NewsThe history of running - from the hunter to...

The history of running – from the hunter to the jogger

Most people today exercise to stay fit. It was not always like that. Running once served to survive. How hunting became a popular sport.

Berlin (dpa) – running is booming. The sport is extremely popular in Corona times given that swimming pools and fitness studios are closed. The annual Global Running Day aims to motivate people to put on their jogging shoes and exercise.

Today there are running events around the world. But have people always been runners?

JÄGER: It was already run in the Stone Age. This is evidenced by cave paintings. “Movement is part of human nature – right from the start. If he was in a hurry, he just ran, ”says Andreas Höfer, director of the German Sports and Olympic Museum in Cologne. The reason for this was simple: when people were hungry, they had to move around to get food.

An example of this is the San people of southern Africa. For millennia, the indigenous people have used the fact that humans are “biologically very persistent runners”, as Michael Krüger from the Institute for Sports Science at the University of Münster explains. “The Big Dance” is the name of a hunt lasting up to 40 hours, during which the San big kudu antelopes drift in front of them until they are exhausted. Since the antelopes are ruminants, they need breaks. But because the San always chase after their prey, the animals eventually become limp and are then easy to kill.

STEP COUNTER: The run wasn’t just because of the food. In ancient times, running was also a kind of profession. It was about “measuring distances and being able to document how far one had advanced into unknown territory,” explains sports historian Krüger. A well-known example is Alexander the Great, who took so-called Bematists, i.e. pedometers, with him on his campaigns. It was also their job to map the landscape.

There were also messengers. Running was also used to transmit news. In his book “Introduction to the History of Physical Education and Sports”, sports historian Krüger refers to what is probably the most famous errand in history: the marathon run has its origins in an ancient legend. In 490 BC A numerically far superior army of the Persians faced the armed forces of Athens on the coastal plain near Marathon west of Athens. Nevertheless, the Athenians emerged victorious from the battle. The victorious general Miltiades sent a messenger to the homeland about 40 kilometers away. Allegedly, the completely exhausted warrior was just able to announce on the market square of Athens: “We have won!” Then he collapsed and died.

ATHLETES: It would be many centuries before the marathon made it to the Olympic Games. At the first written record of the Olympic Games in 776 BC. There was only one competition with the “stadium run”. The winner over the distance of 600 feet was allowed to light the fire in honor of the god father Zeus. Also, because feet can be different sizes, the oldest Olympic discipline had different lengths depending on the location: The stadium in Olympia was 192.28 meters long, the one in Delphi 177.55 meters. “Back then there was no time measurement. It was all about being the best and winning the competition, ”explains sports historian Höfer.

At later games, other running routes were added, such as one over two stadium lengths or cross-country skiing, for which a distance of more than 20 stadiums is often specified – i.e. between about 3.5 to 3.8 kilometers.

The first official marathon was not run until 1896. For the premiere at the modern Olympic Games, the distance in Athens was initially just under 40 kilometers. The distance that is valid today was run at the Olympic Games in London in 1908, as Krüger explains. The English royal family expressed a desire to see the start from the window of Windsor Castle. The resulting course to downtown London was – purely by chance – exactly 42.195 kilometers.

JOGGER: In order for runners to become joggers, they had to show themselves on the street. One of the first to realize this was track and field trainer Arthur Lydiard. In 1962 he founded the world’s first jogging club in New Zealand. Shortly afterwards, the American Bill Bowerman brought the idea back to his homeland and thus into the world after a visit from New Zealand. The fact that the jogging movement spread from then on was not entirely altruistic for Bowerman. As one of the founders of a US sporting goods manufacturer, he was involved in the development of modern running shoes.

As a result of the movement campaign of the German Sports Association “Trimm Dich Fit”, the jogging wave also reached Germany from 1970, according to Höfer. In his opinion, the motto was important for the breakthrough as a mass sport: “You can start running anywhere, anytime.” Since then, jogging or running has become more and more popular. According to the German Athletics Association, the running movement in Germany comprises over 20 million people, plus there are around 3700 running clubs.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210602-99-833337 / 3

Global Running Day

Terre de Hommes to the knowledge of the San (archived)

“Wissenschaft.de” on geographical knowledge at the time of Alexander

University of Mannheim on sports and games in ancient Greece

Auckland Joggers Club website

Bill Bowerman as co-founder of Nike

“Bill Bowerman Story” bei Youtube

Russian celebrities distance themselves from Putin's war

No to the war against Ukraine: Russian celebrities and cultural figures take a clear stand against their president.

The fear of World War III is back

The Russian attack on Ukraine has fueled fears of a Third World War for the first time since the end of the Cold War. How real is the danger?

Berlinale awards Honorary Golden Bear to Isabelle Huppert

With Isabelle Huppert, the Berlinale honored one of the most well-known faces in French film. Because of a positive corona test, she takes part in the award ceremony via video.

Behind the bourgeois facade – honorary bear for Isabelle Huppert

Isabelle Huppert is one of the most famous faces in French cinema. There are often emotional abysses behind the bourgeois mask of their roles. Now she gets an award from the Berlinale.

"Emotionally charged shoot" – "Bataclan" film at the Berlinale

The focus is on Céline and Ramón. You survived the attack in the "Bataclan". It was also filmed in the concert club.

More