdoors by yourself,” he said. “I have nothing but admiration for anyone who attempts to do this, especially all the people who attempt a 5K race or a 26.2-mile marathon, whether they finish it or not.”
I wrongly assumed that his wife has joined him on many of his runs through the decades.
“No, she feels like you do. It’s just torture,” he joked.
More Top Picks Home Electronics