Marathon Man

The London Olympics will come to a conclusion on Sunday, August 12. The final event of the Olympic Games is the men’s Marathon which will happen on Sunday. No other event is scheduled on the closing day of the Olympics. Clearly, it is the capstone event. Two weeks ago on July 27^th, as the Games were set to begin, a vivid memory from a previous Olympics came to my mind: Frank Shorter winning the Marathon in 1972.

After winning the Gold Medal, Frank Shorter instantly became a household word in the United States.  I remember being inspired as I watched him run: I so wanted to run like him. I was not alone in my feelings. Frank Shorter is credited with triggering the running boom in the USA that occurred in the 1970s. And the rest is history, as they say.