Trivia: Who was the first woman to break 2:20 in the marathon?
A DECADE LIKE NO OTHER. More change came to running in the 1970s than any decade before or since. The following lists may help capture the flux of those times: names that shaped the sport, products that got it moving, races that swelled in size and quality, and developments that defined the first "running boom."

Names/Men:

Frank Shorter

Bill Rodgers

Jack Bacheler, '72 U.S. Olympic marathoner from Birmingham, Mich.

Dave Wottle

Craig Virgin

Herb Lindsay

Greg Meyer

Lasse Viren

Miruts Yifter

Tony Waldrop

Steve Prefontaine

Henry Rono

Ben Jipcho

Garry Bjorklund making the '76 Olympic team at 10,000 meters after losing a shoe halfway

George Young

Jack Foster

Filbert Bayi

John Walker

Nick Rose

Ron Hill

Dave Bedford

Steve Scott

Jerome Drayton

Eamonn Coghlan

Neil Cusack

Names/Women:

Micki Gorman

Jacki Hansen

Kathrine Switzer

Francie Larrieu

Mary Decker

Madeline Manning

Doris Brown-Heritage

Julie Brown

Francie Kraker from Ann Arbor and University of Michigan, '68 and '72 U.S. Olympian

Grete Waitz

Joan Benoit

Beth Bonner, first American woman under 3:00 in the marathon

Publications:

Track & Field News

Runner's World

The Runner

Running Times

Long Distance Log

Runner's World shoe reviews

Four Million Footsteps by Bruce Tulloh

My Run Across America by Don Shepherd

Cross-Country Running by Marc Bloom

On the Run from Dogs and People by Hal Higdon

Once a Runner by John Parker

Boston Marathon by Detroit Free Press writer Joe Falls

The Long Run Solution by Joe Henderson

Dr. Sheehan on Running by George Sheehan

Thirty Phone Booths to Boston by Don Kardong

Complete Book of Running by Jim Fixx

Coaches/Personalities:

Walt Stack

Ernst Van Aaken

Dr. Jack Scaff, Honolulu Marathon Clinic

Pete Strudwick, born without feet, ran marathons

Will Cloney and Jock Semple, glue of Boston Marathon

Jimmy Carter, president who ran

Ted Haydon, University of Chicago Track Club coach who had an "open door" policy

Fred Lebow, longtime NYRRC president

Ted Corbitt, U.S. marathon Olympian, original RRCA member and father of U.S. course measuring

Dr. Gordon Shafer, longtime Mid-Michigan Track Club official

Bill Bowerman, University of Oregon coach and shoe-innovation pioneer with Nike

Ernie Smith, longtime Motor City Striders official

Drs. Ken Cooper and David Costill

At the races:

The Dream Mile, Marty Liquori and Jim Ryun

Peachtree, Bloomsday, Bix, Falmouth, NYC Marathon, Bay to Breakers,

Crim

Mansfield (Ohio) Relays

24-hour relays

Golden West (high school) Invitational

Major indoor meets across North America

NCAA indoor meet at Cobo Arena in Detroit

600-yard run in school

Springbank, London, Ont.

Pro track, ITA

First International Women's Marathon, Waldniel, Germany

1976 Boston Marathon, Jack Fultz and Kim Merritt survive mid-90s heat

Skylon International Marathon, Pikes Peak Marathon

Virginia 10-miler, Charleston Distance Run

Nike OTC Marathon

Fukuoka Marathon, Japan

Kinney National High School Cross-Country Championships

1972 Olympic Marathon, Munich

Events:

Terrorists at '72 Olympics

Boycott of '76 Olympics by African countries

Title IX, opened door of participation to school-age girls

Boston qualifying standards, 1971

Wheelchair competition

Bonne Bell, Avon and Diet Pepsi sponsor national series of races

Masters track, Ray Hatton, Frank McBride of Wayne State University

Athletics West club

Products:

Gatorade, ERG

adidas rain suits

Nike born '71, Blue Ribbon Sports

Shoe goo

Dolfin, Moving Comfort, Sub-4 apparel

Sports orthotics

Bee pollen

Sweep-hand stopwatches, Casio F-100 digital watch

Cinder tracks, conversion to rubberized and metric tracks

Cotton gloves in winter

Mail order giving way to specialty stores by late '70s

Paper numbers, popsicle sticks to finishers, Chronomix machines helped time growing multitudes

Vanco in Lansing, distributor of adidas shoes

Shoes:

adidas Country, Marathon Trainer

Tiger Ohbori, Boston, Montreal II and III

Etonic Street Fighter

$26 for a good pair of shoes

Nike Vainqueur spikes, Waffle Trainer, LD-1000, LVD, Oregon Waffle

Lydiard, Karhu shoes

Brooks Vantage, varus wedge

Developments:

AAU, archaic national governing body gave way to The Athletics Congress (TAC)

$3 to run the Grand Valley Marathon

Nylon made its way into shoes and apparel

Runner's World Fun Runs, hosted nation-wide on a weekly basis, helped popularize the sport

National Running Data Center

10 kilometers was THE distance

Those of you with long memories are sure to recall things missing from my list. That's as it should be. It was an "innocent" age when America led the way in most all things new in running. We have a LOT to be thankful for due to change and growth in the sport 25-35 years ago.

WEB SIGHTS. On the heels of ESPN's recent movie "Four Minutes" about Roger Bannister's epic first sub-4 minute mile, I have Web site info for actual footage of the event held May 6, 1954 on the Iffley Road track in England. To access the footage, go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/ video/38703000/rm/_38703505_3548_07-05-54_56ka1_vi.ram.

Also, for an exceptional piece of expository writing about running, go to http://www.umsl.edu/~natural/ number6/hart.html.

I don't want to spoil the theme of the piece with hints, however do yourself a favor and check it out. You'll not be disappointed.

Answer: Naoko Takahashi of Japan ran 2:19:46 in Berlin in 2001 MR