playing outside
My Seattle friend inquired as to my whereabouts (my blogabouts) this last week and, yes Eric, I have been swamped with back-to-school busy-ness … along with my back-to-fall coaching duties. I have the Janes in the morning, the Pacers in the afternoon, and my elites at night.
Chapel Hill has caught running fever!!
I often explain that my pure love of running goes back to a basic right/pleasure/necessity? of childhood: I like to play outside! Remember, as a kid, how you’d rush in the front door, throw your school junk down, change into your play clothes and be back out in the street or the neighbor’s yard in 2 minutes? I don’t even recall having a snack - though I’m sure my mom must’ve given me one. We played so many running games - hide and seek with the racing back to home-base for safety rule (versus the stay put until you’re found version); kick the can; ditch-it (sort of a group hide & seek, running as a pack all over the neighborhood); two-hand-touch-below-the-waist football on looooong fields which required lots of back-and-forth running; and my personal favorite - obstacle course … timed with a real, sweeping-hand stopwatch that my big brother owned. Even as a kid I was very “coacherly;” I would make up these crazy courses weaving in and out of Mr. Holly’s rose bushes, three summersaults down the Cunningham’s side yard, leap over the stump, run backwards to the sidewalk, hop on one foot per sidewalk square, two times around the big oak tree, five jumping jacks, and then sprint home. Click! went the stopwatch. “1 minute and 43 seconds!” I’d yell, “That’s the time to beat.” Then the next kid would tear off his/her coat and attempt to break the record. “On your mark, get set, go!”
It was mad fun, but I often wonder … did we run that much because it was so bloody cold playing outside after school in the midwest? Or is it that all human beings simply crave running in a basic, primal, animal way?
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It wasn’t very cold where I grew up, and we still ran quite a bit, so I think it is the latter.
I remember spending hours playing “pickle,” only stopping to go swimming or eat lunch. We would play on an abandoned tennis court, with the fence at both ends being the safe zone. Talk about repeat 100’s!!!
It is also funny that you mention the obstacle courses, because my sisters and I would do the same thing at my Grandparent’s house.
I also remember having 50+ kid kick-the-can games during the summer, lasting well after dark.
I often wonder if kids still do these things in my old neighborhood… I hope they do, but I fear they sit around playing video games instead. Maybe the primal urge to run is only felt by those who embrace it.
Comment by JOCKO — 9/21/2006 @ 1:59 pm
Ah, thanks for keeping your Seattle fan club from getting too worried. But our kids just started back to school, and I reckoned “schoolstorm” had hit you too; glad to know it’s nothing more serious.
I worry that the current generation of kids don’t seem to get outside playing as much as we did. Here in the rainy Northwest, I think football was a favorite after school sport — and EVERY play was the long bomb or a triple reverse. They were the only two plays anyone ever drew up. Lots of running.
You’ll have to let us know if you or the Janes take on any new projects. Perhaps the Hood-to-Coast next year? Perhaps the Olympic Trials Marathon (I’m sure you could qualify)? Both? The Seattle fanbase is all for it.
Comment by Eric — 9/21/2006 @ 2:55 pm
WOW thats funny Joan, I was just talking about that, literally an hour ago about to an athlete on the team and its crazy to remember how it was and how you live life so care-free. I could never sit still even coming from someone in the Nintendo generation. I truly miss those days and especially acorn fights over a 3 neighborhood radius, THAT was some running and fast running none the less. Take care
Tha Saint
Comment by THASAINT — 9/21/2006 @ 3:00 pm
Thanks Joan for describing what many of us relish about our sport and our early experiences. You recall that here in Canada we played outdoor hockey for hours. I used to run on my skates through the backyards to the local rink, and just jump into the nearest free for all game. You didn’t need fancy gear, heart rate monitors, protein or energy bars, camelbacks. All you needed was a $4 hockey stick, a hand-me down pair of skates and long underwear. In essence, back then and into adulthood, being active was “play” and those of us who run into our late adulthood want to retain that sense of play. I remember a few years ago at age 38 staying a hotel that had a water slide. Only kids were using it, and I decided to try it. I got weird looks from the kids and the adults, but it was sheer joy to let go. As adults, we feel that it is undignified for us to experience the freedom of letting go and “play” is something that kids do.
Comment by George (Canada) — 9/22/2006 @ 7:49 am
First, my blog grammar police duty: “my pure love of running goes back to a basic right/pleasure/necessity? of childhood” - shouldn’t the word be “rite”?
I don’t think cold had much to do with it, though effort does pretty well eliminate cold. I remember many football games in a neighbor’s yard where my fingers felt like they might crack off with a hard hit/landing, but I wasn’t cold.
Comment by Scooter — 9/22/2006 @ 9:02 am
Actually, I almost wrote rite AND right …because I see running as both a childhood ritual and a God-given RIGHT.
… which reminds me of another message I received from Rosie’s 4th grade classrooom. It seems, there is a school policy of no running on the playground. Yep, you read that correctly, NO RUNNING on the PLAYground. I think running on the playground falls under “the right to pursue happiness,” don’t you?!
Revolt, Rosie, revolt!!
Comment by Joan — 9/22/2006 @ 10:20 am
First - to Scooter the Bloggrammarian - I would think that “right” fits more closely with “pleasure” and “necessity”, while “rite” would be aligned with “event” or “passage” - certainly in terms of duration; a “right/pleasure/necessity” would be an ongoing thing, while a “rite” would be a single event.
As to running games - the one that immediately came to mind for me was called “smear the…” - well, let’s just say that it wasn’t a politically correct name. Basically, it was tackle football, with one guy running all he could and everybody else trying to tackle him. When he was tackled, he would throw the ball up, somebody would catch him, and then HE - the new ball carrier - would run as long as he could, evading the others.
No points, no scoring, no winner, no loser - and no breaks
And the only point of the game was to become the next guy who would get tackled. Kinda strange, now that I think about it 
jim p.
Comment by Fat Charlie the Archangel — 9/22/2006 @ 12:37 pm