In 1985 we were still celebrating Joan Benoit's (soon to be Benoit- Samuelson) gold medal in the first women's Olympic Marathon and the world rankings had three Americans -- Pete Pfizinger (fourth), Mark Nenow (fifth) and Alberto Salazar (seventh) -- in the top 10.

Only three African runners, led by Mike Musoki (sixth), were in the world rankings and there were no African women.

Eighteen years ago, you could enter most road races for $6 to $8, with Old Kent and Crim being the priciest at $10.

I remember reading Michigan Runner's first issue in 1979 and thinking "I wonder if they would pay me to write stories about races." I contacted publisher Art McCafferty and began submitting pieces. Six years later, Mike Duff asked me if I would take over his job; so in spring 1985, I became the editor.

Then the magazine was a fold-over newsprint publication that came out 10 times a year. While browsing old editions, I noted that in the April 1985 issue, the first I edited, there were several familiar names.

Scott Hubbard was already writing his "Running Shorts" column, which he has now been doing for 21 years. Tom Henderson, who would soon have his own column "Running with Tom Henderson," and Charles McEwen, who has written hundreds of race stories in his more than 20 years on the staff, are still with the publication.

Although most of the magazine was devoted to race coverage, we had medical columns by Drs. Joseph Arends and Tom Clay, plus a lifestyle column by Peggy Steig. One section of the magazine was an issue of the Great Lakes Triathlete, a publication we started in 1985, published for several years, then sold.

Three special features -- the "Best of Times," "Top 50 Road Races" and "Runner of the Year" -- were part of MR when I became editor. They remain as archives for state racing history.

As I compared back issues of MR to today's glossy publication, I realized that not only had the magazine undergone changes, the running population had changed as well.

Inspired by Frank Shorter's 1972 run to Olympic gold in the marathon, millions of Americans took to the roads. Many were training with a vengeance.

MR training features recommended 50- to 80-mile weeks with liberal doses of fast fartleks and weekly LSD (long slow distance) runs of 20-plus miles.

A look at the 1984 "Best of Times" showed the 15th-fastest Michigan male marathoner's time was 2:27 and the women's was 3:02, while 15ths in the 10K were 30:37 and 36:35. In 1998, the marathon's 15th fastest were 2:36 and 3:10, while the 10K numbers were 31:55 for men and 38:16 for women.

The trend was also evident at the national level. My 2:28, good for 245th place at the 1981 Boston Marathon, would have put me between 30th and 70th at every Boston from 1984 till today.

What caused the slowdown? Part can be attributed to the Baby Boomers who were in their twenties and early thirties when the running boom began. With youthful bodies and no real understanding about over-training and overuse injuries, the Boomers plunged ahead with high-mileage, high-intensity training.

By the mid-1980s, injuries and chronic weariness were showing the aging Boomers the downside of rigorous training. They also discovered what some folks had always known -- that it's all right to run for fun, or even to walk, in races.

Running gurus passed the word that just finishing a marathon was reward enough; you didn't have to become a super trainer to run 26.2 miles. These experts, supported by studies that questioned the long-term value of high-mileage running, began to extol the benefits of cross training.

Many, like myself, found our Achilles tendons, plantar fascia and knees were hurting. And when we stopped running, the inactivity made us miserable.

So we became cross trainers. We rode bikes, paddled canoes, cross-country skied and swam pool laps until we could run again. Many of us found we enjoyed these other sports, both as a supplement to running and in their own right. So we continued to do them too.

MR's editorial content reflected that, adding how-to articles about cross-country skiing, aerobics, pool running, canoeing, cycling, weight training and walking. Columnists such as Dr. Mark Klein, Jeannie Rosinski and Nancy Clark contributed information on health, walking and nutrition. Stories about massage, chiropractic treatment, yoga, orthotics and stretching appeared as well.

During the mid-'80s race numbers declined slightly, but rebounded when 5Ks, walks and fun runs were added to multi-distance races, or were substituted for longer runs. By 1990 there were considerably fewer 15Ks, 10-milers, 20Ks and half-marathons.

Some races began giving medals to all who finished. Post-race refreshments became more lavish, and t-shirt designs were raised to an art form.

Writers such as Phil Loomis, Paul Daniel, Charlie McKelvey, Fred Germaine, Ron Marinucci and Jackie Holland-Decker continued telling the winners' stories, but also wrote from the perspective of mid-pack runners.

John McCabe wrote articles that taught everyday runners how to be better racers. One of his best described what he called the "dread factor": that feeling that keeps so many from actually getting out and running.

On at least three occasions, MR found itself competing against other magazines seeking a share of the state's running readership and advertising dollars. Somehow we managed to prevail due to our strong writing staff and the professional photography skills of Dave Meyer and Carter Sherline.

These writers, photograhers and the production staff in Brighton made my editing duties easier. I continued to run too many miles, get injured, then cross train in my canoe, on a bike, and, in the winter, on skis and snowshoes until I could race again.

The hardest, yet most-rewarding part of my job was writing the "On Running" column for each issue. I decided not to use it as a forum for telling stories, or giving information on how to run better. Instead, I tried to offer the reader an insight that would help them see something about running that maybe they hadn't thought of before, or clarify for them an idea about the sport.

In February of 1999 I tore the patella tendon off my knee when I slipped on the ice while walking to a movie. It seemed like I would never run again, and I felt if I couldn't run, I would lose touch with the sport. In addition, after producing about 120 "On Running" columns, I was running out of new ideas.

I felt it was time to end my 14-year run as editor. In April I turned the editorship over to Jennie McCafferty.

Thanks to the skilled surgery of Dr. Jerry Conrad and the excruciatingly-painful physical therapy of Gus Meyjes, I became a runner once again. These days I log 30 to 40 miles a week, rarely missing a day, and clock around 20 minutes in my infrequent 5Ks.

I cross train in some way almost daily, which tones the variety of muscles I need for canoe and kayak forays my wife and I take into the wilderness waters of North America.

I now write articles for outdoor publications, and have written a book on classroom management detailing strategies I used during 29 years teaching junior high.

But I still look back on my years with Michigan Runner as a wonderful time in my life. MR